Vibration through steering wheel and up through car

Pete123456

So I bought my car last October and about two weeks later I ended up putting two front tyres on it and rotating the fronts to the back. When I drove the car in the dual carriageway after leaving the tyre place, the steering wheel had a shake that I hadn't noticed before. I questioned the tyre places balancing and they rebalanced them but the shake still appeared to be there.

They looked at the wheels as they spun them and said they were slightly buckled. This would cause the shake. I asked why they wouldn't have shaken before and they said because the old tyre would have conformed with the buckle when it happened.

Does this sound right? I don't notice a shake until about 80kmh and at 120 it's fairly bad. Both through the steering wheel and up through the car.

At the moment I'm doing huge mileage and the shake is starting to bug me. My main question is do you think buckling could be the cause? Also, I've looked at alloy repair places. Wheel fix.ie (ballyneety tyres) agreed to 30 a wheel. Will this fix them 100%? Also is this a durable repair or will they just buckle again over time?

Sorry about the long thread but I'm cautious about spending 120 quid for nothing if they're not buckled

biko

Yes, buckled rims will cause vibrations in car and steering wheel, I've had it myself. My "fix" was putting the buckled rim on the rear.

They will buckle only if you smash into a kerb or similar. A fix should last forever... until you hit a kerb/pothole too fast.

Not DIY, moved to main forum.

Pete123456

biko wrote: »

Yes, buckled rims will cause vibrations in car and steering wheel, I've had it myself. My "fix" was putting the buckled rim on the rear.

Ok. It made sense when they explained it. They said there were 2 fairly buckled and one slightly. Not sure but think the two bad are on the left front and back and the slightly then is on the back.


Is my only option to get em repaired? And is the fix permanent or does it weaken the wheel?

irish bloke

These wheels are generally cast alloy unless you get really expensive ones that are made from billet Aluminum. - Repair unless completed by a very skilled technician will most likely change the mechanical properties of the Alloy.

That said, It s difficult to gauge the impact of this change and I have more than one repaired alloy on my car.

As previously mentioned the buckled wheel will cause vibration if really bad. Normally balancing can compensate for this.

Maybe get the 2 bad buckles repaired and changed to the rear and see can the slight buckle be corrected and used at the front. - Put the one with the slight buckle on the drivers front (if it can be balanced) as passenger side wheels see more potholes (ditches etc...)

Nekarsulm

Pete123456 wrote: »

and they said because the old tyre would have conformed with the buckle when it happened.

This part sounds like BS to me.
You don't tell us what your car is, but if you could get a pair of second-hand rims that were straight, and matched your existing rims it might be cheaper.

GustavoFring

If the shake wasn't there beforehand it's possible it could be tyre related. I've swapped cheaper tyres off cars and it cured vibrations and noised. Alternatively they my not have balanced them correctly.

Nekarsulm

Good point, Gustavo. The OP doesn't tell us if he actually fitted new tyres or secondhands.

colm_mcm

Would be interesting to see what brand they are.

Del2005

GustavoFring wrote: »

If the shake wasn't there beforehand it's possible it could be tyre related. I've swapped cheaper tyres off cars and it cured vibrations and noised. Alternatively they my not have balanced them correctly.

The OP swapped the back wheels to the front, most likely the damaged wheels where on the back for a reason.

What tyres where put on the car? Some of the cheaper tyres can be difficult to balance on a good wheel, bad tyres on a bad wheel could be impossible to balance. Also check to make sure that the weights are still attached.

H3llR4iser

If the wheel rotates balanced on the machine, it's almost certainly the wheel - as you had the rear ones brought forward, you're now getting a vibration that wasn't noticeable when the rim was on the rear axle.

Alternatively, there could be some suspension or steering link play that wasn't noticeable before and has been exacerbated by the new tires - assuming they are new and not part-worn. If for example, the old tires weren't inflated to specification pressures, they might have "dampened" the effect. It's a check that your mechanic can do in minutes by just lifting the car on the inspection bridge.

Pete123456

The two tyres i got were new and i think theyre Keter or something like that. I think ive had that brand before and found them to be grand, albeit on a steel wheel.

Basically i had the new tyres put on and the balancing done. Then i started to feel the vibration and they rebalanced all four. After that there was still a shake and they put the bad wheels on the passenger front and back i think.

before i looked at repair i looked at replacing them with new ones but when i saw theyre 200+ new i stopped looking. I would consider buying a pair of second hand replacements but ive also read that ford alloys can buckle easily.

Its a focus and theyre 16"