Steering wheel shake

[learjet60]

I have 350 miles on the car and finally got the car going highway speeds. At about 60mph or so (and some times as slow as about 45) I'm getting some steering wheel shake that can be both seen and felt. I also get some minor shake when braking at times.

Do I call the dealer and bring it in or could it be the result of the car sitting on the lot for a period of time? It is an October car that I purchased last month.

What do you suggest I do and how should I go about it? Thanks.

[GRRRR8]

Have them check tire balance and torque wheels properly and see if that takes care of it. Check your air pressure as well. 38frt and 37 rear seems to give good tire wear.

[learjet60]

Thanks Charlie! The dealer has the tires set at 41 front and 42/43 rear on my 18" wheels. I'll adjust it and have them balance them.

Thanks again!

[zepcom]

Thanks Charlie! The dealer has the tires set at 41 front and 42/43 rear on my 18" wheels. I'll adjust it and have them balance them.

Thanks again!

See if your dealership has a "Road Force Balance" system or the older digital balancer instead.

If you can find a Road Force balance at one of your local dealerships, that's the best deal for fixing the steering wheel shake, as most of the time one of the weights has fallen off or is slightly out of adjustment.

I recently had my RS-A's switched to the V6 rims and road force balanced; the car drives better than it did new! :woohoo:

Good luck!

--zepcom

[learjet60]

See if your dealership has a "Road Force Balance" system or the older digital balancer instead.

If you can find a Road Force balance at one of your local dealerships, that's the best deal for fixing the steering wheel shake, as most of the time one of the weights has fallen off or is slightly out of adjustment.

I recently had my RS-A's switched to the V6 rims and road force balanced; the car drives better than it did new! :woohoo:

Good luck!

--zepcom

Thanks for the info! Another member had mentioned the road force balance in a private message too. I had never heard of it, but it sounds like a good idea. Thanks!

[zepcom]

Thanks for the info! Another member had mentioned the road force balance in a private message too. I had never heard of it, but it sounds like a good idea. Thanks!


The top-of-the-line balancing method these days is called the "Road Force" balance. It's a special machine that most dealerships have that does a great job at balancing the tires for a car.

Here's a few links to read up on the technology:

http://www.basstire.com/roadforce/index.html


http://www.gsp9700.com/pub/features/how.cfm (http://www.gsp9700.com/pub/features/how.cfm)

http://www.gsp9700.com/pub/images/A4159T-03.jpg

Basically, instead of a simple "put the wheel weight here" type of oldskool machines, the road force system does a more complete balance, corners, sidewalls, and is highly rated to tune the tire to behave perfectly under the normal 'forces' that you would experience while driving/cornering/ etc.

That being said, many 2008's and 2009.1 (but not the newest 2009.5's that are just arriving now at dealerships...) cars have sat on the lots for several months. For example, my car was made in October 2008 but didn't get purchased by me until March 2009.

Sometimes sitting for so long results in flat spots in the tires which cause some shimmy at highway speeds. My situation resulted in the car feeling pretty-much smooth, but at 50-65mph the steering wheel shook on a confirmed smooth route so I knew there was a problem.

Be sure to hold your ground at the dealership. If your dealership does not have a road force balance system, shop around at other local dealerships for one that does.

It's the best machine available to balance tires, period. Likewise, with large diameter rims (18" or 19" on the G8) the balancing becomes more of a science than a simple wheel weight being clamped on like in the old days.

Hope this helps...

--zepcom

[learjet60]

Zepcom - great post, I'm going to make some calls right now. Thanks!

EDIT: I have an appointment for 1pm Friday...I'll report how it behaves afterwards!

[learjet60]

The road force balance helped the steering wheel shake but didn't completely cure it. The front wheels were in spec, but the rear wheels were not. All four are now within specs but I still get a small amount of steering wheel shake/vibration at speeds above 50mph...but not 100% of the time. After reading all of the threads on this subject here and at the other board, I have a feeling that it isn't always possible to eliminate the shake unless the tires are replaced...I dunno.

I also have some shake while braking. The service manager suggested I have the rotors checked when I have the time.

[SRG963]

My tires get little flat spots from sitting over night which causes a slight L-R rocking in my steering wheel. Goes away once tires get warmed up.

[zepcom]

The road force balance helped the steering wheel shake but didn't completely cure it. The front wheels were in spec, but the rear wheels were not. All four are now within specs but I still get a small amount of steering wheel shake/vibration at speeds above 50mph...but not 100% of the time. After reading all of the threads on this subject here and at the other board, I have a feeling that it isn't always possible to eliminate the shake unless the tires are replaced...I dunno.

I also have some shake while braking. The service manager suggested I have the rotors checked when I have the time.

I wonder if rotating the fronts to the back and visa-versa would make a difference. I once had a '85 cutlass with a rim (14" rims) that was out of spec a bit but I only noticed it when it was on the front (thus it transferred the vibrations through the steering rack to the steering wheel) ... when I had that rim on the back, smooth as silk. Multiply that out from 14" rims to 18" rims... and whatever issues that are happening are amplified by a bit.

Also, have you started the car in engineering mode to ensure that the shake isn't DoD/AFM kicking in at those speeds?

--zepcom

[uh6tdrvr]

Mine did it and ended up having a tire that wouldnt balance, dealer replaced it but i drive a new GXP the other day that did the same thing at highwayspeeds. im thinkin its a G8 thing.....

[c72lt1]

Same issue here on steering wheel shake. 2009 G8 GT, (10/08 build date) picked it up 8/22 Saturday, back to the dealer on Monday 8/24. Dealer gave the wife the TSB's on the tire shake and what the dealer is to do. Car at the dealer from 7:30am to 3:30pm. Dealer did the following:
1. Road Force Balanced w/ Hunter GSP9700, did not elimate shake. Have a Trailblazer SS w/ the Goodyear RS-A's (50 ar though, not the 45 as that's on the G8) and smooth no shake. G8 has the 18" Goodyear RS-A's. Not happy, will continue to work this one, unacceptable for there to be any tire imbalance to the point you can fell and see the steering wheel shake. Shake is most pronounced at 60-65mph. Does seem to vary though as the tire warms up thru use. Brand new (re-blacktopped last week) resurfaced I-12 so it's a real smooth roadway. Some what of a curse with this car though.
2. Turned all four rotors, said they were out of tolerance. Have not read the service docs to see how much they cut them. Did have an oscillation in the steering wheel during heavy braking. Smooth now under braking, turning the rotors fixed it.
3. Performed 2 ECM upgrades. There were listed on my onstar report from GM which we gave to the dealer when the wife took it in.
4. Dealer burned a 1/2 tank of gas test driving the car. TSB requires the dealer to drive the car for 15 miles before doing any diagnostic work or balancing on the shake issue.

Enjoying the car except for this unacceptable tire shake issue.