GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Snow seems to work it's way so easily into these wheels and stays there. After almost every snowfall, the next day, I will have hardened snow stuck in the inside diameter of the wheels. It causes severe imbalance. Man can that car shake.I've never experienced a problem like this with any of the other cars I've owned.I removed my wheel covers today. Hopefully these were what was drawing the snow in.

Hmmm... never had that problem... and my Vibes seen lots of snow!!!

I get this too in my '09. We're getting a ton of snow right now and neither my home or work parking are sheltered. Short of getting somewhere to thaw the car out, I'm not sure of a simple solution. I do look forward to ditching the factory steel rims and rubber in another year or so.

i don't have problems with buildup in the wheels of my '10, but i do get way more buildup between the wheels and the wheel well than i have ever remembered having.

Same here with the frozen slush build up,both on the Vibe & G6,gota keep knocking it outa the wheel wells. Lot of build up on the rocker panels also

Hmmmm? Based on the replies so far, it seems limited to those that own the 2nd gen, '09-'10 cars. The base steels are the same on all gens, so it must be the difference in the inner fenderwell design.

We have 16" steelies (no wheel covers) that we use on both our '09 GTs during the winter and we don't have any problem with snow building up in the wheels or wheel wells.

Snow building up in the wheel well??? Perhaps you should try an aggressive treaded tire!!!This is the extent of the snow buildup around my wheels.And driving around roads like this:

Ah yes, I remember those days.... Very petty, but it looks COLD there. If I wuz U, and if I lived in BC, I would be looking for some mudflaps. They would help keep that build up underneath the rocker panel and front floor boards down. During the summer months, they help keep the mud and slop from dirtying up the body panels as fast. Rear ones help keep the rear window (back light) cleaner.After just seeing some pics of the differences in inner fender liners between 1st gens and 2nd gens, it occured to me that the newer ones are pretty narrow and perhaps it is that what's forcing (or allowing) snow and ice in behind the wheel and allowing it to pack in to the point of throwing off the wheels balance.Possibility?

I do have the mudflaps on my '09 Vibe and it doesn't really seem to make much difference. I find in wet weather that there is less splash from the front tires onto the side-rear of the car, and they look nice, but that's all they do. Plus, they're the hard plastic type that doesn't flex, so when you give them a swift kick to shake off the snow buildup, not too much happens - especially if it's really cold. Speaking of cold, Edmonton is about -35 with the wind chill today and we're getting record-setting snowfalls for the area. I have a starter and I'm plugged in, and the car starts without issue and I haven't gotten stuck yet. It seems to be a decent winter car, for sure.Maybe those who have lowered their 2nd gens are experiencing less issue in this regard? These cars do have an exorbitant amount of gap between the body and the tire.

Quote, originally posted by goochsmooch »Maybe those who have lowered their 2nd gens are experiencing less issue in this regard? These cars do have an exorbitant amount of gap between the body and the tire. I too wondered what effect lowering might have with this situation?Of course we don't really get much snow here in Texas so I'm not speaking from personal experience but the first gens have quite a bit of wheel gap too unless they are lowered.I was actually suggesting the mudflaps to star_deceiver who, based on the pics he posted is running naked through the snow. We noticed a cleaner for longer back hatch after the install on our 1st gen, but I'm pretty sure they would help with the underbody build up too.I saw this on another thread here yesterday.This is the inner fender for a 2006: and this a 2009:Quite a difference I would say.

IMO mudflaps direct more of the snow up and around instead of out and back. And besides... it's only a little dirt...