If Your Rim Is Out-of-Round, Will You Know?

Pretty much what's going on is...I have a moderately bad shimmy in my steering wheel. When it happens varies between 50 - 70mph. Past 70mph, it seems to stop...and under 50mph, it just doesn't do it.

I've tried rebalancing the tires.
The air pressures are symmetrical.

The only thing I can think of is maybe one of my rims are out-of-round?
My left front tire has a very slow leak. It's had it since I put the tire on the rim (months ago). Instead of fixing it...I took the lazy route and just kept filling it up every 2 weeks.

Sometimes it would be super low (maybe 10psi?), and I'd have to drive it to the gas station to fill it up...and I'm hoping that didn't bend the rim.
Looking at the rim, I don't see anything wrong with it.

Which leads me to ask...
If your rim is out-of-round, will it be noticeable? Or is there a chance it can't be caught by the eye?


Thanks.

Do you know anyone with a similar car who could loan your their rims and tires for a test drive? This could help you determine if it's something in the wheels/tires or suspension related. How many miles are on your car? It could be worn control arm bushings.

Originally Posted by vavet5308

Do you know anyone with a similar car who could loan your their rims and tires for a test drive? This could help you determine if it's something in the wheels/tires or suspension related. How many miles are on your car? It could be worn control arm bushings.

I do not. I plan on putting the stock wheels on for the winter soon, though.
It's just weird how it's happening.

When I got the new wheels, I put balance beads in the tires.
It drove okay...wasn't a big fan of the balance beads, but they worked alright.

A month later or so, the vibrations got worse. So, I went and put weights on the wheels. It drove really well.

Months later, it's acting up again.

Car has 72k miles.

Another thing to add...

Can aluminum wheels even go out-of-round?
If you were to hit a pothole or something...wouldn't it crack rather than go out-of-round?

Originally Posted by Hemorrhage

Another thing to add...

Can aluminum wheels even go out-of-round?
If you were to hit a pothole or something...wouldn't it crack rather than go out-of-round?

Aluminum wheels can bend just like any other wheel. They can crack to though and leak air out of the crack.

I have a feeling it is a bent wheel.

Is there any vibration when you apply the brakes at any speed?

Originally Posted by Jason @ BMS

Aluminum wheels can bend just like any other wheel. They can crack to though and leak air out of the crack.

I have a feeling it is a bent wheel.

Is there any vibration when you apply the brakes at any speed?

No vibration during braking.
However, I concluded that it isn't the wheel.
I put on my stock rims, and the shimmy is still there at the same speed range.
Could a bad tie rod be the culprit?

Unfortunately, I don't have access to a jack to verify...but it'd be nice to know if it's something to consider.

Originally Posted by Hemorrhage

No vibration during braking.
However, I concluded that it isn't the wheel.
I put on my stock rims, and the shimmy is still there at the same speed range.
Could a bad tie rod be the culprit?

Unfortunately, I don't have access to a jack to verify...but it'd be nice to know if it's something to consider.

Ok so it is not the wheel or tire. When you can, jack up the car and see if the front wheels wiggle. I had some shimmy for quite sometime and went through months of trying everything and I got new front breaks because it was time and the shimmy went away.

Originally Posted by Jason @ BMS

Ok so it is not the wheel or tire. When you can, jack up the car and see if the front wheels wiggle. I had some shimmy for quite sometime and went through months of trying everything and I got new front breaks because it was time and the shimmy went away.

Were your brakes hanging up?
Was there a weird wear on the pads?