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I had enough of shaking wheels!

4K views 31 replies 18 participants last post by  YOOT 
#1 ·
OK - for the last three months I have spents hundreds of dollars trying to iron out wheel vibes in my mags. Ever since I've had them (second hand) they have been causing trouble. Now, I have not yet had them fully inspected for all sorts of wierd things that can go wrong (like hub centres, eliptical running etc) and will do shortly.

Now, what can cause steering wheel shudders at 80km/h+ and rear wheel shudders 80km/h+ ?

I have had on car balances, wheel balances, allignments you name it, and I still ahve this problem. they best its been is at about 110 you can only just feel it vibe, but 115" and you got 10mm shudder in the steering wheel.

Is there something seriously farked with me ED, are the mags seriously farked, or is my steerin rack rooted, something loose? Wheels bearings have been tightened so it houldn't be an issue.

What gives, nothing else turns at high speed. I fI don't solve this I will sell the car because its that bad. And I didn't have this problem with the standard rims.

HELP SAVE THE FORD!
 
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#2 ·
One thing you might want to check is the actual balance of your tyres. When I had my toyos fitted (almost up for replacement now) I remember watching the guy fit them. He fitted the tyre, and then rotated it on the rim and got an almost perfect balance before using the smallest weight to finish it.

Maybe you have already checked it but that's all I can think of

Cheers

Paul B
XR6WGN
 
#3 ·
94ED_Fairmont said:
Is there something seriously farked with me ED, are the mags seriously farked, or is my steerin rack rooted, something loose? Wheels bearings have been tightened so it houldn't be an issue.

What gives, nothing else turns at high speed. I fI don't solve this I will sell the car because its that bad. And I didn't have this problem with the standard rims.

HELP SAVE THE FORD!
94ED,

Ok , its isnt all that hard to find out if the vibration is caused by your wheels or a fault in the suspension/steering system.

Go out and borrow a set of balanced steel wheels , or any wheels for that matter - can be 14' , 12' 17' , dosent matter. Fit them and go for a drive. If it turns out your car is fine (no vibration with new wheels- dah) sell the wheels , if its the car keep the wheels and sell the car!

It aint that hard!
 
#4 ·
What brand are the tyres? I've had bulk problems with Goodyear separation causing just this - sometimes it's only just detectable by eye but it gives a mighty vibration back through the steering wheel. Also it seems to manifest itself as a balance problem - there's a critical speed at which is at it's worst - but you can drive out of it. I've heard that Firestone & Dunlop are as bad. I'll be going back to good Jap tyres from now on - it's just not worth the hassle.
 
#5 ·
No probs with the std rims makes it really sound like the mags / tyres on the mags are the problem . . . ( could triple check by borrowing a 3rd set of wheels and checking they don't cause an issue . . )

Regardless of whether the elliptical / hub testing on the mags shows a problem, why don't you just give them the flick ?

If their second hand, who knows what they've been up to previously, also if second hand hopefully they didn't cost that much ?

I'd get rid of em . . seems crazy to change your car when you could change your wheels instead . . .
 
#6 ·
i dunno what my wheels are like in terms of shaking, but my steering wheel can vibrate a bit at times, only over about 80km/h and it won't always happen, i just live with it.
when i lower it, things will be adjusted so maybe that'll fix it :p
 
#7 ·
I only paid $600 fo rthe rims, but I also payed $400 for tyres so its $1000 all up. Maybe I can sell them and get some 17" for about $1500.

I am worried though that it could be something to do with the suspension. Where's the best place to take the car to get that sort of thing checked? After I get the wheels analysed ofcourse!
 
#8 ·
Do you have lock nuts and if so are they roughly the same dimesion as the other 4 nuts,
When I bought a set of lock nuts 6 months ago they were half the size of the factory ford mag wheel nut and the car vibrated like hell.
Got new larger lock nuts which you cant balance when fitting tyres and its perfect .now
 
#10 ·
My suggestion is get yourself a set of stock 15inch wheels with standard size tyres and also some normal wheel nuts (all of them). Put them on and go for a drive and you will know what it is!

Also why have you got five locknuts on each wheel? And all different too, thats a bit silly IMO.

Good luck with it.
 
#11 ·
How old are the tyres? If they have been on a car that is parked in one spot for a while and have been low on pressure it will distort them so that they are out of round. A wheel balance wont necessarily fix it as the tyre's shape is the problem not the balance.
I have had similar problems with a set of old Globe mags in the past and one issue I found was that as they were big centre wheels on small centre hubs the nuts were holding all the weight. The mags would move slightly on the studs and that would cause intermittant vibrations also.
 
#12 ·
Yeah I must say the vibrations are intermittent. I find that if you load up the wheels, like my goign round a curve at high speed it stops, and generally its fine when you're in a straight line, but as you move the steering wheel off centre in either direction it wobbles, then stays that way sometimes and stops others.

I don't know why I have 5 lock nuts on each wheel. They just come with it that way. I assume you mean lock nut as in it has a funny shaped head you need a key to remove them.

The tyres are 6 months old, but they are cheap ones. I too started to feel that the tyres could be the trouble.
 
#13 ·
Dude, the first place i would suspect is the problem, is your tyres. Its a good idea when troubleshooting vibrations to start with what contacts the road and work back. Take your wheels off, and check your tyres dont have any bulges on the fire wall and especially somewhere around the tread (bulges there will make a bad vibration which possibly cannot pick up in wheel balancing) Cheap tyres will often do that. Then check the tyres tread wear, see if it feathers ( rub it one way around tread its smooth, rub it other way its got sharpish edges) this may indicate your wheel alignment is out. Then check your mags on a wheel balancer, even if some balancing machines read balanced perfect, their only conteracting any imperfections the wheel has. It still can have a buckle or something, need to see for yourself before you waste anymore money. Then if all this is fine, i'd be checking for loose suspension joints etc, even maybe your driveshaft could have a bad vibration, more so at higher speed. But as others have said, fit another set of wheels on first, check your wheel's tyres when their off. I doubt very much your wheel/lock nuts would cause a problem as their towards the centre of the wheel ( maybe unless, coz you've got 5 lock nuts on each wheel, they may be quite different in size/weight.) Hope this is of some help.
 
#14 ·
I will put money on the tyres being the problem. And don't be fooled - it's not just "cheap" ones - my Goodyear NCT-3's that have given so much trouble aren't "cheap" - they were voted one of the best passenger car tyres in the year I bought them - obviously the car magazines didn't use them for more than 6 months cos that when all the trouble starts. And remember just because you paid more does not mean you get more - it just means you paid more......
 
#17 ·
TYRES, CHECK THE TYRES FIRST!!! I had major steering wheel vibration problems years ago on my Toyota.
I tried everything, balance, wheel alignment, i even swapped the rims with a known good set and the vibration problem still persisted.
In the end, after trying everything else, i swapped the almost new FIRESTONE tyres, with a set of brand new retreads (fitted for $70):evilidea: ............................................, and guess what?
NO more EVIL BASTID wheel shake!
All i can say is, "i will NEVER EVER use FIRESTONE tyres on any of my cars EVER AGAIN!" :pow: :bang: :not:
 
#19 ·
OK - well the problem started once they got their greasy hands on my car, so I not inclined to keep going back there. I will try to swap the rims from my mates EL and see how it goes, he'll drive his car too and see what happens.

Hopefully its just the tyres, because it wouldn't be too expensive to get some new ones cmpared to new mags AND tyres!
 
#20 ·
ED take it to a place called T.S.R in springwood they handle a lot of race cars and hi-perforance road cars. i had a lot of front end dramas and they fixed the lot for very little cost. i have since sent a lot of people to them and all have walked away happy::hy:
 
#21 ·
Your front wheel bearings could be dicked, I'm pretty sure mine are and my steering wheel started vibrating when i put the brakes on at over 100km/h. very weird i must say, but i think it's my front wheel bearings. How much would it cost to get new ones installed on the front?
PS: 94ed, i'm not hijaking your thread, this could be your problem to.
Cheers
Mason.
 
#22 ·
Thats ok mate - but I too have suspision it could be the bearings. They are supposed to be repacked at 120,000kms service and I know mine didn't get done. I hade my font left one loose a few weeks ago but I tightened it up.

Amiers thanks for the tip! I'll give them a call and see what they can do for me.
 
#26 ·
OK - thanks for your help guys, I been speaking to a mate of mine who seems to think because my car is comming up to 140,000kms its about time the wheels bearings need a look at because I know they haven't been touched all their life.

Its apparently very rare for the mag and tyre to cause such a problem if they are balanced too. Something to think about as well.

The back brakes are farked too but thats another issue :wank2:

I'll let you know as soon as I get away from uni to have a good look at the old girl!
 
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