Steering wheel jiggles.

[moparman53]

I've alluded to this on other threads and gotten no definitive answer, so I'll try it this way. Since I had the BFG G-Force KDWS 245/55-18s put on, I occasionally get a slight steering wheel jiggle. I only notice it when the car has sat for several areas and I'm accelerating "right smartly". I attribute it to one of three things;
1. loose lug nuts
2. out of balance rims
3. rough road

I never noticed it with the Contis, but they were at the wearbar, so they were essentially slicks. What do you guys (and gals) think.

Thanks.

[hemiwagn]

no way it is loose lug nuts. if they were loose, there would be a lot of noise and a lot of vibration (in an earlier life i had a wheel fall off because i did not tighen the lug nuts)

to help the diagnosis:
does the feeling go away once the tires warm up? (i have some vibration in my pirelli ice and snow scorpions when the car sits after it has been running on the highway). Goes away when the tires warm. It is because the tires temporarily 'flat spot' a wee bit -kind of like the old nylon belted tires of old).

if not, does it happen at a certain speed range?

[RandomAccess]

Send a PM to Ernie at Avon...

[CDG]

When you had tires mounted at Discount tire did you have them balanced on Hunter 9700 gsp balance?

Carlos

[moparman53]

When you had tires mounted at Discount tire did you have them balanced on Hunter 9700 gsp balance?

Carlos

I'll need to check. I know I paid extra for some kinda "computer" balance.

And, yeah, it only does it cold. I was told these tires didn't "Flat spot".

[CDG]

pm me and let me know which discount tire you went too i deal with one where i know someone and know a manager at another store

[northeastern08]

my 20"ers get a slight vibration at about 65-75, but that is probably a different problem all together

[ChargerOsix]

My Zenettis' used to give a little shake when the car got up to speed. I took off the eight retaining clips that hold each rotor in place and no more shimmy. Hubcentric rings are a must as well. With the two and the right tire pressure, the wheels should roll like stock. Even with the 5x114.3 bolt pattern which is what I have.

[caveman]

FYI, I just put on BFG KDWS 245/55/18 2 days ago on my magnum and they had some vibration. It was worse at certain speeds so I figured that the balance was off. Sure enough, when they put them back on a different machine the balance was way off. If these tire installers don't keep up on the balancers and have them calibrated on a regular basis the balance will be off. Additionally, the continetal is an HR rated tire with a sidewall that has more flex thus a cushier ride. The BFG is ZR and is much more stiff so al those bumps are more noticeable. However, I'll take the bumps because thre is no comparison on the corners. Good luck and make sure the balance is good.

[done]

FYI, I just put on BFG KDWS 245/55/18 2 days ago on my magnum and they had some vibration. It was worse at certain speeds so I figured that the balance was off. Sure enough, when they put them back on a different machine the balance was way off. If these tire installers don't keep up on the balancers and have them calibrated on a regular basis the balance will be off. Additionally, the continetal is an HR rated tire with a sidewall that has more flex thus a cushier ride. The BFG is ZR and is much more stiff so al those bumps are more noticeable. However, I'll take the bumps because thre is no comparison on the corners. Good luck and make sure the balance is good.

Welcome to the forum. Tell us more about your car and yourself. It sounds like you have been paying attention. By the way, we need pictures!!!

[Magne300Csium]

I've got a wobble at the same speed...but goes away after about a mile or so. I had someone balance the front tires on the car using his feel and experienc. That made a big difference.I happen to think that these cars are very sensitive with regard to the front end.

[l1tech]

I had an ongoing problem with my 20's. When you would accelerate hard the steering wheel would start to oscillate at around 50 mph but would then go away, if you accelerated normally there was no problem. I also had a very very slight vibration at around 70. The shop that I got the tires and wheels from is an actual shop that "specializes" in wheel and tires and they do nothing else. After they looked the car over and match balanced all 4 wheels and tires the problem was still there. Next they custom made some hub centric rings out of aluminum to replace the hard plastic ones. This made things a little better but it was still there. Well one day I had my car in the shop..I am a mechanic..and on the lift and I gave one of the front tires a spin and noticed that it had just the slightest hop to it, I have seen some that are much worse and never posed a problem, so I pulled the tires off of the car and put them on our Hunter road force balancer and they ran true. I then took off the aluminum centering ring and put the plastic one on, put they tire back on, but the hop was still there. I pulled the tire off again and removed the hub centric ring and remounted the wheel back on the car and now the hop is gone. I did this with the rest of the wheels and now the car rides as smooth as glass. In my opinion the wheels are lug centric, meaning that they center on the wheel studs and not on the hub center and therefore do not require the hub centering rings. But then again why do some people say that all their problems were cured by adding the hub centric rings..I don't know..this is just what worked on my car!!

[miked]

i had this problem too the fix for me was
after about 5 trys with the hunter road force i gave up on that
and found a shop that still did blancing the tire on the car

man let me tell you smoth as glass are not the words to use for how well my car rides now

its kind of funny the guy who did the work was about 70 years old when i told him what was happing
he sad no problem. had the car on up in the air for about 15 min did 2 front tires said have a good day
i said are you going to test drive it he said why i know it will drive right
he set a small bottle of water on the fender while he was doing it when he was done the water did not move in the bottle
he said that was all he needed to see

man was he right

there is a lot to be said for older people that have 40 years on the job !!!!

[moparman53]

I've pretty much come to the conclusion that the road condition has a lot to do with it, especially when it's (the tires) cold. I was going in to work today right after sunrise and noticed the roads are really not all that smooth.

[moparman53]

Finally got a little time and went back to Discount Tire. They weren't busy at all, so I got it on the lift very quickly. I bet I was in and out of there in less than 30 minutes. The Asst. Mgr. remembered me and got things moving right away. He's trying to talk me into a set of Foose Nitrous. They said the balance was off a little and I had 42 PSI in them. Time to get a new gauge, I guess. It rides it ought to now, no shimmy at all.

[franko]

Do Mag SRT8's have these hub centric ring things?

I've had nothing but nightmares with vibrations. The dealer which has been great has:-
Balanced

Balanced again

Replaced front rotors and pads. (New compound, Less dust theoretically but they now sqeal a bit :roll:) This was done as I had a very bad shimmy on the steering wheel on medium braking from 50mph or above.

Road force balanced twice

Replaced drive shaft

Now it has a lower amplitude but higher frequency vibration that start at about 60mph

Going back in on Monday again. Any suggestions new suggestions welcome.

[quarky42]

Regaring initial post: I concur with balance or flat spot. Even if a tire is not supposed to develop a flat spot, if you are only seeing the behavior when the tires are cold and have sat for a while, that supports balance and flat spot.

What about tire pressure? If the pressure is a little low, isn't it possible for the behavior to go away when the tire heats up and the pressure builds a little bit? Try adding 1 or 2PSI and see if that makes any difference?

Just an amateur POV.

Edit: Oh drat, nevermind. I should read the whole thread before chiming in. Sorry. Glad you got it worked out. Balance can be a real biznitch.

[moparman53]

Regaring initial post: I concur with balance or flat spot. Even if a tire is not supposed to develop a flat spot, if you are only seeing the behavior when the tires are cold and have sat for a while, that supports balance and flat spot.

What about tire pressure? If the pressure is a little low, isn't it possible for the behavior to go away when the tire heats up and the pressure builds a little bit? Try adding 1 or 2PSI and see if that makes any difference?

Just an amateur POV.

Edit: Oh drat, nevermind. I should read the whole thread before chiming in. Sorry. Glad you got it worked out. Balance can be a real biznitch.

Yeah, it's a whole 'nother car now.