Shellyduchsk8s

So my 09 AWD TL's steering wheel is shaking left to right whenever the car gets around 40 and continues as I drive faster. Someone said I needed an alignment, someone else said my tires needed to be balanced, and yet another person said my rim was bent/cracked.

The last one's the winner - something is wrong w/ my rim. Car is currently at the dealership getting assessed and w/ luck, repaired. Anyone have any experience getting a rim repaired/replaced? Cost? Time? Hassle?

Thanks!

MASK

Yep. My rim was cracked on Jeep at accident.
Leaked air and replaced w spare.
Then got replacment wheel and Tire from EBay.
The TPM came from dealer and was expensive.
Never had wheel re balanced or re aligned after ...
Sold it and bought MDX !

HeartTLs

iTrader: (5)

Wheels repair takes no more than a few hours and if the shop is busy a day at most. I haven't gone since getting my 4G but Dunn Sport wheel repair in NYC charges 150.

potmilkz

um.. questions.

have you done any suspension mods?
after market rims? or stock wheels?

got into any accidents lately? hit any potholes?

you need to give us more details than just "steering wheel shaking!"

Shellyduchsk8s

No mods, stock wheels, no accidents, and I drive around MD and DE, so I'm sure I've come across a pot hole or two, but none that I remember being particularly jarring.

Edward'TLS

Pot holes are major rim benders. Even may look innocent, but pot holes can damage rims when driven over at speed, especially if the tires are under-inflated.

TLtrigirl

iTrader: (1)

repair will be $150-200. replace...how much does the dealer like you? lol.

certainly potholes can be the buggers that ding your rim. maybe you'll get lucky and you only threw a wheel weight.

your dealer will help you out (you like them). nothing major. now if they fix the wheel and balance the tire correctly and you still have vibrations...then you're looking at other stuff. however....let's cross that bridge when we need to.

swoosh

iTrader: (5)

^^^ it would be a big thing as a bent/cracked rim.....

or something smaller like a bubble/cup in the tire....either of those things will lead to vibrations.....

well it could be axle as well or hubcentric rings (but you said you have stock rims so ignore this)

Treblig

I would have the tires checked first.

AzNTLBoI37

It could be number of things wrong with the car could be your pinion rack, balance or road forge balance and alignment, ball joint, inner or outer tie rod, hub bearing, new tire, and so on. only way to know to to get down and dirty my friend so good luck buddy.

Shellyduchsk8s

Thanks for all the responses. Ended up being a cracked rim, beyond repair.

New rim, balance, rotation = $400 Haven't heard about needing a new tire (keeping my fingers crossed I don't, as I planned on replacing all 4 of them in Nov/Dec of this year)

TLtrigirl

iTrader: (1)

eek! luckily it didn't leave you stranded or worse.

HeartTLs

iTrader: (5)

Beyond repair.. According to who? Post pictures please.

swoosh

iTrader: (5)

WOW couple people diagnosed this problem on POINT !!! PROPS TO ALL....

OP glad you came back and updated with the fix....let us know how it goes....

Shellyduchsk8s

Getting the rim back from the dealership when I pick up my car - and yes, thankfully this didn't have an alternate (worse) ending. The service tech was amazed nothing happened in the 3 weeks I've been driving around w/ the shake. Blaming this on a pothole... and I don't even drive that many "town" roads - almost all my driving is highway miles.

Thanks again for all the posts - I'll snap a pic of the rim whenever I get my car back (which should be today, but we'll see as I have yet to hear from anyone from the service dept this morning).

Shellyduchsk8s

Shellyduchsk8s

Shellyduchsk8s

$250 for a new rim, $80 for an alignment, $25 for labor and $45 to get assessed prior to replacing it all.

swoosh

iTrader: (5)

$400 for a new OEM rim from the dealership with warranty doesnt sound too bad....but i dont have a lot of experience with dealerships as a dont like them....

why dont you look into aftermarket options....???

Shellyduchsk8s

Rim was only $250 - and I needed my car back ASAP. I didn't have the time to research aftermarket options. But I don't think $250 is too bad, and you're correct, it does come w/ a warranty.

TLtrigirl

iTrader: (1)

damn. you did a number on that rim. and $250...that's not too shabby.

swoosh

iTrader: (5)

LOL i just added all the numbers you posted (out the door)....but yeah not too bad plus your getting your car back ASAP

Edward'TLS

A $250 brand new 18" OEM rim from the dealership is a very good price indeed.

Even a single aftermarket rim costs around this much, and to go aftermarket you'll have to replace all fours.

Shellyduchsk8s

Now that I'm looking at the photos, yeah, I did I blame the potholes at the U of Delaware campus!

And I didn't think $250 was terrible either, I figured I'd be dropping at least $400 for JUST the rim. Glad that was the entire total Now I have to take my car to the "rim doctor" to shine up the rest of them!

potmilkz

HOLD UP!!!!!!

your telling me you couldnt see this when you did a walk around on your car? this obviously bent lip did not stand out to you at all??????????????????

HeartTLs

iTrader: (5)

I'm also surprised you didn't notice that damage during a look around it also equally surprised that's not repairable. A while ago I had a wheel repaired that took damage from me being forced to mount a curb at 30mph. The rim took pretty bad damage at the point of impact to say the least, it was repaired and restored to OEM condition. I wouldn't be surprised if whoever diagnosed that wheel isn't repairable had 1) no motivation to repair it/ulterior reasons not to.

weather

Shelly....Glad to see your rim got replaced and it was nothing more serious. Its amazing the damage potholes can do on vehicles and the cost they inflict on their owners. I will agree with others, this was a fairly extensive damage but the cost to replace the rim was extremely reasonable.

Thanks for showing us the pics as its always make it easier to visualize the damage. Nice shoes by the way

potmilkz

the shoes are white and pink.. i hope these were not your shoes..

eazy

iTrader: (8)

Shes a girl what did you expect high heels?

Sorry to hear about your bent wheel. Good thing you got it replaced riding on cracked wheels is no joke

NwTSXmt

Nice ankles..just kidding...it fixed now just press on

Bearcat94

Shellyduchsk8s

Thanks for the compliment on the shoes

And yes, stating the fact that I am a girl, I did not notice the damage to the rim - how was I supposed to know what I was looking for to begin w/? This is why, as a girl, I have a father that has knowledge of cars. He picked up on the bent rim, and told me to get my ass to the dealership.

All is good now, and I am avoiding pot holes like it's my new job