so i just had my tires balanced yesterday, they even road force checked them. discount tire says they didnt need to be adjusted other than normal balance. fine i say. drive off, first thing that happens when i hit 50 mph is the wheel is shaking. great.

so, before i ask the tire place what went wrong, is there anything that Could be wrong with my car?

i know i need new LCA bushings, but also know that shouldnt affect the driving of the car too much.

i also know i will need a new steering column, as it clicks like crazy now with nearly every turn of the wheel; so i know those plastic bushings are shot. Could that be causing this shaking? or is it how the wheels were put on? are the tires still out of balance? is there another problem i am unaware of that presents these symptoms?

i get the shakes from 50 to about 60 mph. its fine before that, and fine at 70+. what gives? thoughts?!

 

Does it shake when you brake? My 05 felt like warped rotors when I would brake but it was LCA bushings. My wife's bad LCA bushings felt like an unbalanced wheel...and is back 50K miles after the replacement.

 

Take and get the wheels/tires road force balanced. It will show if there is any cupping/ tire issues and also any issues with the rim. I never use a standard balancer. FYI Discount Tire does not use a true road force balancer it's a partial cheaper unit and they only use that if you pay the extra fee for it. Find a shop that has the real deal.

 

braking is ok. i can def tell the LCAs need updating; youll usually get more of a hard twist of the wheel one way or another with a sudden hard stop; go that the other week.

supposedly the tire place "did" RFB the tires; said they were "ok". im not impressed with the cheap "drag" brand rims i got from discount; never seemed to have issues with my oem wheels.

ill take it back in one day, see what they say :/

 

Worn tires, suspension bushings, ball joints all contribute to those symptoms. I'm not sure about steering column being the source of that, unless it's really really bad.

 

Normally 50 to 60 MPH shakes are due to poor balance, I would take them elsewhere if it was me

Also I'm curious that it happened right after you had them RFB.

 

Suggestion....
Make sure the right hub-centric rings were installed....off a millimeter... And they will shake like an unbalanced rim....
Vibration matches an issue I had once with new rims....

 

Never had shaking w/ non-hubcentric rims/rings by tightening the bolts in opposite pair pattern.

 

This may be the culprit. Had this very thing happen on my Son's R50. Discount tire ordered him some hubcentric rings and the problem went away never to return.

 

i have the hub rings, so i dont think its that.
i watched them do the wheel bolts with a torque wrench correctly myself... they did torque the wheels while the car was in the air. never seen that done before, not sure if it would make a difference either.

they also supposedly just got a "new machine" which is "supposed" to be better than their old one. so yes, this is strange.

feel like i cant rule out a crappy balance job or failing suspension components as im at almost 110k with stock suspension parts; its about the only thing i have yet to upgrade on my mini.

 

So to clarify, You were not having the vibrations before the tire change?

 

got it to go away when i had michelins on the car, downgraded to some Nittos, and the shakes have sorta been there ever since

 

Thought you posted you got rims at discount tire....so you got tires too it sounds like...
Stranger things have happened than a bent NEW rim....
But it sounds EXACTLY like what my car did for a bit till I got the right hubcentric rings...
They are plastic...and on that set of rims, they are pretty smooth....
But nowhere as smooth as the 2 OEM sets of rims I have....
Many folks have noted this, and there is a brisk business online selling mechined aluminum rings...many BMW folks swear by them...
To be honest....
You KNOW you have Atleast 2 other issues....the bushings, and the u-joint....this adds tons complexity in trying to track anything down...
Still have the other tire rim combo to try? Or maybe can move the rims front to back see if it is the same?

 

I had shaking at 50 with brand new tires and brand new wheels. I changed my lca bushings even though they weren't that bad and the problem went away instantly.

 

- Bent rims on old tires can be vibration-free, but when putting new tires on bent rims you can get a shake. Don't know why, likely because the old tires were "stretched" or otherwise compensated when the rim was bent...
- Warped rotors can cause this as well
- A worn tri-lobe CV joint can give a vibration as well, generally noticeable in 2nd gear between 2000-2400RPM, however.
- Even properly-balanced cheap tires may have a bubble, be out-of-round, or have a belt slip or other construction deformity that can cause a shake but not necessarily be visible. This does happen on "good" tires, but less frequently.

 

I just did a tire rotation (front to back) to equalize tire wear and developed a slight shake at those speeds.

 

good news! anyone else with similar problems, changing the LCA bushings has solved most of my issues!

no more shaking at most speeds, and the wheel shaking with braking has stopped completely

Maitland imports does good work and at a decent price if anyone is interested. about $200 for LCAs to be installed (supplied my own parts however).