i have a slight but noticeable vibration coming thru the steering wheel at speeds above ~70mph. it's not terrible but definitely noticeable thru my hands and if you let go (don't worry, i only do it briefly and with hands just on the steering wheel) you can see the steering wheel wobbling slightly. the car still tracks straight on the highway, doesn't wander or change direction or anything, and the vibration seems less or absent on certain type of roads like ungrooved ultrasmooth highways. i just put on new tires (also new front pads) and was wondering if the shop didn't balance the wheels right, or i screwed up something or bent some piece when un-lugging the wheels during the brake job, or maybe i'm just crazy. any thoughts? would hate it if here something more serious like cv, etc.

btw i have 16" kosei k1's w/ general exclaim uhp's. fronts are inflated to 36pis and rear 33

 

Every time I had the symptoms you describe, a wheel balance fixed the problem. What i find interesting is that so far only the dealer has bben able to balance the tires correctly. I have tried a number of tire shops and none of them could make the shimmy go away?

 

indeed, that is either balancing, or possibly an alignment.

 

You just did brake work and had the wheels off?

Did this happen after you put the wheels back on?

Check torque of all lugs.

 

I just put on my backup 15" rims while my daily 17's get repainted. It had been a year since I last put on those rims, but they were fine back then. I had the same problem as you. Wheels were shaking at 70 and above, but it tracked straight. I ended up taking it for rebalancing and that solved it. They were way out of balance.

Any chance you knocked off a balancing weight when you took the wheels off? Otherwise, like Nathan said--check the lugs, retorque them, and have the shop rebalance the wheels.

Richard

 

Yeah probably a balance issue.

Not to jack this thread but a Q for you Richard. When you are having your 17's repainted do you have the tires unmounted?

 

Oh absolutely. If I don't, the paint stops at the tire edge. What happens when I get new tires? Might chip or something when they remove and reinstall. Anyhow, if you're going to the expense of repainting them, taking the tires off shouldn't be a big deal.

 

thanks guys! i retorqued them about 3 times now, ~90lbs. guess i'll take 'em to get *properly* balanced. for those in la, does minicorsa do wheels? or do i have to go to the dealer? the shop who mounted the tires were on tirerack's list but i hesitate to go back there

 

Worse case, the belt may have separated...had the same symptom on my son's car, took new tires to fix the problem.

 

but the tires are brand new. hopefully that's not it =P

 

Look for a shop that does track/race tires. They are usually a bit more careful about the balancing. Also see if any shops are using the new Hunter balancers.

 

it's possible you've got a slight boo boo in one of your rims, maybe hit a manhole cover or something? pothole?

 

never hit a pothole or anything, and really never noticed have it until after the new tire install so i'm gonna rebalance the rims and see what happens

 

well i use to work at a tire shop for 3 years and yes your problem is def a balance....i suggest you take it to the dealer or a big tire company like just tires (not a joes corner tire shop) and get the balance done and when you get it done tell them to check the tread ware there could be some defective problem with the tires(which is very common with run flats and performance tires)