When my car is cold, I get wheel shake even at 30mph, then it goes away... When driving on the highway, I can keep the speed constant at 73mph and the wheel will shake about 0.5 inch to an inch back and forth rapidly... which would make me think the tires are out of balance, but the odd thing is, I can drive at constant speed and it goes away for 20-30 seconds or so and then it comes back - even on smooth pavement and constant speed.

I still figured it had to be a balance issue so I had the wheels rebalanced, but no change. Tire pressure is good too. My car also needs a slight adjustment to its alignment, but I'm told that alignment problems can't cause this so what can?

Any help is appreciated

 

possibly a bent wheel that comes and goes in balance...otherwise, I dont know man...I have had interesting problems with this subject in the past...its really annoying isnt it??

 

It's very annoying - I have confidence that I'm still in control of the car, but it's no fun when your main point of contact with the drive train is making your hands numb!

But say it is a bent wheel, how could in come and go in balance?

 

It could be slightly bent to where at times, its ok, and others (when you upset the tire/rim contact a bit) its not. Its AMAZINGLY annoying and one of my LARGEST pet-peeves about cars. I would say to have that looked at...as for other things that COULD be an issue but most likely arent could be your bushings, wheel bearing (but you would hear whooshing) or something along those lines. I would say to switch wheels and tires with someone if you can, and see if you still have the problem.

 

Dismount the tire and check for water inside. While it's cold and liquid
it could cause lousy balance problems, but when hot and evaporated
it will not have any effect. When they rebalance the tire, ask them to
check for the wheel being out of round at either edge, and the tire too.

 

Oh, and you say your alignment is slightly out... How slightly?
Do you know the current numbers? And what brand and age
are your tires? A tire expert can tell if they've been unequally
worn because of an alignment problem.

 

what kind of wheels are they?

 

They're Forgeline wheels and I just got them in early April. When I first had the problem, they diagnosed it as an out-of-round tire and replaced it, but that didn't resolve the problem. So now do you think I have uneven wear or something?

 

Also make sure you don't have a bad wheel hub bearing. You can compare each side to make sure you do not have any side to side play on the wheel hub.

 

Ask what kind of machine your tire place is using to balance the tire. I believe that the latest technology is the Hunter Roadforce machine. If done properly, they actually move the tire around on the wheel to get the best weight distribution between wheel and tire - and they can tell you if either one is out of round.

 

go to gsp9700.com find the closest balancer and re balanced your wheels and tires with road force. GL

Suman

 

Not to hijack but I have a similar issue. Also, while driving I notice I have to ever so slightly turn the wheel right, is this a toe issue or ???

 

my indy who is pretty talented told me "if you can drive in and out of the shake" it is a wheel balance issue. if the shake is present at all speeds it is an alignment issue, which logically makes a whole lot of sense.

 

Problem resolved - it was the wheel that I had the out of round tire replaced on... apparently it was balanced when I left the shop, but I spun the wheel on the tire while it was still wet - they apply some soapy solution to the rim when the mount the tire. Anyway, it was out of balance by 1.75 ounces so that was the problem and my indy mechanic was right again. thanks for the feedback.

 

wow cant believe that would affect it.