Got Shimmy?
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JK Enthusiast
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 166
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From: Van, down by the river
Got Shimmy?
For those of you who have aftermarket wheels and have a steering wheel shimmy, this may help. A freind of mine mentioned to me today that he has a steering wheel shimmy at 45-50 mph in his JK that he hasn't been able to fix, even after having his wheels/tires balanced 4 times. So, he brings it over and we take a look. After inspecting the front end components, everything checked out so we took off his front wheels. Turns out the tire shop who installed his wheels/tires didn't remove the retaining washers (star washers) on the wheel studs when they installed his aftermarket wheels. I had the same problem on a Silverado I had a few years ago, took me a few trips back for balancing issues before I figured it out. If the back side (mounting surface) of your wheel is flat, and not recessed around the lug hole like the OEM wheels are, the wheel will not seat flush against the rotor when the wheel is mounted causing a slight canter (angle) and give the same symptoms as out of balance wheels. We removed the washers, remounted the wheels, and now it drives like a diferent Jeep. So, if your having balancing/steering issues, take a look behind your aftermarket wheels and see if the washers are installed. Makes a huge difference.
JeepSWAG
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Joined: Dec 2006
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From: Costa Mesa, Ca.
For those of you who have aftermarket wheels and have a steering wheel shimmy, this may help. A freind of mine mentioned to me today that he has a steering wheel shimmy at 45-50 mph in his JK that he hasn't been able to fix, even after having his wheels/tires balanced 4 times. So, he brings it over and we take a look. After inspecting the front end components, everything checked out so we took off his front wheels. Turns out the tire shop who installed his wheels/tires didn't remove the retaining washers (star washers) on the wheel studs when they installed his aftermarket wheels. I had the same problem on a Silverado I had a few years ago, took me a few trips back for balancing issues before I figured it out. If the back side (mounting surface) of your wheel is flat, and not recessed around the lug hole like the OEM wheels are, the wheel will not seat flush against the rotor when the wheel is mounted causing a slight canter (angle) and give the same symptoms as out of balance wheels. We removed the washers, remounted the wheels, and now it drives like a diferent Jeep. So, if your having balancing/steering issues, take a look behind your aftermarket wheels and see if the washers are installed. Makes a huge difference.
JK Super Freak
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 1,558
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From: SoCal
Way to go Nukeman! I just installed new wheels and the spec sheet that came with them told me to do the same thing. The after market wheels do not have the cutouts near the stud holes that the factory ones do. I also removed the star nuts off of mine yesterday. Great post! 
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JK Junkie
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From: Catonsville, MD