steering wheel shakes at 60+mph

Chipc · Nov 22, 2017

After a ton of research and looking into these forums, I purchased 255 55 R19 Cooper Zeon LTZs for my stock 19" wheels on my 2013 LR4. Love them... they stick to the road and there is very little road noise.

Just took them on the highway and now don't love them so much. My steering wheel now vibrates at speed of +60mph. Is this a balancing issue? The store said they balanced and tested for need of alignment (did not need alignment). Anyone else have this issue?

Surfrider77 · Nov 22, 2017

Sounds like a balance issue. It could very well be that they balanced them properly, but one of the weights fell off. Definitely bring it back and have it re-done.

catman · Nov 22, 2017

I have a set of Falken Wildpeak AT3W on my LR3 and I have the same issue, only I am good until about 70mph. I had mine road force balanced and they really struggled to get within the parameters they like, so I am pretty sure one (or more) of the tires is slightly out-of-round. It's frustrating but extremely hard to prove whether it is one, two, three or four tires with issues and to get it warrantied when you have to break the speed limit to have it occur....

If you did not have the tires road force balanced, I would definately do so, that can absolutely resolve minor issues for you. If you did have it done, then it could be one (or more) tires are out of round or have some other defect not readily apparent. Not all places are equiped to do the proper alignment on an LR4, so it is also possible they just skipped it rather attempt something they know they cannot do properly. That would depend on where you went of course. If your old tires were evenly worn it probably is not an alignment issue though.

Azoo · Nov 23, 2017

usually when i have this kinda issue i just move the tires around, so I move the front tires to the back and vice versa and see if the vibration on your steering wheel stops/changes/reduces. If it does then you know the culprit is one of the 2 tires you just moved to the back.

kameag · Nov 29, 2017

They are too clean.

johnnwalters · Nov 30, 2017

They are too clean but nice Rover.

Popham · Dec 1, 2017

99% likelihood it's a balance issue based on the mounting process, not the tire. I used to set BMWs up for racing and track use, and had one tire tech that could always get them buttery smooth to 140 mph or more. He retired last year and I'm back to pulsations in my tires for the first time in 15 years.

No tire is perfectly round or "even" in balance before mounted. And most techs just follow the machine procedure, so won't fine tune the mount. You need to find a tech who will:

1. Minimizes added weight by find the heavy spot on the tire and rotating it to the lightest portion on the wheel rim to minimize the amount of weight that needs to be added.
2. Uses a well-maintained road force balance machine that measures the tire roundness.
3. Uses the "fine" setting, which is a pain for them on a large tire, and
4. Measures and balances at least both the inside and outside edge, not just the outside.
(5. And, hand torques lug nuts to 103 ft/lbs--most shops air gun them to 300+ft/lbs warping disks or leaving you stranded when you have a flat. I've even seen them air gun them into oblivion, then apply a torque wrench to verify 103 ft/lbs saying "see all good.")

I'd ask around at a BMW, Porsche or other independent shop that does tech inspections for track use. Find out who's mounting up racing tires for events, etc. There's usually one tire shop, with one or two specific techs who are truly skilled. They'll immediately recognize what you're talking about instead of blaming the tire, etc.

maxx4wd · Dec 1, 2017

Just a side note...if balancing doesn't get you there...also check for play in your tie-rods - our LR3 developped a slight wobble in the front end and I ended up replacing part after part and finally found that the tie rod had worn (not severly) but as soon as I replaced it - butter smooth again....and this is well before I ever heard any clunks or normal tie-rod failure sounds.

ktm525 · Dec 1, 2017

Popham said:
99% likelihood it's a balance issue based on the mounting process, not the tire. I used to set BMWs up for racing and track use, and had one tire tech that could always get them buttery smooth to 140 mph or more. He retired last year and I'm back to pulsations in my tires for the first time in 15 years.

No tire is perfectly round or "even" in balance before mounted. And most techs just follow the machine procedure, so won't fine tune the mount. You need to find a tech who will:

1. Minimizes added weight by find the heavy spot on the tire and rotating it to the lightest portion on the wheel rim to minimize the amount of weight that needs to be added.
2. Uses a well-maintained road force balance machine that measures the tire roundness.
3. Uses the "fine" setting, which is a pain for them on a large tire, and
4. Measures and balances at least both the inside and outside edge, not just the outside.
(5. And, hand torques lug nuts to 80 ft/lbs--most shops air gun them to 300+ft/lbs warping disks or leaving you stranded when you have a flat. I've even seen them air gun them into oblivion, then apply a torque wrench to verify 80 ft/lbs saying "see all good.")

I'd ask around at a BMW, Porsche or other independent shop that does tech inspections for track use. Find out who's mounting up racing tires for events, etc. There's usually one tire shop, with one or two specific techs who are truly skilled. They'll immediately recognize what you're talking about instead of blaming the tire, etc.

Lots of good in that post but 80 ft lbs is below the LR wheel torque no?

Chipc · Dec 3, 2017

Thanks for the great tech advice everyone. I brought it back to the shop and they re-balanced. Problem was one of the tires wasn't completely balanced. Still had the same problem with the front tire and they moved tire to the back. There is no problem now and it rides smooth at all speeds but should I ask to have that wheel replaced? Seems to me I'll just run into the problem again in tire rotation.

steering wheel shakes at 60+mph

Chipc

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Surfrider77

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catman

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Azoo

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kameag

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Chipc

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