High speed wheel wobble....
High speed wheel wobble....
Author
Discussion

Techn0

Original Poster:

4,250 posts

208 months

Saturday 18th February 2012
quotequote all
Car tracked straight and true and was ok at high speed.

  • Fronts were completely dead.
  • Backs are almost dead
  • Fitted 2 new tyres on the front wheels
  • Rears wheels swapped with the front wheels
So new tyres on the back, and pretty worn tyres on the front(different tread pattern and brand).

The wheels are balanced and the tracking has been done(they showed me the machine read-outs(seems fine)), but the wheel is off centre, pulls to the left slightly and i get a wobble at 110 leptons.

I even got the geometry/tracking done again somewhere else and the problem remains.

The left front is loosing pressure slightly but is still legal, has no bulges and has even wear across the whole tyre.

I'm going to get the fronts done and swap them over again(front to back), but was wondering if anything else might be wrong? Or are the knackered fronts causing my problems?

Many thanks





Techn0

Original Poster:

4,250 posts

208 months

Monday 20th February 2012
quotequote all
Bump.

Any one got any ideas?

Fleckers

2,878 posts

218 months

Monday 20th February 2012
quotequote all
so you have 2 nearly dead tyres on the front and 2 new tyes on the back and your still doing 110

ok I can see that working in a bizzar world.

why did you put the new tyres on the back ? yes I have seen the 'experts' reports that new tyres should go on the back because thats where most of the braking and steering are done from..............

it sounds to me like the tyre with the slow leak is your cause of this problem


swifthobo

869 posts

187 months

Monday 20th February 2012
quotequote all
Were they budget tyre's you had put on?

EDLT

15,421 posts

223 months

Monday 20th February 2012
quotequote all
One of the tyres might have a slight flat-spot. Not that the wheel balancers most garages use is designed to keep the wheels balanced at such high speeds.

Blue Oval84

5,336 posts

178 months

Monday 20th February 2012
quotequote all
What make and model? What age and mileage has it got on the clock?

My 148K mile E39 has a permanent wobble built into the suspension, it's only slight but it's noticeable at speed. To cure it I think the car is due all new shocks and three different pairs of arms (one pair already done).

I spent ages chasing down dodgy tyres as the cause then came to the conclusion that it has to be the suspension.

Techn0

Original Poster:

4,250 posts

208 months

Tuesday 21st February 2012
quotequote all
I put the new ones on the back(eagle f1s) as I knew I would have to wait 8 weeks until I could afford another set for the front. Fronts are oem Bridgestone turanza.

I thought it might be a mis shapen tyre as the fl is a bit more worn than the fr.

Drove perfectly before the swap.

Getting amother set in a few weeks which hopefully sort it out.

davepoth

29,395 posts

216 months

Tuesday 21st February 2012
quotequote all
EDLT said:
One of the tyres might have a slight flat-spot. Not that the wheel balancers most garages use is designed to keep the wheels balanced at such high speeds.
This. 110mph is a fairly serious speed. I had a similar issue at 75mph on a car, that was a tyre even though it allegedly balanced OK.

Justin Cyder

12,624 posts

166 months

Tuesday 21st February 2012
quotequote all
The off centre steering wheel is because the garage didn't centre it before they did the tracking. The wheel wobble is because they didn't balance the wheels properly. Take it back & get them to do it again. I had this with Kwikfit & went back twice until I lost faith & took it to the local guys who did it properly.

And don't do 110 on dead tyres, you're asking for trouble.

Techn0

Original Poster:

4,250 posts

208 months

Tuesday 21st February 2012
quotequote all
The place I got them done was an approved centre from a well known website. Im not going back there as they scratched one of my wheels badly(previously unmarked wheels that had been that way for 9 years). The other guy from another big yellow chain seemed to know what he was on about but couldnt seem to fix it.

It's probably just the tyres but does anyone know a decent tyre place in sw London that are trustworthy and have the proper alignment gear?

Maximum Bobs

3,762 posts

235 months

Tuesday 21st February 2012
quotequote all
Techn0 said:
Getting another set in a few weeks which hopefully sort it out.
I predict it will.



crocodile tears

755 posts

163 months

Tuesday 21st February 2012
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Fleckers said:
so you have 2 nearly dead tyres on the front and 2 new tyes on the back and your still doing 110
depends on how 'nearly dead' his tires are..

I'd have no issues doing 1.4 leptons on decent tires at the legal tread limit

sparks_E39

12,738 posts

230 months

Tuesday 21st February 2012
quotequote all
Blue Oval84 said:
What make and model? What age and mileage has it got on the clock?

My 148K mile E39 has a permanent wobble built into the suspension, it's only slight but it's noticeable at speed. To cure it I think the car is due all new shocks and three different pairs of arms (one pair already done).

I spent ages chasing down dodgy tyres as the cause then came to the conclusion that it has to be the suspension.
My E39 wobbles but it only ever does it way, way past the UK legal limit, which isn't really an issue as I never really go much above 75.

Ray Luxury-Yacht

8,918 posts

233 months

Tuesday 21st February 2012
quotequote all
You can sometimes get this (I have) when swapping fronts to rears / vice versa.

The non driven tyres can wear in a different way, hence once swapping to fronts can cause the symptoms you describe.

Before creating more work for yourself and spending more cash, try driving the car for a couple of weeks - I've found that pulling to one side and wobbles often disappear once the tyre wears differently, and adjusts to it's new role.

Try it - you might be surprised!