Car Feels Wobbly In Rear Wheels At 50 Mph!

[Delmarco]

My 1995 318i has taken a beaten on NYC pot hole ridden streets. Before I got my Rondell alloys I was replacing or fixing bent steel wheels and flat tires at least twice a month from the streets. Since my alloys I've had no probs. But lately my drive has become more and more harsh and feels as if the tires are about to roll off. Last night I was on the Long Island Expressway going 50-70 mph and my rear wheels started to feel very wobbly as if they were coming off the axel or something. I don't think its the road cause I drive thru there daily.

Also a week ago I discovered my right rear tire had absolutely NO air (for no apparent reason)after being fine a few days before and this week that same tire was a little lower on air than it should've been. I checked the rims and it seems fine. But that tire may be leaking somewhere. Could this be the problem?

Another suspicion I have is I may need new shocks or struts? Since 1996 (when the car was first driven) they were never replaced. Is it time?

[wulley1]

I recently had a dented rim that was leaking air, and it and would slowly go flat. Does the ride feel "wobbly" the most around 40-65mph? dented or out of balance rims usually shake them most between those speeds.

[Delmarco]

Originally posted by wulley1@Oct 3 2004, 03:28 PM
I recently had a dented rim that was leaking air, and it and would slowly go flat. Does the ride feel "wobbly" the most around 40-65mph? dented or out of balance rims usually shake them most between those speeds.

[snapback]204109[/snapback]

Yeah. What are "out of balanced rims"? Could that be it? How much to fix that?

Also would out of balanced rims be more sensitive to potholes and rough terrain?

[wulley1]

it's usually about $10 a tire to have it spin balance. The use a machine to spin the wheel to check if the weight is equaly blanced. If it's not, they add a few grams to the light spots to balance it out.

If the rim is really dented, they won't be able to spin balance it.

[El Presidente]

ha...drive out to hempstead. I'll show you a wobbly rear. With my control arm as is....yeah.

In your siruation, my fist guess is the tire is bad. If you have a road hazzard, use it to get a new one or that one repaired. If not...check it over very well. Other things would be bad alignment or loose wheel. Alignment is my issue. Also, with the steets here, your RSMs could be gone, but unrelated to the problem at hand.

[bad man working]

You say you were repairing dent steel wheels regally and now you have fitted alloys. When you damage a steel wheel you can see it with an alloy they crack, these cracks can be hair-line and impossible to see try immersing the wheel and tyre complete in water to see if it’s porous if you have cracked a wheel I’d go back to steel wheels for safety reasons (cracked alloys can shatter without warning especially at speed)

Bad Man Working