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Wheel balance

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#1
A couple weeks ago my steering wheel began moving left and right while going about 1-2 mph. I get some light vibration at 61 mph. The wheels were balanced 6 months ago and the tires are in good shape. Is this just a balancing issue or something worse. All wheel weights are intact.


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Cdubya

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#2
Not wheel balance causing left, right movement at 1-2mph. Maybe alignment is off?
 

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edeyoung2
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Thread Starter #3
Not wheel balance causing left, right movement at 1-2mph. Maybe alignment is off?
The alignment is very straight and I haven’t hit anything. The folks that patched my tire didn’t rebalance after since they put it back on in the same spot. Doesn’t seem correct. I moved that tire to the front about 1k miles ago.


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#4
I do not believe that a tire balance issue would show up at 1-2 mph. Now, an out of round tire or one with a tread separation you would likely feel.
 

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edeyoung2
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Thread Starter #5
I do not believe that a tire balance issue would show up at 1-2 mph. Now, an out of round tire or one with a tread separation you would likely feel.
A couple weeks ago I noticed it at even 15 mph. The steering wheel had a small wiggle and vibration at higher speeds. Could the two patches on that tire be causing issues now?


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#6
No, but it might be a place to start looking for a tread/belt separation, a tire that isn't fully seated, a bent wheel, or a flat spot.

Back in the day my stores (a district of 21 stores) made millions of dollars in tire adjustments, few things would surprise me but balance issues just aren't likely to show up at low speeds.

Did you see them pull the tire? Could there have been sound deadening material bunched up in the tire?

A road force balance would help detect most of those issues.

https://youtube.com/shorts/Vt88Jq18idw?si=EGtNco2FsLx_6LaU
 

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