2011 mustang v6, had my tires balanced multiple times by multiple different places.... and i still get a steering wheel shimmy/shake at highway speeds, it gets much worse with advancetrac off.... apparently there was some sort of TSB for this...? maybe not... but some people have suggested that it turned out to be an EPAS problem and is fixed by an ECU flash. anybody have any more info? or is anybody able to confirm this? thanks

 

Shimmy, shimmy, ko-ko bop, shimmy, shimmy, bop!

Take it to the dealer and get them to check it out, that's what the warranty is for.

 

Did you change your tires or wheels? or did this start with the original ones on?

 

i have taken it to the dealer and obviously they cant replicate the problem, ive also had it balanced by them and several other places... still no success... the wheels and tires are the original pony package 18inch wheels and pirelli tires... in the winter i ran different rims and tires... but they were identical spec to what came on the car stock.... im going to the dealer on friday, i just wanted to be armed with the most info possible

 

You are gonna have to go ride with a tech. Make sure he feels the shimmy. Is it speed specific or does it do it at all hwy speeds?

 

Have them do a road force balance. Most dealers are Soposed to do this but don't. Have a feeling the tire itself is the source of the problem.

 

Does it do it with the winter tires and wheels?

Have you done a front to rear tire rotation and if so did that change anything?

If it does it no matter which tire/wheel is in which ever position then it is not the tires and wheels.

 

Does the steering wheel shake/shimmy happen all the time, or only during the first 5-minutes of driving?

Also, as someone else asked, does the shaking change any when the tires are rotated front/rear?

 

I have had the tires road forced balanced... from what i remember this problem was not consistent when i was running my winter rims and tires... although it could have been there and could have gone unnoticed but... i think it was ok... Now when i went in for the first service (oil change, tire rotation etc) they swapped my two front tires with my two rear tires.... so they rotated them and switched the fronts for the rears... i believe this is when the problem started happening... the shimmy occurs at around 50 mph and onwards...on some days its worse than others... My question is what would the rotation of the tires have to do with this if they are properly balanced? The balance has been done several times and has been confirmed by several shops as dead on perfect... so would a rotation really have an effect on the issue if the tires are already balanced to begin with?

 

[QUOTE=Ltngdrvr;6139790]Shimmy, shimmy, ko-ko bop, shimmy, shimmy, bop! [QUOTE]

hahahaa that is what I was saying while the thread was loading

 

ill explain why it can effect a shimmy by rotating. think of an oval. you can balance one to spin perfectly still above the ground. the machine would say its good. but when you put it on the car, the car shimmy's because the tire is out of round even though the balance is perfect. also bad tread wear could cause the issue. by rotating them you move a tire that is potentially "out of round" to the rear eliminating the front end shimmy. now a road force balance is supposed to pick up a "out of round" tire and warn you that the tire road force exceeds the specs that it was designed for. hope this helps

 

Just because the tires balanced doesn't mean anything. The tires could have a flat spot, could be out of round, could have a tread seperation, and lastly, you could have a warped wheel, bent wheel, or out of round wheel.

All of the problems I just listed above will not prevent the tire/wheel from being properly spin balanced, but will be noticeable in the steering wheel at speed. You can easily confirm by re-rotating the tires front to rear again. If the problem disappears, than you know the problem lies somewhere within two wheels and tires.

If you've done any burnouts, doughnuts, power slides, or locked the rear tires with the hand brake before they were rotated to the front, there is a good chance you have a flat spot in the tire, which will cause havoc with the steering wheel.

I suggest going to Discount Tire and have then check the run-out on the tire and wheel, both on the sides and circumference, while also checking for flat spots or tread seperations in the tire.

Just because your car is under warranty doesn't mean you have to rely on the Ford Service Centers to resolve the problem.

 

Yeah, the point is that if you swap the tires/wheels front to rear and the problem goes away then you have narrowed the problem down by 50%, you know the problem is in those two wheels.

The next thing to do after getting the run out checked is to dismount the tires and put them back on but on a different wheel than they were on and check them again, may clear the problem up.

 

Hi xtc.inc,

My name is Deysha with Ford Customer Service. I agree with the other members… you should bring this up to your dealer’s attention and have them diagnose your vehicle. Also, I encourage you to private message me with your contact info, VIN, dealer, and mileage so I can escalate this to your Customer Service Manager in your zone.

Deysha