I never felt this before until I went about 75, as I said. I wouldn't feel it at a slower speed as well?

I saw they hammered small weights on the tires. Nothing too large. Rims look okay from what I can tell.

What if I take it to them and they said it was balanced properly...but it's still happening?

 

take them for a drive in it, and let them feel it, or let them drive it, I don't really have this problem, the guy that works on all of my vehicles(non warranty work, shocks/tires/stuff like that) test drives them at 80+ so he finds stuff thats wrong before even I can, like the front end falling out of my dodge

 

I only felt it once since I never ever drive that fast, not even on the highways. I was on the turnpike when I felt it. Otherwise I never felt the shake before.

 

give all four wheels and tires a good look over, then if it still does it(run the turnpike again if you need to) take it back to where the work was done, and explain what its doing, you may not notice it at slower speeds but I bet its still doing it, and it will lead to parts wearing out faster if the shake isn't figured out and fixed

 

Here's another thing, when balancing a tire, the tech must determine where the offset balance is. For example in my case, 3 of the wheels were clipped with offset weights in the outer sidewall lip. One tire however was clipped in the inner sidewall lip. (Innser side meaning wheelwell side) The tech must balacen both sides of the well (width). Thus the X and Y axis of the wheel. Whish I had a diagram that explains it easier.

 

mine have the weights in the middle of the wheel not on either lip, because mine have no visible outer lips, how are your weights done TSXB?

 

The weights were hammered between the rim and the tire on the inside of the wheel (not facing outside...not visible)

 

I have the same 80mph shake with Rota Auto X rims and was told "live with it" because the only way to balance it was with "stick on" weights which they said fall off very easily.

 

I have 17'' rims. Does that mean anything?

Is the shaking bad if I don't go 75mph? I don't feel it during regular driving speeds (30-50).

 

wheel can be bent. i experenced this with my steel wheels. one was bent and i rotated my tires and solved the problem.

since you located in jersey, i know how the roads are up there.

i went through a set of factory 16's on my focus. and most of it coming out of south bergen county.

look for a wheel/tire shop that does "Road Force" blanceing. the machine will test the tire and wheel assy to see if the tire itself is out of round or the wheel is bent etc.

how the tire can be out of round is if its been sitting upright with weight on it, or its been sitting still for a while or it just might not be "centered" right on the wheel. even though all tires look the same. every tire really isnt.

when i used to work for BMW, ive seen a few tires out of round according to the machine to the point where we replaced the tire and it changed the ride. they had to pay for it yes but that could be the case.

hope it helps.

 

stick on weights when used on a clean surface are very good. i have used them exclusively for years all to no avail .

 

Yeah if they put weights on the inside only then it is not fully balanced and it is wobbling on the center but not bouncing. They have to put weights on the inside of the mag towards the outside to balance it properly.

 

my steering wheel just started shaking but only on idle, when i accelerate it goes away, anyone else have this problem?

 

I also have a problem with steering wheel shake at 75-80 mph. I know it is a balance issue on mine, because when it is serviced and the wheels rotated the vibration is back every other service. My wheels have the stick on weights in the center. 15" American Racing 686 series. Have been too lazy to get them rebalanced, mainly because 95% of my driving is no faster than 55 mph.

 

ok here is my 2 cents worth. I was having trouble at one point where my steering wheel would vibrate at higher speeds and I had no idea what it was at first. well I noticed that my tread was wearing really weird on my rears and the driver side was worse than the passengers. I am also lowered on Eibach Sportline springs. I changed out my rear stock shocks with Monroes and the vibration stopped. It ended up being that my rear shocks were worn out and it was causing my problems. I just wanted to add this to this thread, Not sure if this could be a similar thing happening here or if its a total balancing issue going on. I wouldn't notice this until I was around 75 mph or so.

 

I had this problem, solution warped rotor..

 

Every other service is a big help - do they rotate the tires ?? sounds like the one(s) on the front is out of balance so swap one side at a time and test to see if it goes away then get the out of balance one rebalanced.

Warped rotor can cause out of round tire wear and can really screw up the balance. Try rotating the tire on the lugs about half way around and wear out the other side of the tire a little before replacing or turning the rotor.

 

If they are not local, pay to have them mounted and ballanced by someone locally. If they find that it has flat spots or the Rim is damaged, contact the company you bought them from. If they are good, they will replace them.

 

it is balancing, it has happened to me several times, first time needed high speed balancing, second and third time, the dealer wieghts thatr were in stalled, fell off, so they needed to be reinstalled.
check with your dealer, or whoever did it, if they used sticky wieghts then they probably didnt clean the whell properly and they could have fallen off, even with hammer weights, like mine, they could have fallen off

 

Mine doesnt...the whole car does...but not my steering.... If you hit about 95.. you'll be fine....by that time the vibration is about nominal, and you get a really good workout.