05 neon 5,000 miles on newer Good Year tires. 160,000 miles. Just replaced struts with oem used 77,000 miles struts. They spun my wheels with the original weights still on. Both front rims had only one .75 weights on the out side. They said they didn't need to be balanced after they ran it on the machine. The third wheel had one .5 weight on the outside before and they added one on the inside. The last back wheel weight was removed, and a larger one added. They said that rim was bent a little, I have a matching replacement that is not bent at home. Steering wheel still shacks at 55 to 65 mph, even when in neutral. If balanced correctly what else could make the car shake, a bad front wheel bearing? I just had a state inspection done but sometimes they don't do a good job, unless you go for an alignment. I could have that rechecked again???

 

Lots of unknowns. How did the wheel get bent? Is it in the position that has the suspect wheel bearing?

Get the tire on the bent wheel mounted on the spare that isn't bent & make sure it's match mounted on the rim.
Did the shop you used match mount all the new tires to all the rims?

Its not usual, or good practice to leave the old weights on a wheel when trying to balance new tires. Sounds like you need to consider a shop that knows what they're doing & follow good practice. Also choose one with a machine that can perform a road force balance if its needed & some one that knows how to use the machine.

Make sure the rims are clean, no mud or grease/dirt caked areas on the inside or outside of the rims, no bent rims & they remove all of the old weights before balancing..

Also make sure they check that the tire is round, the belts aren't skewed, the sidewall & belt splice look ok & if not, have the tire replaced, then match mount & balance.

EDIT: Make sure the lug nuts are torqued to spec.

Make sure the interface surface between the wheel & rotor is clean, no raised dings or dents, or rust that's jacking the rotor, or wheel alignment out of whack.

Good idea to have the alignment / checked / corrected, before reworking the tire balance.

Some beginning thoughts for consideration, let us know how it goes.

 

Thanks for the great info.! Most of these things were done. The shop will redo the balance the correct way for me. But I recheck recheck with another trusted shop with a road force balancer if all fails and let you guys know if it works out. One shop said my ball joints were bad, the next two shops said no they were not bad. So I looked up how to check the ball joints. If the grab the wheels at 9 o clock and 3 o clock on both front wheels they are loose. but not at the 12 and 6 o clock position. both ball joint don't feel or look loose, but I'm not expert. Looks to be the oem originals. Could be the inner ball joint or steering rack that's loose, but the steering wheel drives nice and tight? Could that make the wheel shake at 55 to 65 only then go away over 65 mph? I started fixing my own older cars 20 years ago, because it was hard to find people to fix my 4 cars correctly the first time.With help from you guys of course. and You Tube videos. Thanks for any more info!

 

After re-reading your initial post & thinking about this some more, seeing as how you say the vibration is felt in the steering wheel, suggests the problem is with the Front wheels.

SO, was the bent wheel on the front?

Was the bent wheel on the side that the vibrations seemed strongest? If so, put it high up on your suspect list & have the new tire match mounted & balanced on the spare wheel & see how it goes.

If you still have vibrations in front, try to determine which side they seem to be coming from & is it where the suspect wheel bearing lives?

If no joy swapping out the bent wheel, get in the center of a three lane road at the strongest vibration speed & have someone drive in the other lane with an observer watching that tire / wheel combo, to see if its tramping up & down, or wobbling left & right.

More thoughts for consideration, let us know what you find.

 

if the shimmy is felt in the steering wheel it is front wheel/tire related.
if you have play at 3 and 9 during a suspension check...its a tie rod or lower ball joint. they usually do not cause a vibration. if they are worn, replace them as its a safety concern... but it will not fix a vibration.
alignment for the most part do not address vibration issues
have the tires road forced balanced. tires with radial tire variation will balance fine but shake the steering out of your hand. road force balancing or swapping in a known good set of tires/rims is the only way to check for rtv. roadforce balancers can also measure tire and wheel runout. let them know what you are trying to fix and that you think it could be a bad tire or bent rim.

 

With the steering wheel turned all the way the the right. I had my wife turning the wheel the wheel back and forth about 3" to 4" and you could hear a clucking sound coming from the lower tie rod area. So I put my hand on the oem original tie rods and they are have a lot of movement ( worn ball joint inside). So found it!!! Did the same thing on the other side too. Thanks for info guys! Time to go RENT some free tools! Do you guys replace the tie rod bolt and nut with a grade 8 or reuse the oem bolt and nut?

 

not sure what your replacing... what is the lower tie rod area?

You have inner tie rods that bolt to the rack and outer tie rod ends that connect to the steering knuckle. the outer tie rod end nut that secures the knuckle....if the nut is a plastic locking nut...it must be replaced. if it uses a cotter pin...only the cotter pin needs replacement.

you will need a wheel alignment after tie rod end replacement.

 

Ok, let us know how it goes after swapping out the slightly bent wheel & having the tires match mounted & road force balanced & replacing the tie rod suspects.

 

Thanks. Got an appointment set up. It's the outer tie rod ends. How do I know if the inner rods are worn? Someone said replace those too while I'm there since it's got 160,000 miles????

 

it can be hard to tell what the inners are like if the outers have excessive play. have the shop that is replacing them to check the inners. outers are much more common to wear than inners.

I don't replace anything that's not worn...but here's the thing....in the inners have play later...you'll pay for another alignment...$140. Secondly...before replacing tie rods...may sure the rack and pinion/steering gear is checked for leaks....if its leaking...you can get a long rack that includes new inner and outer tie rod ends.