Feeling Shimmy in my front end....
 

I've noticed a shimmy in my front end that I feel through the steering wheel.

Any thoughts on what could cause that?

I'm thinking maybe a bent rim. Perhaps an alignment issue, but the car tracks true. Or maybe something in the steering linkage (tie rod, etc.)

Any thoughts?

What speeds? Only on higher speeds and not at low speeds?


I would guess that an inner side of a front rim is slightly bent, which at highway speeds translates to a slight vibration shimmy so to speak. Likely very minimal, but I had a Mercedes that had a large flat spot on the inner side of the right front rim and it caused a shake for anything above 50mph. Didn't drive that speed for over a month before I realized the issue. Never knew what caused it either. Current Merc E350 after purchasing same thing. Merc Dealer said 3 of 4 wheels had slight out of round on inside parts, and the dealer paid $450 for them to be fixed and rebalanced. Needless to say the fix was perfect and it rides great!!!!


Just a thought

I agree with you, i.e., bent rim. Although, I can't recall where I could have bent a rim.


The shimmy occurs at higher speeds, i.e., highways speeds above 65mph. Guess, I'll need to get my rims checked.

Bent rim or maybe broken steel belt in tire. Do you remember any big bumps or running over something? Had a broken cord from a puncture that did not leak and caused what you are describing

The thing is, I don't recall running over anything that would give me moment for pause.


However, all indicators are pointing to my tires or rims. I'll inspect them for any obvious defects.

Could be something as simple as a wheel weight falling off. I'd go have the tires balanced again just to be sure. You could look at the inner part of the wheel to see if there are any signs off a missing weight, like a clean spot where it used to be. If this just started happening all of a sudden, I'd say this is more likely than a bent rim. Unless you don't recall running up a curb!

Funny you should mention the wheel weight falling off. While wiper the car down last night, and while sitting down enjoying my beer, I did a visual check for the wheel weight. It was there. However, I did not check the other side.


Luckily, I have not curbed this car yet. I did curb the SL500 though so I learned from that car about trying to park to close to the curb.


Funny, though, the steering is more a vibration of the steering wheel in my hand. But during a hard brake, I did notice the same vibration in the brake pedal at the same frequency.

Bent rim you would feel it almost all the time, have one now on my Jag. Also a bad bushing on the suspension would be more noticable at speeds.
If you have tape weights, one could fall off and the rest still be there and it is not uncommon to have weights in multiple places, so just because you see some, does not mean some did not fall off.

What does bad bushings feel like at speed?

It's most likely the upper control arm bushings. The bushings sleeves on the Vantage are plastic. After a while they wear out and the control arm feels wobbly at high speeds and especially when cornering.

Solution is to replace the upper control arms with new ones for a DB9 which are exactly the same as the Vantage, but the sleeves are metal which solves the problem.

I had mine replaced and the difference and improvement is remarkable.
The car feels solid, planted, and very stable at high speeds and cornering is actually fun again.

Thanks for your input. However, I doubt it would be upper control arms on a 2015 Vantage. The car has just over 11K miles on it.

No worries. I started noticing mine at 15k miles, so I wouldn't rule out the possibility, but entirely up to you. Good luck :)

Depends on which bushing is bad, one on the sway arm can feel like a wheel out of balance and one on the A arm can feel like a vibration, i.e. a wheel out of balance, as the A arm can vibrate. A bad tie-rod can make the car seem sluggish in a turn. And if multiple are bad, well it can feel like all of the above.
Forgot, a hub bearing going bad can feel like a shimmy also, but is easy to tell, just jack the wheels up one at a time and try to move it, first at the 3 and 9 o'clock position and then at the 6 and 12 o'clock position and if the move more than an inch from center, then you might have a bad hub. Not talking total movement, just movement from the center of the tire, as all front wheels have some movement.

My Evora had a bushing go out at 10k miles, bolt was not completely tightened from the factory, so do not let mileage or year fool you.

Got it. Thanks for the in depth description!

Interesting. Well, I did a visual inspection and as far as I could tell no weights have fallen off the rims. I'll need to give a closer inspection.


Would control arms be something covered under warranty, might I ask?