Front end shake, please help me!

[njwrestler07]

I got my whole front end looked at, there is nothing wrong, but i am told that the tires need to be balanced, i got them balanced by a few different places and im still getting a shake. Tires and rims are fine, should i try a road force balance?

[bigbird]

describe when and how the car shakes.

[njwrestler07]

from about 60+, i feel it in the wheel, and basically the whole car, like the seats and all

[hairball]

It really DOES matter where you have them balanced! For example, Les Schwab claims they balance them to "60mph" but it usually took me about 3-5 times going back before they could get it even CLOSE to smooth!

Then I started using Discount Tire (America's Tire in some States). THEY balance your tires at a slow speed, and 99% of the time your car will ride like a brand new Cadillac!

Now here is the real kicker: I've had some tires that I replaced myself on my friend's tire machine and NEVER BALANCED them and they rode smooth with no shake! Then I took the same car to Les Schwab for balancing and it suddenly felt like my car was falling apart on the highway! I'm not slamming Les Schwab, just their wheel balancing machines and techniques.

I would remove ALL weights from your front tires and see if anything changes. You just might be shocked to find out it's smooth as a baby's butt! If it still shakes, PLEASE give Discount/America's Tire a shot. They will get it right the first time. If you go to Les Schwab, you'll have to go back several times to get it right. Trust me on this one. I've replaced the tires and wheels on dang near every car I've ever owned.

[njwrestler07]

i will def do that, yea its weird, i feel like the car is gonna fall into pieces, i just want to get the shake to go away

[fenixus]

you want to get the tires balanced on Hunter gSP9700 machine. check the tirerack.com for recommended tire installers in your area, in details you will see what equipment they use. GSP9700 and experienced technician is what you need.

thanks to tirerack.com I found one small tire (and electronics) shop named Mobile Sound in Clifton, NJ area and a very nice guy who does a perfect balancing job. did my both rides over there and zero problems since.

what I learned from Nick (owner) is that you also need to observe tires/wheels when they are spiining in the balancing machine, if there is ANYTHING wobbly (out of round) then even the proper computerized balancing will not get rid off of it 100%, so you need to keep such bent rims in the rear while keeping the straightest ones in fronts.

hope it helps.

[njwrestler07]

i appreciate the help, i will def see where i can find a place that has one, thank you

[hairball]

I never thought I would have anything negative to say about/to you, finexus, but...

Not sure how Tire Rack would know anything about local tire places, but I do trust your word on the proper equipment. A national online tire dealer probably doesn't know the first thing about any local guys. NO local shop is going to recommend Tire Rack!!! So why would Tire Rack recommend a local shop??? This industry (as with all automotive industries) is a competitive game and most places don't recommend other places. And a cheap online tire place across the country certainly is going to have no idea at all about how good or bad a local shop is. But their choice of what machine to look for might be correct. I'd still recommend Discount Tire or Americas Tire, but it's up to the O.P. And you kind of made it pretty clear, the shop Tire Rack recommended was a "tire and electronics" shop. I've NEVER heard of a tire shop that deals in electronics. It's 2 different worlds. I wouldn't have Best Buy balance my tires just like I wouldn't have Tire Rack install my stereo.

That's cool that you found a shop that did you right. Everything else you said makes perfect sense.

Hope we're still cool. I'm NOT playa hatin' or trying to make you look like some idiot. I just agree/disagree with different parts of your post.

[fenixus]

because local shop make money (and advertise for free) in Tirerack.com Recommended Installers Program

http://www.tirerack.com/installer/index.jsp

They really do care, cause the more high notes from customer reviews they get, the more local customers they gain

[hairball]

oh, that's understandable. Makes it easier to figure out why they would recommend a shop.

[fenixus]

dang, I have just edited and deleted the above post incidentally instead of posting a new one LOL ... retyped it as far as I could haha!

anywaym this is what I wanted to post:
only thing I don't get is WHY tirerack.com links are ALWAYS getting screwed up on this forums
this one above worked for 5 minutes from posting, but now it points to a wrong site (no such page) ... WTF?

I guess tirerack.com is some kind of a competition to a supporting vendor on this site (TN), so forums scripting screws up their links on purpose ....

anyways, go to tirerack.com and click Installation or Recommended Installers link and you should be able to find a local reputable shop doing tire installations, balancing, see the reviews and machines they use

[JCamry94]

Is it the same bullshit I'm experiencing? If I go over 60mph it feels like someone is kicking on the firewall or underneathe the pedals. I got an alignment, got my tires balanced, changed to my aftermarket rims, got 'em balanced again, put on new tuner lugs and got the front wheels re-balanced, and it still happens. I'm just waiting to see what else I can find out, because this sucks not being able to drive the freeways.

[DM616]

I too have a front end shake, well more like a vibration, if I go over 60, near 80, there's a shake in the same areas JCamry is experiencing. I was told nothing was wrong with my cars and that a broken belt in both of my front tires caused the problem but I called BS since it still happened after buying both tires >_>. I tend to ignore it now and blame it on the shitty roads but I don't think that's the right way to deal with it lol

[hairball]

Yeah, there is nothing more annoying than your steering wheel shaking on the freeway. Ironically, of the last 5-10 cars I've owned, my current 90 DX with 232,000 miles on it is the smoothest on the freeway! Of course it helps that I have new tires and correctly balanced wheels. But before I replaced my left front rotor, if I lightly applied the brakes at freeway speeds, my steering wheel moved back and forth so hard I thought my wrist was going to break! In fact, sometimes I had to take my watch off because it would move back and forth on my wrist! That problem was solved by replacing a rotor. But still, this car has always rode really smooth on the freeway. Except on hard acceleration. I still have a problem on my left front axle. Something is bent and I'm suspecting an axle.

One thing I've found on other cars that can increase tire shake at mach speeds are worn out front shocks/struts, bad tie rod ends, bad ball joints, bad idler arm, or of course the dreaded broken belt.

I certainly hope you all get your shaking issues figured out. I know how annoying it is!

[jamesqjr]

you might need to have who ever ballances your tires check for excesive road force. this can be checked with the Hunter gSP9700. it is what i use at the dealership i work at. i just bought a 96 camry coupe to replace my 92 sedan that was totaled. on the way back from dallas to San Antonio i couldn't go over 70 and one tire had high road force and i was able to index it.