Tire Shimmy When Cold

[ericg]

I have a 2005 Rx330 with 500 miles on it. I took the car back to the dealer the day after I picked it up to complain about the steering wheel having a slight shimmy at 65mph when the car was cold. The dealer told me that this was normal as the tires develop flat spots from sitting and would go away once the tire heated up. The dealer rebalanced the tires. I have the 18" rims with Michelin tires. The problem does go away after driving for about ten minutes. Is this normal?

Eric

[SKperformance]

Does the shimmey get less or more if you hit the brakes lightly or heavily?

[ericg]

Does the shimmey get less or more if you hit the brakes lightly or heavily?

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Hello, thank you for responding to my post. I would have to say that the shimmy gets less when I hit the brakes but only because I am going less than 65mph. It is crazy because after about ten minutes of driving at highway speeds, the shimmy is gone completely. I had the car up to 85mph on the interstate today and the wheel was steady as a rock.

[SKperformance]

Unless you leave a car parked over a week it should not be getting any flat spots.

So far we know heat is a major factor in repairing the problem.

Means you have a gap out of tolerance somewhere.

If it is through the steering wheel it should be in the front suspension.

Wheels have been rebalanced so that throws them out.

It might be the brakes which change shape with a touch of heat.

I would drive slowly 1-5mph on a small street first thing in the morning and apply the brake lightly for about 1 minute .Then get the truck up to 65 and see if it is gone.

[jbarhorst2]

The flat spot could be due to the tires.

My brother-in-law is an engineer for Honda. He is in the quality group of new model and they had a major issue with the tires on the new Acura TL. The manufacturer changed the formula slightly and the tires flat-spotted terribly.

Acura was even putting the cars on blocks at the dealerships and keeping one driving constantly so that the customers did not notice the problem.

My Toyo tires do it a little bit too.

I have gotten used to it. It won't hurt anything.

Tom

[ericg]

The flat spot could be due to the tires.

My brother-in-law is an engineer for Honda.  He is in the quality group of new model and they had a major issue with the tires on the new Acura TL.  The manufacturer changed the formula slightly and the tires flat-spotted terribly.

Acura was even putting the cars on blocks at the dealerships and keeping one driving constantly so that the customers did not notice the problem.

My Toyo tires do it a little bit too.

I have gotten used to it.  It won't hurt anything.

Tom

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Tom, thank you for the response. At least I am not crazy thinking that I was the only one with this problem.

Eric

[ericg]

Unless you leave a car parked over a week it should not be getting any flat spots.

So far we know heat is a major factor in repairing the problem.

Means you have a gap out of tolerance somewhere.

If it is through the steering wheel it should be in the front suspension.

Wheels have been rebalanced so that throws them out.

It might be the brakes which change shape with a touch of heat.

I would drive slowly 1-5mph on a small street first thing in the morning and apply the brake lightly for about 1 minute .Then get the truck up to 65 and see if it is gone.

←

Thank you for the suggestion. I am going to try it out. The car only gets used on the weekends and there have been times that I let the car sit for ten days before utilizing it.

Eric