2008 Kia Optima LX Steering wheel shake

h of highway, at speeds over 60mph. IOW: Going 60 - or 80 - on a pockmar ked dog's breakfast results in zero steering wheel jiggle. Jiggle does no t change with throttle position.

section of straightaway. Steering wheel was a frickin Tourette case!

arp sight at any distance up to the moon.

attempts by Town Fair installed the wrong rim.

______

To answer your last question, I feel it only in the steering wheel.

Last year, when the bent rim was still on the car, after a routine rotation that rim was moved forward, and yes, the whole car shook like off Chile la st week!

When the rim was moved back to the right-rear, the shaking subsided to sane levels.

Now, with the replaced rim, only the steering shakes, and only progressivel y at speeds starting at 60mph.

Reply to
thekmanrocks
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As for neutral test, steering wheel still jiggles over 60mph.

So, I've done every test except mounting the front end up on a jack and spinning the wheels.

Also, noticed when coasting at slow speeds(30 & under), I feel like I'm rocking back & forward in my seat - just slightly - 1/4sec back & forth.

Reply to
thekmanrocks

That sounds like a shifted belt in one of the rear tires. Jack the back up, and spin the tires by hand while you watch the top surface. You'll see the tire dip or rise as you do that. watch it from the back, too, for side-to-side motion. Fix the obvious stuff first. And make sure none of the hub bearings are loose.

Reply to
Bill Vanek

So having the wheel/tire balanced 100 times won't catch or cure a shifted belt?

And BTW the rear tires were replaced less than a month ago.

Reply to
thekmanrocks

No balancing will not fix a broken or shifted belt in a tire. The tire is junk if it has broken belts.

Could be a defective tire, pothole or sharp edge damage.

Have someone drive down the road in a straight line and watch the tires/rims. Could be another bent rim or bent hub.

Reply to
Steve W.

Steve W. wrote: "Have someone drive down the road in a straight line and watch the "

Read back several posts. Wife and I already done that. She saw no wheel hop or side to side.

Reply to
thekmanrocks

That is not a useful way to check the tires, except for something very obviously bent. If you feel a shimmy in the seat at low speeds, and the steering wheel is not moving, there is almost certainly something wrong with a rear tire and/or rim. Do you even own a floor jack? I'm thinking you don't, and that's why you keep finding wrong ways to check these things. $50 will get you a passable jack for home use.

Reply to
Bill Vanek

Bill Vanek:

Yes, the one that came with the car, and a spare in the garage.

The reason I haven't done it is I've been sick lately, and also, I'v got it in my head: How could a brand new tire have a belt issue?

Reply to
thekmanrocks

I don't think we're talking about the same thing. By "floor jack", I mean something that rolls under the car, and can by used under the control arm or rear axle, not the car body. You don't want to do what I suggested for the front by raising the body of the car. I doesn't matter in back.

Reply to
Bill Vanek

No, I don't have one of those.

Reply to
thekmanrocks

I don't care where you live, there has got to be someone in your area that can properly diagnose a steering wheel shake. You're better off finding that someone, instead of wasting time and money on replacing parts.

Reply to
Bill Vanek

I don't care where you live, there has got to be someone in your area that can properly diagnose a steering wheel shake. You're better off finding that someone, instead of wasting time and money on replacing parts. "

So this morning I had my oil change, etc done at Valvoline. I demonstrated by jiggling the steering wheel what happens over 60mph. The tech's suggestion: Bad tie rod or ball joints. Car has 42,000 miles on it, so is that possible?

My neighborhood mechanic has never dealt with this type of shake before, stating that if the tie rod were bad, the whole front end of the car would shake.

I do have a pulsating brake when slowing down rapidly for a certain highway exit near home, so I'm wondering if a warped(read: uneven) brake rotor could be causing it?

Reply to
thekmanrocks

If it was the rotors you should only get the shaking when you hit your brakes.

If it happens at various speeds while not touching the brakes you have a out of balance rim, or a steering/suspension issue.

Reply to
m6onz5a
10:24 AMm6onz5a wrote "- show quoted text - If it was the rotors you should only get the shaking when you hit your brakes.

If it happens at various speeds while not touching the brakes you have a out of balance rim, or a steering/suspension issue. "

Car has been balanced 3x since February, and bad rim replaced per earlier in this thread.

Reply to
thekmanrocks

are you taking it to the same place to get the wheels balanced?

also have you swapped the front tires with the rear to see if the problem moves?

Reply to
m6onz5a

m6onz5a wrote: "- show quoted text - are you taking it to the same place to get the wheels balanced?

also have you swapped the front tires with the rear to see if the problem moves? "

All balancing has been done at same town fair dealer. Haven't done a front-rear rotation since the aforementioned balancings.

Reply to
thekmanrocks

UPDATE:

Yesterday had front-rear rotation done at Town Fair. Got on parkway to work, existing previous steering wheel shake completely gone!

Reply to
thekmanrocks

Now you know for sure that one of the (now) rear tires, has a problem.

Reply to
Steve W.

Steve W:

Well, I went to Town Fair yesterday(Weds) the day after rotation to explain this. I showed them all the receipts, and told them I think they replaced the wrong rim(a good one, which they discarded at the time of the work bac k in March) and left the bad on on the car!

The asst. mgr insisted that was impossible, and that Kia dealership probabl y screwed up. I told him that could not be, because I returned and refunde d the incorrect rim town fair sold me, leaving me with three rims. So I we nt to Kia with the TEMP on that corner, which they replaced with the proper oem rim.

The Town Fair manager said they owed me nothing for a rim, insisting that o nly TIRES(not rims) were moved around in february when I got two new ones(t he best of my olds were moved to the front and the new ones mounted on rear axle). The bad rim, which was diagnosed and shown to me last summer, was moved to the back axle at that time to minimize vibration.

In February, that tire - and rim - were moved to the front as one of my "be st"s, and the new tires - with one incorrectly ordered by town fair rim - w ent on the rear.

That is why, on Tuesday, the wiggly steering wheel went away when they did that rotation.

Yesterday the asst mgr offered me a free balancing on the rears, to "prove" there were no bad rims on the car. The right rear(the bad one all along ) took 2.75grams of weights to zero out, the left, 2.25. I told him I wan ted to see the numbers on the machine as his tech did it, and he read the r iot act about customers not allowed in the bay for "safety" reasons. I ins isted, and he acquiesced a bit - allowing me to stand at the rear of my car , where I could still see the rim move and the display panel. The rear wh eels were both balanced and went back on their exact same locations.

After this balance, At over 60mph, the steering wheel no longer shimmies, b ut I now feel a strong pounding vibration through my seat and the floor at progressively higher speeds - AFTER yesterday's balancing.

Now what?? I'll drive it for a few day to see if the wheels just need to w ork in to their new locations and balances.

Reply to
thekmanrocks

Ummmm... what does balancing have to do with anything?

You can balance a bent rim and it's still bent.

Plus, for all you know, it could be the tire and not the rim.

You're not any closer than you were before.

--scott

Reply to
Scott Dorsey

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