Wheel Balancing

Diapason

Hi folks,

First post for me here, so hello all.

Right, down to business. I've been plagued by steering wheel wobble between 80 and 110 kph that I'm pretty sure is a simple wheel balancing issue. I've tried to get it sorted in a few places so far and each time I've been told "Ah yeah, the balancing was way out before", only to have the same problem next time I'm on a motorway. A bit of reading around suggests that I need to find somewhere that will either balance the wheels on the car, or mount the wheels on the balancing machine using the 5 lugnuts rather than the centre hole. Does anyone know where I might find somebody who can offer either one of these services (and who actually knows what they're doing!)

Ta muchly,

Si

TheBigLebowski

I'm no expert now but as far as I know you have to get the tracking done to fix this. Had the same problem myself and got it sorted only last week.

jayok

Might I suggest may be it's not the balancing?

I too had this problem years ago with new alloys I put onto a car. The wheels were balanced a total of 9 times in all - it was pretty much me acusing the mechanic of not doing it properly. In the end it turned out that one of the alloys was not perfectly round and as such gave a wobble in the steering wheel at higher speeds (like you suggest).

Just a thought.

Seth Brundle

Take it to someone who will investigatye properly. You could have tracking or component wear manifesting itself as this.
You don't mention your location but if possible try Dave McCann in Clonsilla and discuss it with them.

MercMad

Tracking and balancing do n ot relate to eachother. Tracking will never cause a vibration, unless the track rods are hanging out of the yoke !

The above comment about alloys is good advice. A lot of "universal" alloys do not sit correctly on the hub and rely solely upon the nuts or bolts to centralise the wheel, which can be a bit hit and miss to say the elast. this means you can have perfectly balanced wheels on a machine, then they will wobble when fitted, or shortly after !

Also sometimes the disc (front) or drum( rear) retaining screw can interfere with the boss on the wheels again causing a wobble.

Finally you could have a damaged rim of flatspotted tyre. You need to go to someone and explain the problem you are having. Dont just call to a "good" garage and ask for wheels to be balanced !

Diapason

For a variety of reasons, I'm a little reluctant to go back to Dave McCann. That's actually where the problem started, and a few others besides, so I've kinda lost confidence. Maybe I was just unlucky, but one way or the other I'd prefer to try somewhere else. In any case, when I got the tyres there the tracking was done and was fine.

The warped wheel suggestion could indeed be the problem, and I'm going to have that checked out, but this kinda leads back to my question of where to find someone who actually knows what they're doing. I've read quite a few posts on the (UK based) owners club site that suggest balancing the wheels using the wheel nuts as mountings rather than the centre hole, since this is a common problem with these wheels (they're the standard 17" Lexus IS alloys). I suppose suppose that's why I still think it's a balancing issue first and foremost, or at the very least I'd like to get the checked using the suggested method before I do anything else. Of course, it may end up being something else, but I want to exhaust the simpler stuff first.

Thanks for all the suggestions. Keep them coming!

Si

MercMad

Well you could jack up the side of the car and swop the front wheel to the rear ( it IS rear wheel drive isn't it ) and actually run the car in gear and observe what the wheel is doing. You may visibly see a buckle or hop in the tyre. Obviously do it one side at a time and ensure you have the car secured properly on a jack or preferably axle stands.

Dont attempt to do it without stands and certainly dont get under a car that isn't supported with stands. ( Just stating the bleedin' obvious here )

BTW sometimes people insist upon having their weights glued tothe inside of the wheel, for cosmetic reasons, however dynamicaly this leads to an inferior balance especially with larger, and possibly very light wheels !

ciarsd

Diapason wrote:

For a variety of reasons, I'm a little reluctant to go back to Dave McCann. That's actually where the problem started, and a few others besides, so I've kinda lost confidence. Maybe I was just unlucky,

ive also the same opinion of this place after past experiences

i know its not directly related to your symptoms but have you looked at the possibility of a warped brake disc? more commonly noticed during braking of course, especially at dual carriageway/motorway speeds.

stratos

Through many years of motoring this is a problem that has plagued me.
It generally only has 2 ansewers.

1) Is that the original steel wheels are in use and the toe of the front wheels needs adjustment, the vibration is usually over a very narrow speed range.

2 ) After market alloys have been used without plastic centering rings.

Most after market alloys are hub-centric, that means the hub centres them not the nuts. A plastic hub centering ring is needed on each wheel.

unkel

Diapason wrote:

For a variety of reasons, I'm a little reluctant to go back to Dave McCann. That's actually where the problem started, and a few others besides, so I've kinda lost confidence

I'm surprised about that. I've dealt with Dave a few times and he was sound as a euro. Did me good deals too

monster1

i'm having the same prob.got new tires put on at the weekend,he done the tracking and balanced the wheel, the steering wheel is vibrating very badly now from 35mph upto 60mph.
there was no vibrating before he put the new tires on, very annoying when driving.would it need to be balanced again?

Diapason

unkel wrote:

I'm surprised about that. I've dealt with Dave a few times and he was sound as a euro. Did me good deals too

As I say, maybe I was just unlucky. In any case, it's an awkward place for me to get to during the week (I'm based in Dun Laoghaire and work in town) and the traffic (aka carpark) on the M50 is too mad for me to deal with at peak times.

Still, I'm surprised that there aren't other good tyre/wheel places that people can suggest. Surely there are other places out there who have the right tools and the right people to operate them? Have Kwik Fit/Advance completely swallowed the market? What I need to find is someone like this -- http://wheels-inmotion.co.uk -- but based a little closer than Watford...

Part of my annoyance on this is the fact that when I went to one of the Advance Pitstops of this world, the guys spent most of the time (when they thought I was out of earshot) taking the p*ss out of my tyres for being *too good* if you don't mind. Comments such as "For the price he paid for those he could have got new 15" wheels and new rubber all round" etc. Is it too much to expect a little professionalism? Does *anyone* take pride in their work any more?

Si

TheBigLebowski

What about Fast Fit (formerly Kwik Fit)?

mmenarry

I would strongly suggest Blake's Cross Tyre centre, up near Lusk - 01-8437346

Almost everyone in MX5Ireland uses them, very good service. Other end of the county I know, but should be a clear run up there one saturday morning for you.

The MX5 suffers from a characteristic "shimmy" at almost exactly 65mph if not 100% balanced, got two rear tyres replaced a couple of months ago, and the shimmy was gone - menaing that the tyres (both sides) had been balanced to within 1/16th of an ounce of perfection. Most equipment is good to get within 1/8th of an ounce if done correctly.

Michael

Diapason

Thanks Michael, that's exactly the kind of info I'm looking for. Obviously if I can find somewhere closer to home I will, but Lusk is easily manageable some Saturday.

Cheers,

Si

Can I hijack this thread for a semi related problem..

In my ford focus if I break hard the wheel vibrates slightly..
Not a huge thing but still.. any ideas?

fletch

unkel wrote:

I'm surprised about that. I've dealt with Dave a few times and he was sound as a euro. Did me good deals too

I've found him to be rude on every occasion I've ever dealt with him