Front end shimmy at slow speed???
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Pro
Joined: Apr 2002
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From: Outer Banks NC FIRST IN FLIGHT
Front end shimmy at slow speed???
Just had my wheels refinished and my tires remounted and balanced. The guy that balanced my wheels said that the fronts were true and didn't need weights.
The problem I'm having now is a slight intermittent shimmy at slow speeds, (10 -20 mph.) It goes away at around 30 mph. and drives smooth at high speed.
I don't recall this shimmy before or maybe not to this degree. Any body else ever experience anything like this? Would unbalanced front wheels cause this shimmy at slow speeds?
Thanks!
The problem I'm having now is a slight intermittent shimmy at slow speeds, (10 -20 mph.) It goes away at around 30 mph. and drives smooth at high speed.
I don't recall this shimmy before or maybe not to this degree. Any body else ever experience anything like this? Would unbalanced front wheels cause this shimmy at slow speeds?
Thanks!
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Joined: Apr 2002
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From: Outer Banks NC FIRST IN FLIGHT
Re: Front end shimmy at slow speed??? (Vette92)
It sounded weird to me also. The only explanaition I have, is that the company that machined and refinished my wheels also check and straighten them if needed. The only problem with that theroy is that the rears were done at the same time and needed weights.
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Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 90
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From: Riverside CA
Re: Front end shimmy at slow speed??? (Kizmo)
I had a tire guy explain to me once that one out of every 400 tire and wheel combos will balance perfectly and require the addition of no weights at all. To have both fronts on the same car balance perfectly sounds like quite a long shot, a one in 160,000 chance. Seems possible that your tire guy was cutting corners. Something else to consider: I had a Chevy wagon as a loaner, and the car would rock from side to side at parking lot speeds. At city streets speeds the steering wheel would steadily jerk in my hands, but the car completely smoothed out at freeway speeds. I figured a worn front end or something. What the heck, it was a loaner. Then a steel belted radial came apart at 90 mph. Wee Haa! Have another shop check the wheel balance. While it's on the machine, check for an out of round conditon that may indicate an internal belt separation.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jul 2002
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From: Costa Mesa CA
Re: Front end shimmy at slow speed??? (Kizmo)
The tire is far more out-of-balance than the wheel and that's what needs balancing. It is possible to have one tire on a car that doesn't need weights but more than that, not likely.
Go to another tire shop. Just don't let them put weight on the outside and if they say the balance won't be as good, go somewhere else. The Corvette wheel is so wide that the weight normally that goes on the outside can be position way deep into the back of the wheel and the "inside" weight on the inner lip.
That's the way it was done when it was new.
I tend to think it's more of a tire prob or an alignment prob. I assume you put the same tire going in the same direction after your wheel work as before.
Good Luck,
BIG JIM
Go to another tire shop. Just don't let them put weight on the outside and if they say the balance won't be as good, go somewhere else. The Corvette wheel is so wide that the weight normally that goes on the outside can be position way deep into the back of the wheel and the "inside" weight on the inner lip.
That's the way it was done when it was new.
I tend to think it's more of a tire prob or an alignment prob. I assume you put the same tire going in the same direction after your wheel work as before.
Good Luck,
BIG JIM
