EricL

Got shimmy?

I just experienced the “dreaded” wheel shake (shimmy) after a rotate and balance. I had to return and stand over the techs, and there is some info that might be of interest.

My tires/wheels were in balance (they were checked), yet the steering was doing a pretty nasty shake from 50-60MPH (after having a front-to-rear rotate and balance). So, what’s the fix?


I had the techs run the balancing all over again (with me standing over them) at the highest speed possible. (Minor change in weights on one wheel [weenie time…])

Biggest problem with some wheels (especially mine), is the hub centric ring doesn’t do much.

The fix (at least for me):

STAR pattern MUST BE used on the front wheels and it helps to put a “dab” of lithium soap base grease on the back of lug nuts. (it helps them seat perfectly – a little dab goes a long way)

The lug nuts must be hand tightened very slowly to insure that the wheel seats perfectly (there is enough play in the lug nuts to insure a bad case of the shakes if they don’t slowly step up the torque or at least make sure the nuts are “tight” before hitting the torque wrench.

After the “weenie-land” re-install of the wheels, the steering feel is “perfect” at all speeds and there is zero shimmy (smoooooth)!

AVI8TIR

what did you torque the lugs to?

EricL

80 lb-ft (that's the final torque of the wheel bolts).


The problem was with not "seating" the wheel and slowly increasing the torque to allow the bolts to seat "perfectly", thus insuring that the wheel is perfectly centered.

For example, it doesn't help to pay $$$ for a Hunter road force balance job if they don't seat the wheels with a lot of care!