Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Wheels & Tires shaking at high speeds

I had been having this on going problem with my SVT wheels, they shake pretty harshly going over 60 miles an hour. between 60 and 75 its absolutel horrible, you can even see the dash itself shaking... But once you hit 80 it calms down to a tolerable point. As goes the same below 60 miles an hour, it never really shakes at all. I took the car to discount tire when I first learned of this, and paid them to balance all of the rims, this was at the time when I was changing my winter rims out with the SVT ones in early march... I KNOW it has to be the wheels because when I had the steel ones on, the car drove smooth as butter at any speed... The wheels are now Balanced and shaking between 60 and 75 MPH. I looked the wheels and I saw a new weight or two on a few of them, but other then that I guess they were balanced... Anybody have any insight or should I go back to discount tire and raise hell again... Speaking of which, when I went back a week after I had the rims balanced they said the reason I had the shaking problems was becuase I needed new tires, which is true, I need two new tires in the back... But that wouldnt explain why the shaking is coming from the front on tires with over 50% tread left...

I have the same problem. Mine's not as severe as yours sounds, but my shaking starts right around 65 and tapers off after 80, with the worst being right at 70-75. I've got LOTS of tread left on mine, so I know that's not it. I'm not missing any weights on the wheels either. Could it be some sort of alignment problem?

thats the strange part... I put my old steelies back on, and it was smooth again...

So see what happens if you put the steelies on the rear. If the shake is still there, try the steelies on the front.

It is a balance related problem which can include the tires as well as the wheels.

A still better bit of advise is to fix what you find and go from there. If you know there are junk tires on it, get them off and see what happens next.

Have the wheels rebalanced. Insist that they clean the wheel before reinstalling weights.

They're most likely using clip on weights on the svt wheel, cleaning the wheel unless its covered in mud won't really do anything.

Could be the tires, or they may not be balancing them correctly.

im having the same problem..I spent a lot of money on getting my whole car alligned and balanced and yesterday going 65-75 the car was shaking violently to the point where I had to pull over to inspect wtf was going on!!

Im taking it back to the place though to make sure they fix it..now i just gotta take my lip off..blah!

I'd bet it's just the balance. You'd be amazed at the amount of shops that don't properly balance wheels. And properly balancing doesn't take any longer than to do it improperly and it's not hard at all. The only excuse they could have would be the machine isn't calibrated, but they should realize it and fix it. Maybe try another shop, possibly one recommended by others you know with aftermarket wheels and whatnot.

I thought I had a balance problem. Had a vibration problem between 60 and 70. Put the wheels on my daughters car & it was smooth as silk. My car, with the narrower stock tires was slightly smoother, but still had a detectable vibration.

The problem was worn LCA bushings AND a slightly off alignment. Replaced the old LCAs, much better. Got an alignment & all is right with the world.

Mine did the same with steelies and just a tiny bit at about 70 with the new 18s and new rubber.

I think its some old worn "front end" parts (80,000 miles)you know things are "loose"................ Maybe the rack or end links/bushings?

If any one completely redoes the front with all new parts, we will get an answer...........