Good ol' steering wheel shimmy

[acarr6]

So I'm having the dreaded steering wheel shimmy, and I've searched endlessly. One question I couldn't quite find the answer to..

So I replaced one of my front tires as it got a puncture. My other passenger side tire still had 8.5/32nd out of 10/32 new. So I figured I don't need to replace. Would this difference in tread (1.5/32nd) be enough to cause vibration?

Car only has 35k miles

-No bends
-Balanced wheels
-Only shimmy's between 120KMH-128KMH.
-Wheels are aftermarket, 3 piece forged vorsteiner, but obviously hubcentric etc with no play.

Also wanted to mention, when I mounted the wheels, I tighten them hand tight, then torque down when I lower it... is that going to cause any issues? I figure since it's hubcentric that shouldn't matter.

PFA

[Kelse92]

Have you checked your felt undertray? If it’s super beat up it will cause steering wheel shake, mine did until I switched to a metal one

[acarr6]

Originally Posted by Kelse92

Have you checked your felt undertray? If it's super beat up it will cause steering wheel shake, mine did until I switched to a metal one

I actually don't have any undertray. Literally. All 3 pieces are completely gone. Was planning to order the Mporium undertray.

[Ajolives]

Jack up the front and check the tires for run-out. Both my fronts have flat spots and I overfill them to get rid of my shimmy.

[Ajolives]

Originally Posted by Kelse92

Have you checked your felt undertray? If it's super beat up it will cause steering wheel shake, mine did until I switched to a metal one

Which one did you get? I've been thinking of converting over to a full metal under tray.

[maxgohan]

Originally Posted by Kelse92

Have you checked your felt undertray? If it’s super beat up it will cause steering wheel shake, mine did until I switched to a metal one

Omg could this be the cause for mine ??
I guess I should get deansbimmers version

[acarr6]

Originally Posted by Ajolives

Jack up the front and check the tires for run-out. Both my fronts have flat spots and I overfill them to get rid of my shimmy.

Don't think this is the issue. Took my wheels to wheel repair shop - checked for bends and none found. Also had the wheels rebalanced 3 times (road force).

[Kelse92]

Originally Posted by acarr6

I actually don't have any undertray. Literally. All 3 pieces are completely gone. Was planning to order the Mporium undertray.

Well, regardless, I’d order it anyway cause it really is great! But it also may solve your issue

[acarr6]

Originally Posted by Kelse92

Well, regardless, I’d order it anyway cause it really is great! But it also may solve your issue

new undertray being installed friday! Got the mumbray motosports one

[slicer]

If you only hand tighten in the air that could be an issue. Use an impact driver to tighten when unweighted. Drop to the point that the tire is only touching enough to not spin when tightening with torque wrench (in other words not fully weighted).

>> This process has served me well - especially with spacers. People claim issues with spacers and I have literally never had one single issue with a spacer using the above process (plus making sure all of my hub and wheel mounting surfaces are perfectly clean and rust free).

[derbo]

Originally Posted by slicer

If you only hand tight in the air that could be an issue. Use an impact driver to tighten when unweighted. Drop to the point that the tire is only touching enough to not spin when tightening with torque wrench.

I like two ugh-as ugh-as tight lol

[Remonster]

Originally Posted by acarr6

Don't think this is the issue. Took my wheels to wheel repair shop - checked for bends and none found. Also had the wheels rebalanced 3 times (road force).

Did the shop balance them down below 0.25oz? I've had numerous cars come to my shop with a steering wheel shimmy after they've been balanced 2-3 times and it seems a lot of tire shops are setting their balancing machines to only balance down to 1oz or 0.5oz. For a typical commuter car, that's close enough but on cars like the M3 with a more direct connection between the wheels and the body and with a more picky owner, that's still enough to feel (especially if four wheels are each off by a little bit).

I just had a customer last week who had his wheels balanced within the past month and was still having steering wheel vibration around 60-65mph, his four wheels were off by 0.75, 0.5, 0.75, and 1.00 ounces so balancing them more precisely was all he needed. Many of the usual tire shops will do a more precise balance if you ask them to, they don't every time because wheel weights start to get expensive when you consider how many a tire shop uses in a year.

[acarr6]

Originally Posted by Remonster

Did the shop balance them down below 0.25oz? I've had numerous cars come to my shop with a steering wheel shimmy after they've been balanced 2-3 times and it seems a lot of tire shops are setting their balancing machines to only balance down to 1oz or 0.5oz. For a typical commuter car, that's close enough but on cars like the M3 with a more direct connection between the wheels and the body and with a more picky owner, that's still enough to feel (especially if four wheels are each off by a little bit).

I just had a customer last week who had his wheels balanced within the past month and was still having steering wheel vibration around 60-65mph, his four wheels were off by 0.75, 0.5, 0.75, and 1.00 ounces so balancing them more precisely was all he needed. Many of the usual tire shops will do a more precise balance if you ask them to, they don't every time because wheel weights start to get expensive when you consider how many a tire shop uses in a year.

Good call, tomorrow I'm taking the car to my regular shop, who is a high end race shop. He mentioned he's 90% sure it's going to be a balancing issue rather than anything else. So you could definitely be right!

[derbo]

I had a steering vibration issue and it ended up an issue where the shop did not seat the bead correct due to the ribbed beat seat. It was very hard visibly to see the improperly seated bead. The second shop ended up pumping that sucker to 50psi with TONS of that white lube to ensure it seated properly. Roadforce originally was 45-50lbs and ended up down to 11lbs after everything was fixed.

[slicer]

Originally Posted by derbo

I had a steering vibration issue and it ended up an issue where the shop did not seat the bead correct due to the ribbed beat seat. It was very hard visibly to see the improperly seated bead. The second shop ended up pumping that sucker to 50psi with TONS of that white lube to ensure it seated properly. Roadforce originally was 45-50lbs and ended up down to 11lbs after everything was fixed.

Yes ^ Good Call - I have had this issue many times.

Certain wheels (like the BBS E88) have textured beads and/or are built to a tight tolerance in bead diameter to prevent the tire from rotating on the wheel under track use. The E88 is the most challenging in this department. I always check the beads prior to install. Often people think these wheels leak but 99.9999% of the time the beads aren't properly set or the valve stems aren't tight enough.

[acarr6]

So got the car back today. Wheels weren't balanced. Front was off by 0.75 (driver) and 0.50 (passenger). Rear was also off by 0.75 on one side. 99% of the vibration is gone now.


Edit : this is the third time balancing them (previous tire shop last 2 times). Didn't realize the importance of a proper balancing guy lol

[Richbot]

One thing I don't miss from running staggered tires - steering wheel shimmy.

Being able to rotate made this problem disappear for me. It's only been a bad balance one time, every other time it's just been a front tire wear issue about halfway through a tire's life.

[acarr6]

Originally Posted by Richbot

One thing I don't miss from running staggered tires - steering wheel shimmy.

Being able to rotate made this problem disappear for me. It's only been a bad balance one time, every other time it's just been a front tire wear issue about halfway through a tire's life.

Yeah, I'm going to run a square set next for sure. 18x10.5