WHEEL WOBBLE!!

At about 60mph in my '79 308GTB my steering wheel vibrates like crazy,go a bit faster and it smooths out. The wheels have been balanced recently by a good friend with many years in the tyre industry, who said that they were better than before but would not balance 100%. I have the original 14" wheels with good tyres, could it be anything else causing this problem, or do i need to replace the wheels and tyres
Regards with something more modern?

 

Might want to try new tires. On my DD I had a bad set of tires that just wouldn't balance. New tires, same wheels--perfectly true. Maybe when the tires are off the rims run them through the balancing machine to see if they are true.

 

Take a peak at the inner third of your rear tires. The stuff you can't see when washing the car. I had a similar problem and with closer inspection noted that the inner third of my rear tires were almost to the belts. New tires and problem was solved. I noted that you said you had your tires balanced recently. Was that all 4 tires or just the front?

 

I only had the fronts rebalanced. Yesterday I swapped the fronts to the back and I am now waiting for the rain to stop so I can take it for a run and see if there is any improvement.
The two fronts are now XWX's and the rears are now ( have checked the manufacture date and are very old although hardly used ) Avon Turbospeed's.
I think I need to replace the Avons with some new tyres. Are "H" rated tyres going to be O.K, they are about half the price of "V" rated and far more easily obtainable?
Does anyone here run the Fulda Carat Assuro's and are they any good, or do I cough up for the Michelins?
Regards

 

There probably aren't very many selections that offer perfomance in the stock size. As long as you won't go over 130mph the H rated tires are fine. If it were me I would spring for all four tires, that way they're all new and a matched set. Tires in that size are pretty reasonable.

I would still have the wheels without tires mounted checked for balance.

 

you might want to take a look at your tie rods and steering rack also. I had a similar problem that required a rack rebuild.

 

I have a similiar scenario.
New goodyear tires with less than 500 miles on them.
Car was fine with the fresh mount
Now, shimmy at 50-60 & it disappears before & after that.
Rechecked showed the balance was a little off .75 on one rear tire
but the shimmy is still there.
The new tire machine said all was good, yet I saw a slight wobble as it spun up.

I'll have to try the front-to-back temporary swap & see if the problem persists.

 

Be careful if you are going to put rears on the front. You may have some clearance issues 8' inch rim vs 7' inch rim. Check your wheel bearings for correct torque and all steering links. Could also be a suspension bushing and or a shock.

 

I think on '79's the cars used the same size wheel all the way around.

 

Good luck if you can find anybody at Fulda to answer any email enquiry at all. I've been trying to find out about the Carat Assuro tires for almost 6 months now ... there's something wrong with those guys ... they simply do not like responding to emails. I guess business must be so good that they don't need to sell too much additional product!!

 

Maybe, but Clyde has a 308 GTB QV.

 

Doh!

Yeah back-to-fronts is not a good idea then.

 

My wheels are all the same size, I have just taken it for a run and now the wheels are changed, the vibration has all but stopped, so i think i will replace the Avons to start with.

 

Speed sensitive steering wheel shake can indeed be a steering rack wear issue..

I have gotten Fulda Assuros into North America with Goodyear's assistance...it's possible. Have not mounted them yet though waiting on wheel refinishing.....

 

V rated 14"s is a VERY small market it seems, I went thru Performance Tire National Manager in Akron, OH........just happened to have his number.....

They know we are out here trying to sort logisitcs between Germany and other markets........the tires I received look great against the old Michelin patterns...