VIC: Good wheel alignment places in Melbourne

[snerlo]

Also, is there a build up of rust on the face of the hub? Did they wire brush that immediate area to clean as the wheel might be on properly but the face of the hub might be the issue. Just a thought.

[Felixrising]

Hi,

The car has done ~96000km. It's got Michelin PS3s on original factory rims. I bought the car second hand with the tyres on them - purchase date of the tyres was 12 Jul '14...

I didn't hang in the shop while they were removing the wheels and re-tightening... so I expect it was a pneumatic rattle gun.

They didn't mention anything about issues with the tyres themselves, they had them off twice already so I can only assume they had a look at them...

I really don't know anything else about the equipment they use at Swan Street tyres.

They did tell me to come back if the shake was still present...

any suggestions on how to proceed?

[Notso Swift]

Do they do the alignment dynamic?

Other wise could be issues above or something like a diff bearing. The wheel is only one thing that rotates!

[Dan199]

What is a 'alignment dynamic'?

[Felixrising]

He is referring to a Dynamic Wheel balance, I think that's pretty much the norm in all "real" tyre places these days. Although I'm sure there are variations in the sensitivity and calibration of machines.

I think it's more likely that I've got a tyre with a bulge or some other imperfection is becoming apparent at higher speeds. I don't notice it at all until I'm going faster that say 80-100kmph.

What surprises me more is that generally the electric power steering makes this car feel very isolated (numb?) from the road (at least compared to my old hydrolic assist in my old mazda 323 v6, yet this wobble is most noticeable in the steering wheel.

[Notso Swift]

No Dynamic alignment, which is done on car with a rotating wheel
Sounds like he has had the wheels balanced already with limited results

[brad]

First I've heard of a Dynamic Alignment but technology changes all the time. I can't quite see the need if the wheels & hubs are running true.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FTYvXE_lLY

FelixRising

I don't think it's alignment - it has to be really wrong to get a vibration.

I would go back to SS tyres and ask them to have another look. Firstly at the suspension joints (for wear and tightness) and subframe bolts. They should be giving the joints a push & pull as part of the pre-alignment check. I'm suspecting that either you have a loose subframe bolt or one of the console bushes (rear of the lower control arm) is worn. But it might be any of the bushes or pivot joints including the top mount of the strut.

Get the wheels off and get them to spin them on the balancer and check for tread wobble, sidewall bulges, flat spots & saw-toothing / scalloping of the tread.

Clean up the mating faces of the wheel & the hub.

Use a torque wrench to tighten the wheel bolts. Step1: tighten to 100Nm in a star pattern. Step 2: tighten to 120Nm in a star pattern.

I also think the factory recomended tyre pressure is a fraction high for most Australian driving conditions. I'd be aiming at 250-260kPa.

Beyond that the next step is an on-car dynamic balance (which I think is a bandaid solution to cover up other issues).

I have no idea what SS Tyres are like. I have a few mates down in Melbourne that race and they all use TruTrac but there must be more than 1 decent operator down there.

Centreline Suspension do Dynamic Alignments if you want to try that. They'll also check your suspension (all alignment places should do this before doing an alignment)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AfJjcxKBKA The comments don't give you a lot of faith though.