Thrown wheel weight or something else?
06-15-2009, 05:32 PM
#1
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
Thrown wheel weight or something else?
Last week I took my car for a ride and it ran fine except for some squeaking when turning right or left at low speeds or when driving straight at under 20 mph. Today I put the car on jack stands and took off the driver front wheel in an attempt to see if anything looked to be in bad shape while debating whether to change the wheel bearings. Before jacking the car up I noticed that the lug nuts of the front wheels weren't all that tight when I tried to break them. (None of them actually needed breaking.)
Looking around, I saw nothing obvious, and decided I needed someone with way more experience to look at it instead. So I put the wheel back on and tightened the lug nuts of the front wheels before lowering the car. After putting it back on the ground, I tightened all four wheels' lug nuts. (Only one lug nut on each of the rear wheels actually seemed to be tight enough.) I then went for a drive.
During the drive, the previous noise from right or left turns had disappeared, but I had a new problem. Any time I turned the steering wheel to the right while moving at greater than 20 mph would cause the wheel to shimmy back and forth for awhile. Even if it was just a slight turn to the right. For example, going straight down the road, turning the wheel a couple degrees to the right and then back straight would start a mild form of the steering wheel shimmying. Turning left didn't cause any shimmy.
After a little bit, the shimmying would stop. It felt almost like something got out of balance whenever I went right and eventually worked its way back into balance. I took it back home and torqued all the lug nuts down to 96 ft/lbs (which almost all needed) and then took it out again as a test. Now the wheel shakes pretty good above 25 mph while going straight. So tightening the lug nuts made it worse?
I'm thinking that I might have thrown a weight and a wheel is out of balance, but I wanted to get some other opinions. Does anyone have an idea on what would cause this? The tires are brand new (under 200 miles). There was no play in the front wheels that I could tell, either up/down or side to side. Everything was fine until I tightened all the lug nuts...
Looking around, I saw nothing obvious, and decided I needed someone with way more experience to look at it instead. So I put the wheel back on and tightened the lug nuts of the front wheels before lowering the car. After putting it back on the ground, I tightened all four wheels' lug nuts. (Only one lug nut on each of the rear wheels actually seemed to be tight enough.) I then went for a drive.
During the drive, the previous noise from right or left turns had disappeared, but I had a new problem. Any time I turned the steering wheel to the right while moving at greater than 20 mph would cause the wheel to shimmy back and forth for awhile. Even if it was just a slight turn to the right. For example, going straight down the road, turning the wheel a couple degrees to the right and then back straight would start a mild form of the steering wheel shimmying. Turning left didn't cause any shimmy.
After a little bit, the shimmying would stop. It felt almost like something got out of balance whenever I went right and eventually worked its way back into balance. I took it back home and torqued all the lug nuts down to 96 ft/lbs (which almost all needed) and then took it out again as a test. Now the wheel shakes pretty good above 25 mph while going straight. So tightening the lug nuts made it worse?
I'm thinking that I might have thrown a weight and a wheel is out of balance, but I wanted to get some other opinions. Does anyone have an idea on what would cause this? The tires are brand new (under 200 miles). There was no play in the front wheels that I could tell, either up/down or side to side. Everything was fine until I tightened all the lug nuts...
06-15-2009, 08:25 PM
#2
Rennlist Member
A balance issue normally shows up at 45+ not at low speeds. Are your tires in good shape? You may have a belts starting to slip inside the tire. Would be felt as a high spot on the surface of the tire.
You also may have the wheel not on true to the rotor, IE one lug nut tightened before the others made contact with the wheel hub surface.
You also may have the wheel not on true to the rotor, IE one lug nut tightened before the others made contact with the wheel hub surface.
06-15-2009, 10:41 PM
#4
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
Thanks, Spidey. That gave me the hint I needed. I jacked the car back up and spent time on each wheel making sure it was flush and getting the lug nuts on right. Took it for another drive and the shimmy was gone.
I don't know why I didn't try that in the first place, considering it was loosening the lug nuts that started it. I think I was afraid the noise I had heard earlier had turned into something worse and I concentrated on that.
I don't know why I didn't try that in the first place, considering it was loosening the lug nuts that started it. I think I was afraid the noise I had heard earlier had turned into something worse and I concentrated on that.
