Steering Wheel Vibration

[Bartruff1]

Ok, any ideas...I did a search....I have a annoying steering wheel vibration ...not violent or dangerous and I can live with it if I have to, but....the tires, stock 15" have been road force balanced (9.5 on a scale of 10) and inflated to the recommended 18 psi cold....vibration occurs around 65 to 70...doesn't seem to get any worse at higher speeds.....I read people in here that have NO ...that is ZERO vibration... and I have also read that it is a "Superformance thing". Car has 2000 miles. Is there a shop in the Pacific Northwest that is the best at fixing this ? Steering Damper ? Thanks in advance for any advice..

[Got the Bug]

I'm running the Yoko's and haven't experienced vibration on my SPF. Was the car professionally aligned when you took delivery of it?

[GlynMeek]

Bart I had exactly the same thing on a LoneStar! Vibrations would start at around 65-70 and I couldn't "drive through" them. I DID have my alignment done professionally AND I had the wheels fully balanced after I had finished the build.

I agree with Doug about checking your alignment, BUT after 1000 miles of frustrated driving, I finally took the front tires/wheels to have them REBALANCED. The local tire place COMPLETELY screwed THAT up (another story, they had to replace both front tires for free for me!!!!) BUT after the second balancing, the problem has gone away COMPLETELY!

Good luck

Glyn

[Rick Parker]

This was covered at length a couple of years ago. It was determined that certain brands of tires were not "Round", and had radial runout which was unable to be corrected without changing tire brands. Our cars (in general) are more prone to this because of their light weight, undampened steel U joints used in the steering columns, solid steering wheels, and often times the use of Heim joints or metallic bushings at the pivot points and shock absorber mountings throughout the suspension. Its the "Nature of the Breeed".
Many of the cars use a Mustang II type front spindles. When combined with knock off adapters and width wheels we typically use, the scrub radius is put in a very unfavorable spot.

[Bartruff1]

Originally Posted by Got the Bug

I'm running the Yoko's and haven't experienced vibration on my SPF. Was the car professionally aligned when you took delivery of it?

...Yes, it was aligned, but I haven't checked it. I am under the impression that aligment will cause uneven tire wear and some directional pull but not vibration in the steering wheel but I am no expert..

[GlynMeek]

Bart...what brand of tires are you running on?

[Bartruff1]

Originally Posted by Rick Parker

This was covered at length a couple of years ago. It was determined that certain brands of tires were not "Round", and had radial runout which was unable to be corrected without changing tire brands. Our cars (in general) are more prone to this because of their light weight, undampened steel U joints used in the steering columns, solid steering wheels, and often times the use of Heim joints or metallic bushings at the pivot points and shock absorber mountings throughout the suspension. Its the "Nature of the Breeed".

Apparently the force balancer indicated that the tires and rims were fine..

[Bartruff1]

Originally Posted by GlynMeek

Bart...what brand of tires are you running on?

BFG Radial 255 60 15 on the front

[csx wnab]

i run goodyear billboards and i have the same vibration. only at that speed. i found alot of it is road surface. but still vib. on smooth as glass, just not as much. been pro. alianed and balanced. i just go alittle faster or slower. next might try balance weights on outside of wheel, but looks like s%$t.

[Rick Parker]

"try balance weights on outside of wheel", It's a necessary evil if you want to improve things. But.... It ain't no big thang............

[BLUE427]

Bart, I had the same problem with my spf , 2585. I originally had the factory Eagle gt II's on the 15 inch rims and all was fine.I then replaced them with pse 17" and michelin 275's in the front and 335's in the rear. Then I gained a vibration at the 65-70 range, if I accelerate past that point , it goes away. Sounds like the same condition as you have. I know the allignment and everything else is fine, as it did not shake with the factory ones on it. I am going to road force balance them soon, and if that doesnt help, just deal with it I guess. good luck,
Marty

[COBRANIP]

For what it's worth....Mazda Miatas had a similar (identical actually) problem. The explanation was "tire construction method" (the way the belts are overlapped where they begin and end) that made some (mfg's) tires very bad. I won't swear to it but my recollection is that Dunlop's construction technique minimized the problem. It worked for me.

[Bob In Ct]

Over the years this subject has been beaten to death. It's not balance, it's not alignment, it's the tires. Most tires are not dynamically and/or dimensionally round. This and the fact that most Cobras do not come with a "rag joint" leaves many of us with a vibration at about 65MPH. In my case it comes and goes and is different in hot weather than it is in cold weather. I reduced it a bunch just by replacing my T/As with Yokos.

I worked in R&D for a major tire company for many years, what I'm telling you is more than opinion.

Bob

[Michael P. Wole]

I had this same problem...I put balancing beads(like the semi's run). Problem went away.I have used them on my F350 dually for the last 3 sets of tires. Never have to balance the tires!!! Also put them all 8 tires on my 27' gooseneck flatbed trailer(was getting a vibration that telegraphed back to the tow vehicle) and took care of the problem. I also gain about 20,000 miles in wear on the dually. I just put a new set of boots on my wifes Mountainere and put the beads in them also(18" Coopers).

[Archrms]

Bart,

I have BFG's on 15" rims on mine, and have zero vibration. I think you can narrow your problem down to tires, balancing or alignment. If the balancing and alignment check out, that only leaves the tires.

This is assuming that there is not a problem with your steering column etc., but too many SPF's do not have this issue for it to be design related, otherwise all of them would have it.

Good luck tracking it down.

[Bartruff1]

Originally Posted by Archrms

Bart,

I have BFG's on 15" rims on mine, and have zero vibration. I think you can narrow your problem down to tires, balancing or alignment. If the balancing and alignment check out, that only leaves the tires.

This is assuming that there is not a problem with your steering column etc., but too many SPF's do not have this issue for it to be design related, otherwise all of them would have it.

Good luck tracking it down.

I think your point is right on. It isn't a necessary evil since most or many do not have the problem. I do not understand how a aligment problem could cause a steering wheel vibration ?? I am about out of the cheap solutions. I will take it to a different tire dealer and go thru the process again...

[Silverback51]

If you were close by I would swap tires and wheels with you to see if that eliminated the problem.

Any members near by you can do that with?

[rms427]

I had the problem with BFG T/A radials. They were our of round. I had the tires shaved and that fixed the problem. I now have Yoko Avids and no shake.

[madmaxx]

Remember the tire balance machines are only as good as the users!!!!! You could hand over a submarine to me and I could not sink it, that does not mean it is a bad submarine it just means I am to stupid to use it.

[Archrms]

Originally Posted by madmaxx

Remember the tire balance machines are only as good as the users!!!!!

Exactly!! And who is usually doing the tire changes and balancing - the FNG who works there (F'ng New Guy). You hardly ever get someone that really knows what they are doing.