Steering wheel shimmy
8/29/07, 08:45 AM
#121
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Fredrik,
I would seriously doubt that the minor shimmy that I had would ever cause any damage to the suspension even if it occurred for the long period of time. To me it is just very annoying and unacceptable for a car built today to do that. Just my .02$ BTW, I see from your bio info that you are a design engineer. What do you design? I am in the tool and die trade and design stamping dies for the auto and appliance industries.
Scott
I would seriously doubt that the minor shimmy that I had would ever cause any damage to the suspension even if it occurred for the long period of time. To me it is just very annoying and unacceptable for a car built today to do that. Just my .02$ BTW, I see from your bio info that you are a design engineer. What do you design? I am in the tool and die trade and design stamping dies for the auto and appliance industries.
Scott
I am in the Heavy Duty Diesel engine product development for Volvo. Dont know much about chassis parts and suspension etc. I am thinking the same as you, its a bit annoying with this shimmy - and it seems to be minor. I just hope the repbalancing and wheel alignemnt on Friday will take care of it. On the car, it seems to be possible to control the toe of the wheels and also some adjustments in the struts. One would hope that will give some flexibility in the setup for different types of wheels/tire sizes.
8/31/07, 01:34 PM
#122
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Just got a call from the guy trying to fix this. He says one of the front wheels are somewhat damaged and cannot be balanced properly. How good does that feel...??!? Going up there this afternoon to talk more to them.
Guess I have some work to do, and try to get that wheel exchanged for a new one. Good luck to me...
Tired...
Guess I have some work to do, and try to get that wheel exchanged for a new one. Good luck to me...
Tired...
8/31/07, 04:41 PM
#124
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In the statement from todays wheel balancing it reads:
"FOUND THAT THE VIBRATION COMES FROM THE WHEELS AND TIRES. BALANCED 3 TIRES AND FOUND THAT THE D/S FRONT TIRE (THE 4TH) EXCEEDS RUN OUT AND ROAD FORCE AND FOUND THAT THE RIM ALSO HAS A FEW OUT OF ROUND SPOTS. COULD NOT BALANCE LEFT FRONT TIRE. TRIED 5 TIMES".
Seems that the rim has some poor roundness to it.
What do you guys make of this?
Could I also have a tire (The Nitto 555) being of poor quality? How likely is that?
I can say that the car pulls a little to the left, so I think I have zeroed in on the problem tire/wheel.
Thanks for any comments!
"FOUND THAT THE VIBRATION COMES FROM THE WHEELS AND TIRES. BALANCED 3 TIRES AND FOUND THAT THE D/S FRONT TIRE (THE 4TH) EXCEEDS RUN OUT AND ROAD FORCE AND FOUND THAT THE RIM ALSO HAS A FEW OUT OF ROUND SPOTS. COULD NOT BALANCE LEFT FRONT TIRE. TRIED 5 TIMES".
Seems that the rim has some poor roundness to it.
What do you guys make of this?
Could I also have a tire (The Nitto 555) being of poor quality? How likely is that?
I can say that the car pulls a little to the left, so I think I have zeroed in on the problem tire/wheel.
Thanks for any comments!
8/31/07, 05:01 PM
#125
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In the statement from todays wheel balancing it reads:
"FOUND THAT THE VIBRATION COMES FROM THE WHEELS AND TIRES. BALANCED 3 TIRES AND FOUND THAT THE D/S FRONT TIRE (THE 4TH) EXCEEDS RUN OUT AND ROAD FORCE AND FOUND THAT THE RIM ALSO HAS A FEW OUT OF ROUND SPOTS. COULD NOT BALANCE LEFT FRONT TIRE. TRIED 5 TIMES".
Seems that the rim has some poor roundness to it.
What do you guys make of this?
Could I also have a tire (The Nitto 555) being of poor quality? How likely is that?
I can say that the car pulls a little to the left, so I think I have zeroed in on the problem tire/wheel.
Thanks for any comments!
"FOUND THAT THE VIBRATION COMES FROM THE WHEELS AND TIRES. BALANCED 3 TIRES AND FOUND THAT THE D/S FRONT TIRE (THE 4TH) EXCEEDS RUN OUT AND ROAD FORCE AND FOUND THAT THE RIM ALSO HAS A FEW OUT OF ROUND SPOTS. COULD NOT BALANCE LEFT FRONT TIRE. TRIED 5 TIMES".
Seems that the rim has some poor roundness to it.
What do you guys make of this?
Could I also have a tire (The Nitto 555) being of poor quality? How likely is that?
I can say that the car pulls a little to the left, so I think I have zeroed in on the problem tire/wheel.
Thanks for any comments!
Sounds like you found the problem. Good news!!
I seriously doubt that there is any issue with your Nitto! Give a report after you have test driven her!Scott
8/31/07, 05:05 PM
#126
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9/2/07, 05:39 AM
#128
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Run-out is where the outer diameter of the wheel or tire is not concentric with the center of the wheel where it mounts to the hub on the car. Basically egg shaped... not round. The outer part of the wheel and the mounting area of the wheel do not have the same axis of rotation.
9/3/07, 11:21 AM
#129
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Hey, a good diagnostic balancer can give you runout as you balance the wheel, it can also mimimize runout (if it will do any good by match mounting the wheel - a bit time consuming, so most people dont bother with it). diagnostic balancers can also weight macth a wheel to minimize the amount of weight nessecary to balance the wheel, however I suppose match mounting and weight optimizing the wheel are two different operations and cannot be done concurrently.
9/3/07, 11:40 AM
#130
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Hey, a good diagnostic balancer can give you runout as you balance the wheel, it can also mimimize runout (if it will do any good by match mounting the wheel - a bit time consuming, so most people dont bother with it). diagnostic balancers can also weight macth a wheel to minimize the amount of weight nessecary to balance the wheel, however I suppose match mounting and weight optimizing the wheel are two different operations and cannot be done concurrently.
Hey Bob,
Your correct...Most balance guys won't go thru the pain to match balance tires to rims like you say. Much easier to just say your tire or rim is out of spec. Make them more bucks also!!
Scott
9/4/07, 10:10 AM
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So, by this - do you mean you could have good parts (rim & tire) and still get steering wheel vibrations etc based on the fact the balancing doesnt incooporate this macthing procedure?
I am getting my new replacement rim tomorrow. Should I specifically ask for this when I ask them to assemble and balance it?
I am getting my new replacement rim tomorrow. Should I specifically ask for this when I ask them to assemble and balance it?
9/4/07, 12:40 PM
#132
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So, by this - do you mean you could have good parts (rim & tire) and still get steering wheel vibrations etc based on the fact the balancing doesnt incooporate this macthing procedure?
I am getting my new replacement rim tomorrow. Should I specifically ask for this when I ask them to assemble and balance it?
I am getting my new replacement rim tomorrow. Should I specifically ask for this when I ask them to assemble and balance it?
I would not ask your tire guy to do this unless he still has an issue with getting a good balance job. Millions of tires and wheels are mounted and balanced every year without going thru this matching exercise.
Scott
9/5/07, 06:58 PM
#134
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I've been following this thread and since it has been resurrected let me just post my question..
I have an '06 GT, 8K miles, 17" stock tires. I feel a shimmy in the steering wheel, my feet, and my seat. It's there at any speed, although it gets worse the faster I go. At 80 mph it's really bad - I can actually see the back of the passenger seat shimmying away. But even at it's worst I never see the steering wheel shimmy, I only feel it. It does not go away after the tires are warm.
While on the highway at 80mph I stopped acceleration, put the car in nuetral, let the clutch out, and coasted. Shimmy was still there, unchanged.
Does this sound like a tire balance problem? Struts? (the strut tsb has not been done to this car). Something else?
I am a drivetrain/suspension illiterate
Any input would be appreciated. Thanks as usual....
I have an '06 GT, 8K miles, 17" stock tires. I feel a shimmy in the steering wheel, my feet, and my seat. It's there at any speed, although it gets worse the faster I go. At 80 mph it's really bad - I can actually see the back of the passenger seat shimmying away. But even at it's worst I never see the steering wheel shimmy, I only feel it. It does not go away after the tires are warm.
While on the highway at 80mph I stopped acceleration, put the car in nuetral, let the clutch out, and coasted. Shimmy was still there, unchanged.
Does this sound like a tire balance problem? Struts? (the strut tsb has not been done to this car). Something else?
I am a drivetrain/suspension illiterate
Any input would be appreciated. Thanks as usual....
It's amazing to me that one tire/rim could wreak all that havok, but apparently it did.So it took about an hour to do this, and while I was waiting they in effect created a monster. It was slow so I was talking to some of the techs and the owner and they managed to 80% convince me to get an intake, a conservative tune, and a Borla exhaust. More on that in another thread, cuz I aint doin' nothin' without running it by my TMS "project managers" first haha!
9/6/07, 10:51 AM
#135
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I did it!!!!!!!!! Problem seems to be solved! 
It seemed that the rim was of a bad production batch or something, because the problem was fixed with the replacement rim I got from American Muscle. She runs smoother than ever right now! Dead straight with no shimmy in the steering wheel at all!
Thanks to you all, for helping out!
This forum is great to solve problems!
It seemed that the rim was of a bad production batch or something, because the problem was fixed with the replacement rim I got from American Muscle. She runs smoother than ever right now! Dead straight with no shimmy in the steering wheel at all!
Thanks to you all, for helping out!
This forum is great to solve problems!
9/6/07, 03:38 PM
#136
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I did it!!!!!!!!! Problem seems to be solved!
It seemed that the rim was of a bad production batch or something, because the problem was fixed with the replacement rim I got from American Muscle. She runs smoother than ever right now! Dead straight with no shimmy in the steering wheel at all!
Thanks to you all, for helping out!
This forum is great to solve problems!
It seemed that the rim was of a bad production batch or something, because the problem was fixed with the replacement rim I got from American Muscle. She runs smoother than ever right now! Dead straight with no shimmy in the steering wheel at all!
Thanks to you all, for helping out!
This forum is great to solve problems!
Good for you Fredrik.
I am glad you got her fixed. Scott
11/29/07, 04:17 PM
#137
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Hey Guys,
Well I am bringing this thread back as promised to give everyone the final trouble shooting to my steering wheel shimmy problem. In short I started this thread because I had a shimmy from my stock wheels and tires for about a year. It was minor but annoying. I purchased a set of Steeda wheels and Nitto's last Feb. and have been running them all summer and fall. So I finally had to put my stock wheels and tires last week for winter. I wanted to take them to get them re-balanced before installing them. But first I wanted to clean them up. Well in doing so I found the real problem causing the shimmy. When I bought my car I had it Zeibarted (undercoated) because I live in Ohio. What I discovered when I cleaned the wheels last week was on the inside of the wheel was a heavy build up of undercoating on about 1/3rd of the wheel. Well...duhhh. I cleaned this tar off all of the wheels and took them to be re-balanced. The stock balance job was off very little if any. The car runs as smooth as silk with the stock wheel and tires now. I really feel pretty stupid I didn't see the real problem earlier but I hope it may help someone else fix their problem.
Scott
Well I am bringing this thread back as promised to give everyone the final trouble shooting to my steering wheel shimmy problem. In short I started this thread because I had a shimmy from my stock wheels and tires for about a year. It was minor but annoying. I purchased a set of Steeda wheels and Nitto's last Feb. and have been running them all summer and fall. So I finally had to put my stock wheels and tires last week for winter. I wanted to take them to get them re-balanced before installing them. But first I wanted to clean them up. Well in doing so I found the real problem causing the shimmy. When I bought my car I had it Zeibarted (undercoated) because I live in Ohio. What I discovered when I cleaned the wheels last week was on the inside of the wheel was a heavy build up of undercoating on about 1/3rd of the wheel. Well...duhhh. I cleaned this tar off all of the wheels and took them to be re-balanced. The stock balance job was off very little if any. The car runs as smooth as silk with the stock wheel and tires now. I really feel pretty stupid I didn't see the real problem earlier but I hope it may help someone else fix their problem.
Scott
11/30/07, 06:16 AM
#138
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Thats good, Scott! Good to hear you found it out. As always, some problems are way easier to fix than you can imagine when you first encounter it.
I am having my car done for an undercarriage rust protection next week. I will make sure they dont put any of that heavy stuff on the wheel and so on. Thanks for the good info!
I am having my car done for an undercarriage rust protection next week. I will make sure they dont put any of that heavy stuff on the wheel and so on. Thanks for the good info!
11/30/07, 10:33 AM
#139
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Hey Guys,
Well I am bringing this thread back as promised to give everyone the final trouble shooting to my steering wheel shimmy problem. In short I started this thread because I had a shimmy from my stock wheels and tires for about a year. It was minor but annoying. I purchased a set of Steeda wheels and Nitto's last Feb. and have been running them all summer and fall. So I finally had to put my stock wheels and tires last week for winter. I wanted to take them to get them re-balanced before installing them. But first I wanted to clean them up. Well in doing so I found the real problem causing the shimmy. When I bought my car I had it Zeibarted (undercoated) because I live in Ohio. What I discovered when I cleaned the wheels last week was on the inside of the wheel was a heavy build up of undercoating on about 1/3rd of the wheel. Well...duhhh. I cleaned this tar off all of the wheels and took them to be re-balanced. The stock balance job was off very little if any. The car runs as smooth as silk with the stock wheel and tires now. I really feel pretty stupid I didn't see the real problem earlier but I hope it may help someone else fix their problem.
Scott
Well I am bringing this thread back as promised to give everyone the final trouble shooting to my steering wheel shimmy problem. In short I started this thread because I had a shimmy from my stock wheels and tires for about a year. It was minor but annoying. I purchased a set of Steeda wheels and Nitto's last Feb. and have been running them all summer and fall. So I finally had to put my stock wheels and tires last week for winter. I wanted to take them to get them re-balanced before installing them. But first I wanted to clean them up. Well in doing so I found the real problem causing the shimmy. When I bought my car I had it Zeibarted (undercoated) because I live in Ohio. What I discovered when I cleaned the wheels last week was on the inside of the wheel was a heavy build up of undercoating on about 1/3rd of the wheel. Well...duhhh. I cleaned this tar off all of the wheels and took them to be re-balanced. The stock balance job was off very little if any. The car runs as smooth as silk with the stock wheel and tires now. I really feel pretty stupid I didn't see the real problem earlier but I hope it may help someone else fix their problem.
Scott
12/8/07, 02:54 PM
#140
I had the exact same issue when I got my Foose wheels. Take your wheels off and check your wheel studs. If there are little washer looking things with small tabs on them take them off. These are ised by the factory to keep the rotor on the car during assembly.
What this does for your aftermarket wheels is it keeps them from 100% mate up with your brake assembly.
Check it out and if you have them I gurantee that this will fix your issue.
- Jess
What this does for your aftermarket wheels is it keeps them from 100% mate up with your brake assembly.
Check it out and if you have them I gurantee that this will fix your issue.
- Jess
I was getting this same symptom, took my wheels off last night and removed all of these, turns out there was some rust forming under one of the front wheel flange surfaces (indicating improper sealing--WASHER!). Removed the washers, cleaned the rust off w/ PB Blaster, tested for 30 mins from speeds 60mph to 110mph
w/ no issues! 
I was ready to go to Discount Tire and have the balancing checked on all of my wheels/tires too!
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