New to the forum so hello everyone. .my delimma...I just purchased some new wheels and tires for my 2012 xf and since the install I have had a slight shimmy in steering wheel. I have had the wheels balanced several times, a full alignment front and back and still having issue. I went from 19in to 22in wheels, 245/30/22 in front and 285/25/22 in rear. They can't get the shimmy to completly go away. Has anyone else had this problem ? If so what was the findings?

Thanks, J

 

First, I'd try a different tire shop. If there was no shimmy before, then the problem is likely balancing. It could also be a warped rim or really bad tires, but it's cheaper to have the balance checked by somebody else first.
Are the wheels/tires used?

 

Thanks for the reply... I actually have had themy balanced at two different shops. Same result though.. I was to under the assumption that they were new rims...but not so sure now..I purchasedon't them from rent n roll which was recommended at Jaguar of tampa..I'm think of getting the rims checked at a local performance shop

 

Did you get the hub rings too? Ask the wheel shop to send you some if you didnt.
How Hub Centric Rings Work - JustForWheels.com

 

The hub rings they installed at first were from what I was told 1mm too big.. and they said they replaced them with the correct ones... this helped substantially but did not fix it completely. . There is still a small shimmy between 40 MPhil and 100mph..

 

If there was no shimmy before the new tires where put on, your wheels are fine...it's the tires..you didn't mention a brand, (I bet they are Continentals), but that don't matter..one or more of your new tires are out of round...the best way to fine which ones they are..Go to a tire place that has a "Road Force Balance " Machine...you'll pay about $25.00/ tire to have it done...Once they find the bad tire and they will find it with this machine, take it back to whomever you bought it from and exchange it for another one and have it mounted and Balanced with the road force balancer..

These cars have finicky suspension and will not forgive a bad tire.
I also don't think it is wise or recommended, to have wider tires on the rear than the front..for the XF, it will screw with the geometry of the suspension...I also think that maybe your problem now in the first place

 

DPK, that's not so about rear wheels/tires being wider than front. All supercharged and XFR's are set up that way with no issues.

A few things come to mind for me with this scenario. Bad tire as DPK stated is the most obvious. A wheel not within runout (not unreasonable with 22's) ie. maybe the wheels where pre-installed then returned to the shop since it is a wheel rental place, or maybe the change in wheels and tires has changed your perception of what you're feeling through the wheel.

What I mean by that is I changed from Hankooks to Bridgestones and went to lighter aftermarket wheels. If someone blindfolded me I wouldn't know it was the same car. Handling feel is completely different (much more instantaneous confidence inspiring, but ride suffered) and I feel a lot more through the wheel. Now your situation is interesting because the 22's should be heavier that equivalent 19's but not sure of the weight difference between stock and aftermarket.

The other tough part is you can't just rotate them to determine which one is bad since they are staggered.

 

As I said, I don't think, but at the same time, don't know for sure either...But the OP said XF, and I think there is a difference in the two as far as the suspension geometry...XFR's may be able to handle the wider tires on the rear...I don't know.

 

I put XFR spec wheels and tyres (20" staggered) on my old XFS (3 litre diesel) and had no problems at all, as have quite a few of our UK friends, so I think it is safe to say that there are no suspension geometry issues with putting a staggered set-up on a "base" XF.
On the other hand I also fitted Eibach lowered springs on my old XFS, and the resultant increase in negative camber at the rear (unfortunately not adjustable) caused excessive wear on the inner edges of the rear tyres.

 

Good to know, thanks Oz

 

Thanks everyone for your input..I will try your suggestions, and let you know What the findings are..

 

Ok everyone I finally got the problem fixed. I gave up on rent n roll and luckily found a shop that actually knows what they are doing. The problem was the hub rings were the wrong size. The people at rent n roll tried to correct it by using electrical tape to wrap around the inside to take up the extra space. Which is what the new shop found. Long story short, 30 minutes and problem solved... what a nightmare. I can't believe that a company that specializes in tires and wheels would do this.. thanks for everyone's input... later!

 

Glad you got it figured out, but wow. What surprises me is that a Jaguar dealer would recommend a Rent N Roll shop to one of its customers.

 

I was skeptical at first but I agree with you.. my guess is the guy I spoke to gets a kick back for referrals