Peterbilt, hub pilot wheels that won't center on the hub.

Howdy All,

When I bought my truck a 2001 379, back in December of 2017, it had Peterbilt oval hole wheels in the outside position on both rear axles, on the inner duels that were two Peterbilt oval wheels and two wheels that had round vent holes. The wheels on the steer axle had wheels with round vent holes.

When having some work done to the truck I also had the wheels polished, I had the tires taken of from the two Peterbilt wheels that were on the inside duels and had the tries dismounted from the wheels that were on the steer axle, then had the Peterbilt wheels fitted with the steering tires and the other two round vent hole wheels fitted with the traction tires and put in place as the inside duels.

Long story short, BEFORE I did the wheel tire swap, I had NO front wheel shimmy, NO steering wheel vibration, now I have front wheel shimmy and the steering wheel vibrates enough to put your hands to sleep at any speed over 60mph.

The shop that did the work told me that my Peterbilt wheels probably have worn centering holes and that they will have to be replaced to prevent the problem I am now having. I have been burning up the internet to try and find a solution to this problem without having to spend 1,500 dollars on new wheels.

There are "centering tools" that if used as shown in the video will center the wheel and when the lug nuts are tightened down they are supposed to hold the wheel centered. Click here for the video.



There there is a product that threads onto the wheel studs that is a permanent installation that is supposed to center the wheels and keep them there. Click this link for the video.



So my question is this, are either of these products snake oil and should I just bend over and buy new wheels OR has anyone used the tools to center the wheel or I think the better way of doing it would be to use the installed centering sleeves to center the wheel and had good luck using an old wheel.

Sorry for the long post but I wanted to make clear what I did, what happened and how I hope to fix this mess. Thanks for any advise or suggestions.

Dave

 

Howdy Bakerman,

I understand what your saying, but if it is the wheels that are bad I don't want to knowingly sell a bad wheel to another driver, its just not the way I am wired.

I am "assuming"that they would work on the rear axles as I didn't notice any trouble when they were on the rear axle but then again if they were bad I don't think their being out of wack would transfer any feeling to the steering axle or wheel.

Dave

 

Howdy magoo68,

I can see how doing it as you described would work if the wheel weren't bent, that's why I thought using the centering removable sleeves should work or better yet the installed centering sleeves but if the wheel is bent it will have to be replaced.

Like everyone else I just hate to spend a pile of money with no guarantee that it will fix the problem. "IF" I used this truck to make a living, I would replace the wheels and be done with it, however as I use the truck to tow a huge RV trailer and only put about 20,000 miles per year on the truck its darn hard to justify the cost of new wheels "IF" I can fix the problem for much less money.

Dave

 

Howdy All,

I wrote up a detailed post of what we did but for some reason it didn't post. Anyway, long story short, after spending a day at the tire shop it was determined that my wheels were in good shape, they were centering it was the tires that were bad, installed new steer tires and all is well. Thanks to all who offered suggestions and advise.

Dave