Steering Wheel Boogie Dance!

[LFD2037]

Between ~42 & 50mph my steering wheel rotates about 1/2" left/right/left/right/left/right until I either speed up above 50 or slow down below 42. It's not the tires as I've rotated them every 5K miles (for 45K+ miles) & it always does it. It does it real fast, each direction probably 4 times per second. WTH could this be???

 

[bluecruiser]

Tire balance issue is likely culprit, I've had this as my 37s are wearing out.

 

[ajax1]

I'd say balance the tires also my 37s do this

 

[george_tlc]

Some math...

45 mph => 45 x 5280 / 3600 = 66 feet per second.

Assuming a 33" diameter tyre, you have 3.14 x 33 / 12 = 8.6 feet per tyre revolution.

66/8.6 = about 7.6 tyre revolutions per second. Which is in the ball park of your steering vibrations...

Go get your wheels/tyres balanced...

cheers,
george.

 

[ewillis]

Some math...

45 mph => 45 x 5280 / 3600 = 66 feet per second.

Assuming a 33" diameter tyre, you have 3.14 x 33 / 12 = 8.6 feet per tyre revolution.

66/8.6 = about 7.6 tyre revolutions per second. Which is in the ball park of your steering vibrations...

Go get your wheels/tyres balanced...

cheers,
george.

. Math rules

 

[Dave 2000]

When balancing, check for buckled wheels while they are off?

Regards

Dave

 

[retrofive]

Tires balanced, Im in the same boat but been to lazy to go get it done.

 

[mudgudgeon]

Some math...

45 mph => 45 x 5280 / 3600 = 66 feet per second.

Assuming a 33" diameter tyre, you have 3.14 x 33 / 12 = 8.6 feet per tyre revolution.

66/8.6 = about 7.6 tyre revolutions per second. Which is in the ball park of your steering vibrations...

Go get your wheels/tyres balanced...

cheers,
george.

Well, who would have thunk it! Math to solve a steering wobble. I like it

 

[Tools R Us]

Most often culprit is tire issue. Strong second is panhard problems, bolts not torqued to spec, mount cracked, etc.

 

[LFD2037]

The tires have been re-balanced (@ Discount Tire) EVERY time they've been rotated, w/weights add/removed/relocated every time on each tire. In other words, tires have been rebalanced @ least 9 times & the vibration is the exact same @ the exact same speed. Thanks!

 

[LFD2037]

Most often culprit is tire issue. Strong second is panhard problems, bolts not torqued to spec, mount cracked, etc.

I've gone over all mounts & everything looks/feels good. Control arm bushings are a bit worn but I figured they wouldn't create this specific scenario.

 

[Slabsides45]

Having the same issue, sans the 9 x rebalance. I don't drive mine much at all these days, trying to keep her under 150K miles. As dumb as I sound writing this, could the tires develop an irregular shape due to sitting so much?

 

[inkpot]

Improperly adjusted toe in and/or loose wheel bearings along with worn tiered or dragline ends.

 

[Jason hansen]

I mark the tires next to the valve stem with a silver sharpie. If you have lockers the tire will rotate on the rim thus throughing the wheel out of balance. Mine walked about 3 inches after 2000 miles.

 

[ajax1]

Having the same issue, sans the 9 x rebalance. I don't drive mine much at all these days, trying to keep her under 150K miles. As dumb as I sound writing this, could the tires develop an irregular shape due to sitting so much?

Not driving your cruiser to keep the miles low for the next guy, is like not having sex with your girlfriend to keep it good for the next guy

 

[mudgudgeon]

Not driving your cruiser to keep the miles low for the next guy, is like not having sex with your girlfriend to keep it good for the next guy

Yup, every drive you knock back, is a drive you never get back!

 

[leonard_nemoy]

The tires have been re-balanced (@ Discount Tire) EVERY time they've been rotated, w/weights add/removed/relocated every time on each tire. In other words, tires have been rebalanced @ least 9 times & the vibration is the exact same @ the exact same speed. Thanks!

This could be your problem. Not to bag discount tire. But try taking them to another shop with a different balancer. Ask for road force balancing. I had the same experience with discount tire. Went to another shop after discount and they told me the tires were out of round and 9 years old. New tires solved it for me.

 

[jonheld]

The tires have been re-balanced (@ Discount Tire) EVERY time they've been rotated, w/weights add/removed/relocated every time on each tire. In other words, tires have been rebalanced @ least 9 times & the vibration is the exact same @ the exact same speed. Thanks!

This means nothing to me. I had tires balanced over and over at 4 different shops trying to get rid of tire balance issues. I moved tires around to different corners 4 times. I went through EVERY SINGLE joint/bushing in damn truck to find nothing wrong and still couldn't prevent what I felt was tire imbalance or tires out of round. Always at the same speed with EXACTLY the same symptoms as you describe.

I pulled off all the wheel weights and went with internal balancing beads. That made things better, but still not right.

I finally gave up before I left for my 7600 mile road trip and purchased new tires. When the shop pulled the old tires off the rims, they found about a cup of water in 3 of the 5.

Pull the tires off the rims.

 

[bajaphile]

Are you 100% sure that the tires were re-balanced at every rotation? The discount tire near my house has said they've done things and actually hadn't.

 

[LFD2037]

Are you 100% sure that the tires were re-balanced at every rotation? The discount tire near my house has said they've done things and actually hadn't.

I watch them every time!

This means nothing to me. I had tires balanced over and over at 4 different shops trying to get rid of tire balance issues. I moved tires around to different corners 4 times. I went through EVERY SINGLE joint/bushing in damn truck to find nothing wrong and still couldn't prevent what I felt was tire imbalance or tires out of round. Always at the same speed with EXACTLY the same symptoms as you describe.

I pulled off all the wheel weights and went with internal balancing beads. That made things better, but still not right.

I finally gave up before I left for my 7600 mile road trip and purchased new tires. When the shop pulled the old tires off the rims, they found about a cup of water in 3 of the 5.

Pull the tires off the rims.

I now have ~45K on these tires and will be getting new ones w/in 15K more miles. I'll look then if there's water in them, unless I can get the tire shop to bust the bead and let me peak inside next rotation (which happens to be this week). I can see water getting in them if the air compressors used to inflate them aren't drained on a regular basis, which is probably the case with Discount Tire. Thanks!