C4 Tech/Performance L98 Corvette and LT1 Corvette Technical Info, Internal Engine, External Engine

Steering wheel shaking !

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old Jun 14, 2015 | 07:56 PM
  #1  
jimfed's Avatar
jimfed
Thread Starter
Advanced
10 Year Member
 
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 92
Likes: 3
Default Steering wheel shaking !

I have a 1986 Pace Car with 12K original miles. I purchased an after market zr1 chrome wheels and tires package. It's been about 10 years since I have owned them and just recently put them and they have about 1000 miles on them. My car rides fine till about 50 mph and when I hit the highway the steering wheel shakes uncontrollably. I noticed also that the steering wheel had a slight shake in it with another set of identical tires and wheels. Is it possible that the wheels and tires were never balanced properly or is there a problem with my front end ?

Last edited by jimfed; Jun 15, 2015 at 04:36 PM.
Reply
Old Jun 14, 2015 | 08:27 PM
  #2  
charliet615's Avatar
charliet615
Racer
 
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 392
Likes: 19
Default

Tire Balance.......You might have Tires with flat spots in them from being stored for so long.
Reply
Old Jun 14, 2015 | 10:43 PM
  #3  
gerardvg's Avatar
gerardvg
Safety Car
15 Year Member
Liked
Loved
Community Favorite
 
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 3,751
Likes: 275
From: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Default

Originally Posted by charliet615
Tire Balance.......You might have Tires with flat spots in them from being stored for so long.


Get them to re ballance them, pay particular attention to the tire.
Sometimes you can see the tire tread has high spots, if that is the case you need them replaced.

Average quality tires may have manufacturing defects, on an average amooth suspension road car you may never notice. on a corvette it really shakes you around.

The wheels and tires are easy enough to ballance however i come across clowns in the industry that have no idea how to ballance tires, or know where to install the weights (which the ballancing machine indicates).

Go elsewhere to check the ballance and tires are actually round, dont put up with it as things will wear quite rapidly.

good luck.
Reply
Old Jun 15, 2015 | 05:47 AM
  #4  
jimfed's Avatar
jimfed
Thread Starter
Advanced
10 Year Member
 
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 92
Likes: 3
Default

Originally Posted by charliet615
Tire Balance.......You might have Tires with flat spots in them from being stored for so long.
I thought there would be flat spots because the car sat for long periods of time, I am now using the car on a regular basis.
Reply
Old Jun 15, 2015 | 12:09 PM
  #5  
cv67's Avatar
cv67
Team Owner
15 Year Member
 
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 81,241
Likes: 3,063
From: altered state
St. Jude Donor '05
Default

If its flat spotting which I doubt with a radial tire it wont bounce like that
Bad tire or wheel with too much runout. Need to have it checked on both the wheel and tire, went through this recently. At a point no matter what the machine says all the weights in the world wont keep it from bouncing. Had 1 where the side/side runout wasnt too bad but wasnt even in round, about 50mph thought the car was coming apart....killed the tires in short time

If it did it before but only slightly your rack and pinion could be on its way out. May have more than 1 issue

Blows my mind how even the cheapest factory car can have perfect wheels on them but expensive aftermarkets are horrible.
Reply
Old Jun 15, 2015 | 04:36 PM
  #6  
jimfed's Avatar
jimfed
Thread Starter
Advanced
10 Year Member
 
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 92
Likes: 3
Default

I am going to have them road force balanced for $25/tire and they can tell if there are flat spots which they told me will not go away simply by driving on them. My steering is perfect at speeds below 50 so I don't think that the rack is defective with only 12K miles on it !
Reply
Old Jun 15, 2015 | 05:49 PM
  #7  
cv67's Avatar
cv67
Team Owner
15 Year Member
 
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 81,241
Likes: 3,063
From: altered state
St. Jude Donor '05
Default

Hope Im wrong, maybe they can correct it with a better balance
Personally id watch them spin the tire up close, if it looks real bad no matter what weights they put on there youll have the same issue.
Some runout is Ok not every wheel and tire are perfect.

Went through 2 sets of new rallyes, which in 200 mi destroyed all 4 tires, tread was separating. Bought some welds with alll new rubber and had to send 2 wheels and 1 bad tire back. Tire guys laughed when it was on the machine pointing at the "made in usa" sticker.....brand new kia rim they had was perfect.
Things aint what they used to be.

which they told me will not go away simply by driving on them
Mine go away in about 10 min, bias ply are notorious for that
Radials, I let sit for months they drive fine.

Hope you find your problem
Reply
Old Jun 17, 2015 | 02:21 AM
  #8  
jimfed's Avatar
jimfed
Thread Starter
Advanced
10 Year Member
 
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 92
Likes: 3
Default Tire balance !

The tires had such flat spots that they could not be balanced. They did a road force balance and the machine was bouncing so bad because the tires had severe flat spots in them from siting to long. I purchased new tires and they should be arriving today !
Reply

Get notified of new replies

To Steering wheel shaking !

Corvette Stories

The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts

story-0

Top 10 DOs and DON'Ts for Protecting Your Convertible Top!

 Michael S. Palmer
story-1

Top 10 Most Explosive Corvettes Ever Made: Power-to-Weight Ratio Ranked!

 Joe Kucinski
story-2

150 hp to 1,250 hp: Every Corvette Generation Compared by the Specs That Matter

 Joe Kucinski
story-3

8 Coolest Corvette Pace Cars (and Replicas) of All Time

 Verdad Gallardo
story-4

Top 10 Corvette Engines RANKED by Peak Torque (70+ Years of Muscle!)

 Joe Kucinski
story-5

Corvette ZR1X Will Be Pacing the Indy 500, And Could Probably Race, Too!

 Verdad Gallardo
story-6

Top 10 Corvettes Coming to Mecum Indy 2026!

 Brett Foote
story-7

Top 10 C9 Corvette MUST-HAVES to Fix These C8 Generation Flaws!

 Michael S. Palmer
story-8

10 Revolutionary 'Corvette Firsts' Most People Don't Know

 Joe Kucinski
story-9

5 Reasons to Upgrade to an LS6-Powered Corvette; 5 Reasons to Stay LT2

 Michael S. Palmer




All times are GMT -4. The time now is 12:04 AM.

story-0
Top 10 DOs and DON'Ts for Protecting Your Convertible Top!

Slideshow: How to Protect A Convertible Top: 10 DOs & DON'Ts

By Michael S. Palmer | 2026-04-03 00:00:00


VIEW MORE
story-1
Top 10 Most Explosive Corvettes Ever Made: Power-to-Weight Ratio Ranked!

Slideshow: The 10 most explosive Corvettes ever built based on power-to-weight ratio.

By Joe Kucinski | 2026-05-20 07:23:03


VIEW MORE
story-2
150 hp to 1,250 hp: Every Corvette Generation Compared by the Specs That Matter

Slideshow: From C1 to C8 we compare every Corvette generation by the numbers.

By Joe Kucinski | 2026-05-12 16:54:12


VIEW MORE
story-3
8 Coolest Corvette Pace Cars (and Replicas) of All Time

Slideshow: Some Corvette pace cars became collectible legends, while others perfectly captured the look and attitude of their era.

By Verdad Gallardo | 2026-05-11 09:50:51


VIEW MORE
story-4
Top 10 Corvette Engines RANKED by Peak Torque (70+ Years of Muscle!)

Slideshow: Ranking the top 10 Corvette engines by torque output.

By Joe Kucinski | 2026-05-05 11:58:09


VIEW MORE
story-5
Corvette ZR1X Will Be Pacing the Indy 500, And Could Probably Race, Too!

Slideshow: A Corvette pace car nearly matching IndyCar speeds sounds exaggerated, until you look at the numbers.

By Verdad Gallardo | 2026-05-04 20:03:36


VIEW MORE
story-6
Top 10 Corvettes Coming to Mecum Indy 2026!

Among a rather large group of them.

By Brett Foote | 2026-05-04 13:56:44


VIEW MORE
story-7
Top 10 C9 Corvette MUST-HAVES to Fix These C8 Generation Flaws!

Slideshow: the top 10 things Corvette owners want in the C9 Corvette

By Michael S. Palmer | 2026-04-30 12:41:15


VIEW MORE
story-8
10 Revolutionary 'Corvette Firsts' Most People Don't Know

Slideshow: 10 Important Corvette 'firsts' that every fan should know.

By Joe Kucinski | 2026-04-29 17:02:16


VIEW MORE
story-9
5 Reasons to Upgrade to an LS6-Powered Corvette; 5 Reasons to Stay LT2

Slideshow: Should you buy a 2020-2026 Corvette or wait for 2027?

By Michael S. Palmer | 2026-04-22 10:08:58


VIEW MORE