Re: Shimmy in Tires

["jtrealty@xxxx " <jtrealty@xxxx>]

A shimmy is a condition where the sterring wheel has a shake side to 
side and can be very pronounced at a certain speeds yet seem to 
disappear at others. It is generaly caused by a bad tire or an out of 
balance condition. The first thing to do is to take off the front 
wheels and run your hand over the inside and outside sidewalls. Feel 
for lumps, bumps, and bulges. This could be a sign of the layers 
delaminating. Next feel the tread, it should be smooth, not bumpy. 
Remove any stones or glass or metal. Look the tire over for anything 
that doesn't look right. Check the surface on the rim and the surface 
on the rotor for any dirt or rust that would prevent the rim from 
seating properly. Remount the wheel on the car alternating the
torque. Check for "runout" that is the rim should rotate without 
moving in and out. If these things do not help then have the tires 
balanced in a dynamic balancing machine. Static balancing is not 
accurate enough for modern cars. Also check for looseness in the 
steering, there should be no play in the tie rod ends. Any looseness 
will exaggerate an out of balance condition. A shaking in your "gut" 
when driving is usually caused by an out of balance condition in the 
rear and generally peaks at a particular road speed. Again check the 
tires for delaminations and the rim for runout. Sometimes wheel 
weights do fall off so it could just be an out of balance problem. 
Whenever you have a tire repaired it should be rebalanced. Sometimes 
the only way to definitively isolate a problem is to substitute a 
known good tire and see if the problem goes away. Always keep the 
right air pressures in your tires, it is the single most important 
owner maintaince procedure followed by checking the motor oil and 
anti-freeze. Try to find the local shop that does police cars or 
ambulances. It should be a modern machine used by someone who has
been 
doing alignments for some time and knows the machine and how to use 
it.It must be a "4" wheel machine because they must measure the 
"thrust angle" or the alignment of the rear tires. You may have to 
provide them with the specs, not all machines have Deloreans in their 
database but just about all machines can have special cars added 
manually.
David Teitelbaum
vin 10757



--- In dmcnews@xxxxxxxxxxx, dandollars@xxxx wrote:
> Hello,
> I own VIN 6391 and I have the shimmy in the wheel but no alignment 
problem. 
> Dos this relate to the posting in DML 325? And can I take the 
delorean in to 
> just any place that aligns and get someone who knows what they are 
doing?
> Dan
> 6391