shimmy at 55 mph?

[riderrich]

Hello everyone:
I took my fiat out for the first time this weekend, at normal driving speeds. I noticed at or around 55 mph, the front end shakes and shimmy's but when I reach 60 or lower then 55 mph it is'nt as noticeable. I had the tires balanced last week and I repacked the wheel bearings, the ball jointsa and tie rod ends look good and tight. I wqas missing a sway bar bushing on the passenger side so I replaced that and it seems to made the shaking worse.
Any idea or any simular problems that anyone has had or having
Please let me know .

[So Cal Mark]

if the steering wheel is shaking, you have a wheel balance or bent wheel problem. If the wheel shakes up and down, the tire is out of balance from top to bottom. If it shimmys like you're turning it back and forth the tire is out of balance from side to side

[pope]

I'll second what Mark said. I'll bet the tires are not new and that they are worn unevenly even though you may not see it. Sometimes on worn radials, the steel belts on the tires move and bunchup. One way to tell is to rotate the tires. Move the front tire to the opposite rear side. Example- Front passanger to rear driver and front driver to rear passanger. The back tires stay on the same side as previously installed and just move to the front. Rotate ever 5000-7000 miles.

[zappi]

Find a garage with electronic ballancing equiptment and then maybe consider an allignment.

[mbouse]

turn the radio down, your car is dancing to the music.

was the tire balancing done on or off the vehicle?

[riderrich]

Good news!!
I took the wheels to a tire shop and they rebalanced them and found out that all the tires that I had previously balanced were so far unbalanced. about 6 oz. on one tire and 3 to 4 oz. on all the rest. Should of figured that much going to a side of the road tire garage called (amego tires) Funny thing is I watched them balance them on a machine but the operator must not of known what he was doing, so I was out $24 more bucks for thinking I was getting a great deal. Oh-well Live and learn. She rides smoooth now.

[ga.spyder]

I have found over many years and many cars that electornic balancing and computer alignment are only as good as the operatorof the equipment.And that usually is poor! Find a competent old school shop that balances on the car and pulls the car over a pit to set the alignment to factory spec.It may cost a little more ,but usually it is done right.
Craig

[So Cal Mark]

I've never seen a car tire 6oz out of balance. That's a massive amt for a small tire. Was that with the old weights on the tire? If not, I'd think either your wheels are way out of balance or the tires have a problem

[pope]

Are we talking 6 grams?
Six ounces would be like straping a roll of dimes to each tire. I definitely think there is tire problems and uneven wear.

Is that with the snow chains on or off?

[punes]

Anyone have any experience with balancing power or pellets...I just saw them for the first time last week at work. A mobile tire repairman was switching over from snows to summer tires and he just used most of the snow tires balancing powder and added a bit more when installing the summers... he sais the centrifugal force upon rotation sets the weight in the spot needed. Seems like a good idea. Any thoughts?

[So Cal Mark]

those systems surface every few years; they've been around at least since the 60's and probably longer. One problem is that tires are not only out of balance from top to bottom, but also side to side.

[stupidsongs2]

CHECK YOUR BALL JOINTS!

I had this shimmy when I first bought mine. After about a month, a ball joint broke off in a parking lot, however, if it had been on the highway, who knows what could of happened.