The dreaded shakes

Ater reading so much about this problem here I was thanking my lucky stars that my car never seemed to have it. I'm talking about the 50-60mph shakes. Arrrgh! Ok here we go...'93 525i, Borbet type H wheels, standard size 205/65-15'' Old tires, Pirelli P6 - no problems, even wear no shakes, just wore out. New tires, Bridgestone Potenza G009. Same size. Went to Tires Plus because they were recommmended by Tire Rack for the Hunter balancing machine. The wheels have been on and off the car 7 times and it is better but not gone yet. I finally gave up but one thing was...there was ONE hubcentric ring missing. What that has to do with balancing I'll never know but the tire guys didn't seem too concerned about it because the lugs are self centering. I even suggested CLEANING the surfaces where the wheel touches the hub. They might have cleaned one or two. Spent the afternoon Saturday and half the day today.

I can find nothing on Tire Racks website about hubcenteric rings. I emailed them, hopefully I'll get an answer before I go nuts. My mechanic says nothing wrong with front end. Had to visit him today to get new belts put on AND because yesterday my brake lining light came on. Seems the sensor wire was rubbing on the wheel (right rear) Tire guy says he can't see HOW but will replace it anyway but it's gonna take another trip because he had to order the part.

All I wanted was some new tires!

Thanks for letting me vent, I feel better now :p

throw your thinking away and order some new thrust arms from BMA. shakes will seem like an old habit you kicked.

This is exactly what was happening to my old e30. I spend an obscene amount of time and money having the wheels balanced by just about every tire place in my home town and the shaking wouldn't go away. It had the self centering nnts and all, but it still needed the hub centric rings. I never thought that such a small piece will make such a difference, but upon installing them, the shaking was gone. Do not disregard Regal advice, but before you spend more money on the thrust arms, try the rings, it may be just that. Good luck, Dave

It's absolutely, 100% positively the hubcentric rings. Well, that or an imperfect balance job (really, you have to plead with the guys to "make it absolutely perfect, PLEASE"). Without the rings the wheel can and will move ever so slightly relative to the hub and will make all the balancing in the world worthless. The lugs may center the wheel - but they aren't designed to carry the weight of the car - they would need to be torqued down much harder to accomplish that anyways.

I had some crappy plastic rings on my car that had been pretty beat up after countless wheel removals. I wouldn't have thought much of it, but after basically rebuilding most of my front suspension (which thankfully, doesn't take much) and balancing the wheels many times, it was the last option.

And wouldn't you know it, it's always the damn cheapest part that causes the problem.

Discount Tire gave me the aluminum rings for free - the guy at the counter claimed "they aren't worth ringing up". Reportedly they're part number A670 from TireRack (you'll have to call). They're identical to these except mine are anodized blue (oooh! ahh!) - and they were $29 cheaper.

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Originally Posted by Mobius

It's absolutely, 100% positively the hubcentric rings. Well, that or an imperfect balance job (really, you have to plead with the guys to "make it absolutely perfect, PLEASE"). Without the rings the wheel can and will move ever so slightly relative to the hub and will make all the balancing in the world worthless. The lugs may center the wheel - but they aren't designed to carry the weight of the car - they would need to be torqued down much harder to accomplish that anyways.

I had some crappy plastic rings on my car that had been pretty beat up after countless wheel removals. I wouldn't have thought much of it, but after basically rebuilding most of my front suspension (which thankfully, doesn't take much) and balancing the wheels many times, it was the last option.

And wouldn't you know it, it's always the damn cheapest part that causes the problem.

Discount Tire gave me the aluminum rings for free - the guy at the counter claimed "they aren't worth ringing up". Reportedly they're part number A670 from TireRack (you'll have to call). They're identical to these except mine are anodized blue (oooh! ahh!) - and they were $29 cheaper.

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No offense, you've only 22 posts... 632 and I have been here for like 2 years... this is not a hubcentric prob... this is a thrust arm problem accentuated by the wheels, but definitely not solely caused by it.

No offense Jon, but a missing hubcentric ring can be just as much a part of this problem as a worn bushing.......the first thing that should be fixed is the obvious......get the hubcentric ring, and work from there.

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Originally Posted by Jon K

No offense, you've only 22 posts... 632 and I have been here for like 2 years... this is not a hubcentric prob... this is a thrust arm problem accentuated by the wheels, but definitely not solely caused by it.

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I would try the hubcentric rings, if that doesn't do it then look elsewhere. Last winter when I switched to my snow tires and rims I immediately had the 50-60 mph shimmy. After getting balanced it was still there, hmmm, tried systematically switching back to road wheels until I found the culprit. It was one of the snow tire rims that wasnt' seating properly when bolted onto the hub. Didn't notice it at first but closer inspection showed a gap indicating it wasn't centered perfectly. I then carefully centered the rim and tightened until the slight gap was even, then tightened them really good. The shimmy went away!
Good luck

can you take a ring off back wheel and put on front..that will tell you if it's the ring or not. My experience has been that tires have to be perfectly round and balanced...also of course thrust arms will magnify problem if bad. I'm really staring to question quality of front end parts sold by some vendors that are touted as a good source on this board. Think that's why so many on this board have changed them out and still have problems or problem reappears after a short time.
Callen 91 535i 94 530i 89 735il with the shakes

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Originally Posted by Scott H

No offense Jon, but a missing hubcentric ring can be just as much a part of this problem as a worn bushing.......the first thing that should be fixed is the obvious......get the hubcentric ring, and work from there.

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None taken, its just that he's said the wheels have been on and off 7 times, surely the shops have switched it around at least once... try taking a hubcentric ring off a rear wheel and put it on the front.. that would clarify if there is front shimmy... i ran my wheels without hubcentrics for like 2 weeks, then i realized i didnt have them, once i put them on, i had the shimmies... i think the shaking of non hubcentric wore the bushings a little bit more or something.

Can you Descibe in detail these "shakes" - i am thinking maybe you have a bad wheel - i recently put on G009s and am not satisfied with the way they "bounce" - i had the tire guy rotate them and it didnt do the trick , i think its a bad wheel -especially since (in my case)its only the right side of the car .
it maybe bushings but i wont know unless i change them.