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I get the shakes at 70mph - Alignment or Balance?

3K views 23 replies 11 participants last post by  Fonzi 
#1 ·
I just had the new 225/50/16 Firestone Wide Oval Indy 500 tires installed on the chrome-flaking Lorinser LO 8x16 et11 wheels. I definitely like the ride, feeling much more comfortable around turns at the higher speeds. I think they are much less bouncy than the 205/70/14 tires on steel 6.5x14 wheels. They are definitely very sticky and quiet. The old dry, hard Wanli tires (with plenty of tread) were quite loud, so it's a world of difference. All I hear is the exhaust now. Pretty nice.

I had an alignment done with the 14" wheels on the car a few weeks ago (required after all the front end rubber replacement), and everything was nice and smooth with those wheels. I understand that an alignment should be done to match your tires though. So I don't know if the shakes I get (only between 65 and 75 mph) are related to the tires being out of balance, a ding on the inside of one of the wheels, or from the alignment. I only took the wheels into the tire shop, not the whole car.

The car is SUPER smooth at 90 mph. I might be imagining it, but maybe the shakes are stronger when braking (from 75 to 65 mph). I don't know. I felt them in both the seat and the steering wheel, definitely not just the steering wheel.

Any ideas?

Thanks,
Mike
 
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#3 ·
Shocks are new all around Bilstein HD rears, just Bilstein fronts. I think I can see the shake a little in the top of the fender. Maybe it's one of the front wheels out of balance. It's definitely not the rotors. I was just guessing if maybe it's a front end issue.

With alignment, will you only get pulling to one side or the other? Or might it result in some shakes at certain speeds?

I'm guessing that maybe the tires are not perfectly balanced.

I hate to be a pest, and take work back, but if it shakes, I'm guessing balance eh?

They also said the rim-weights are better, as opposed to the kind that stick to the inside of the drum. So I let them do those rim weights. (They don't look anywhere near perfect anyway.)

So I assume they should be balanced.

Here's a picture of the wheel as it was when I bought it.
I told them to let me know if it's going to be a problem. They simply called me back saying the wheels are done.
 
#5 ·
Something in the rotating part of the drivetrain.....how's that?


Could be the wheels. Could be the propshaft. Could be a bad tire. Could be alot of things.

But I doubt very much it's the alingment.
 
#6 ·
It is usually wheel balance when you experience vibration at those speeds. Did they do a dynamic balance?

I once had a similar experience with new tires on my E320 - turned out they had used wrong kind of balance weights and it has thrown one.
 
#10 ·
Look in the Yellow Pages or ask around at body shops for wheel repair businesses. There are people around that specialize in taking that sort of dmage out of alloy wheels. I heard someone talk about heated sand a long time ago in universe far, far away.

Scott
 
#16 ·
I think I saw that 450sl 5.0 topic come through my email notifications today. AMG?

The vibration is really not that bad. As a matter of fact, I could cruise at that speed for a while if I wanted. This is more of just trying to understand where to turn next to assure I get it running as smoothly as I'd like. Tires on the wheels were definitely not the order I should have done this, but it was less than 1/3rd the cost of the other route:
1) $100/wheel chrome removal
2) $150-200/wheel finishing
3) $125/wheel for tires

I opted to skip 1 and 2 for now.
I wonder if the pitting and raw aluminum, exposed to the elements is something I need to worry about. Is that going to do irreversible damage? I'd love to get the wheels to polish out, but I suspect paint will be the only option at this point.

I asked the tire guys to assure there is no crack in that dent in the rim. No news is good news I guess.

I will call the Firestone shop to ask their opinion.

I wish I'd at least taken note of where I'd put on that dented wheel. I suspect it is on the front driver side. I might try moving it to the back.

Thanks for clarifying it is not the alignment, which is not pulling. I haven't tried taking my hands off the wheel yet though.
 
#18 ·
I agree that it isn't the alignment. Never seen it in over 30 years in the body business. I think you have a bent rim and it (if only one) is on the front. Move it to the rear first and drive it before you do anything else.

Keep your wheels clean and dry and the corrosion won't grow much and you aren't doing them any real harm by living with them as is. I wouldn't worry about wheel corrosion.
 
#20 · (Edited)
How old are the tires? About 3 days old.

I just replaced the 9 year old dry rotted Wanli 1098 (?) Tires that had just as much tread as the new tires.* It was a crying shame they were dryrotted, and some car sat with flat tires on two of them, clearly outside for a long time.* As two of them leaked air, the tires would go out of round puffing on the sides where they were pressed on the ground.* I was able to drive the car to about 50 mph with those tires on the car before the shakes would get just ridiculous.* I could not drive over 50-55 mph with them.* Cool treads though.* :). They were shot.

The new tires ride smooth at all speeds except 65-75.* Super smooth at 80-90 mph. 70 mph must be some resonating speed that highlights this balance issue.*The new tires are Firestone Wide Oval Indy 500 which got a really good rating at tire rack.* I was interested in low noise (convertible) and wet traction and hydroplaning resistance (no ABS).* These tires reviewed very well in all those categories, about the same as the Continental tires that would not be available until August.Firestone was having a sale that ended Memorial Day.* I called and gave them my CC number on Memorial Day, and they said they'd honor the deal, $500 for the set installed, balanced, with grind-and-seal, stems, disposal, etc.* I'm not sure of the normal cost for that, but it seemed like nearly $100 less than any other option with those same tires.
 
#21 · (Edited)
#22 ·
Flat spot looks like it's been on the back

I'm pretty sure that's my flat spot in the picture.

The picture made me realize the possibility of the tire sliding inwards once it was mounted on the car. So it's possible that when the tires were balanced (before putting them on the car) the tires were 100% round, and then after a little time on the car, the tire got pressed into the shape of the wheel. With the way the car sits with these wheels, sitting kind of "squat" appearing to have additional pressure on the insides of the back wheels. It's too sunny out to get any good pictures to show this (but the good thing is that it's not as bad as others I've seen).
 

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