I own a 2008 XJ with about 64k miles. I have been trying to achieve a smooth highway ride with no vibration in the steering wheel. Currently, I feel or see a vibration/visible shimmy/pulsation between 50-70mph. So far I have replaced:

FRONT SUSPENSION:
1. Both lower control arms
2. Tie rods
3. Stabilizer links
4. Arnott coilover conversion
REAR SUSPENSION:
1. Stabilizer links
2. Brakes
3. Arnott coilover conversion

All new 18" aftermarket wheels and Pirelli tires and they have been Road Force balanced at least 3 times. Each time it was done at a different shop they claimed they improved the road force. Current RF numbers are 3lbs, 10lbs front and 11lbs, 15lbs rear. With those numbers I should not be feeling anything and should be smooth as glass.

So, what other possible issues could it be? If the wheels/tires can be eliminated from the equation then I would say maybe wheel hub/bearings (no noticeable noise), upper control arms (seems like original, no tearing or leaking seen), rear control arms (dont think would cause these issues), or something else?

It is back at my Jag indy shop now for additional diagnostics. What are your thought and suggestions as to what it could be?

 

Front hub, bearing assembly's are not expensive, less than $80 for a pair.
Its not a bad job, or a real pain, i did the lower ball joints, while there.
The front upper a arms were also replaced, the joint was loose, the rubber boot was shot.
You will eventually have to replace all the wear suspension wear parts.

 

Try to examine how your wheels are mounted on hub and check if your tires have hot spots indicated (see attached bulletin). jaguars as well as volvos are very sensitive cars for missalignments or disballancing, many other cars won't vibrate even on square wheels i think, my audi or ex subaru sti for example

 

I think out of round wheel was my issue. Once straightened shimmy is gone.

 

Front brake rotors.

 

After weeks of chasing down this issue I have still not fixed it. Today i got my factory 19" rims repaired then had them road force balanced. The RF # are 3,4, 11, 16 with the lowest two mounted to the front. I also put on brand new Centric front and rear rotors plus new Akebono pads. Now the vibration and shimmy is worse! Even with brand new aftermarket 18" and new tires I had on prior the problem was still not fixed so I tried again with the factory 19"s. Still a very obvious shake beginning at around 45-50 and with higher speeds it just seems like the whole car is vibrating with being less pronounced in the steering wheel, very visible passenger seat shaking. I dropped it back off at the shop. At this point I am thinking that maybe the components are not centered right on the hub ( rotors, wheels) or its still an issue with the wheel balance or rotors out of balance. So much time, money, and Uber trips to and from the shop it has become so exhausting! If I knew I had this problem i never would have bought it. The engine, transmission, interior, exterior are excellent its just this one issue that makes it nearly unbearable.

 

Back in the 70's my E-Type had wheel vibration with new tyres and even after normal balancing. I went to a specialist and they put the wheels/tyres on a jig which CUT TREAD OFF THE TYRE (and tested to 150mph).
I asked the guy when he would stop cutting tread off my new tyres. He smirked "Oh, before minimum!." I claim I have had a heart condition ever since.
I don't know if this service is available now, or necessary. But it was in this case because my tyres were out of round.

Vibration due to brakes can only happen when you apply the brakes! (I currently have this problem on my van, but it's sufficiently minor to put up with).

If shimmy is due to worn bearings bushes whatever, I'd imagine you'd detect some play on a hoist. I'm only guessing of course.

I have never in 50 years had to have any other tyres cut-to-round. But they had the jig to do it, why is that?

 

Have you read this thread -> https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...issues-230159/ ? The reason were new cheap pirelli tires.

 

I think I read all the threads on vibration haha. If something is wrong with the tires then how did the numbers get so low on the road force? Would an RF balancer not be able to get the numbers within spec if the tires had issues? My current setup is Michelin Pilot Sport 4s on the 19s and the Pirelli P7's on the aftermarket 18s.

 

My takeaways from the vibration issue I just had on my car are as follows:
1. Pirelli can't make a round tire
2. Just because a shop is road force balancing does not mean they are checking for out of round conditions.

I had to take my tire to a rim straightening specialist to find out the tire was out of round. Not only could I see the wobble, but the machine could measure both the runout at the tire surface and at the rim to confirm which was the problem. You could get a dial gauge and an adapter wheel (rolls on the tire surface) and measure yourself to confirm the wheel are rolling true.

If you had your rims checked/repaired for runout (both radial and lateral) then perhaps the issue is elsewhere? There is a method to diagnosing NVH problems with a special tool that measures the frequency of the vibration. Like chassis ears, but for higher frequencies. The software can do some interpretation and figure out if it's a problem with the tires or an engine harmonic. ( ) Maybe you can find a shop that specializes in this in your area? It seems like you're chasing your tail with the tire issue, this vibration could be originating somewhere else in the drivetrain.

 

If not wheels that can be something else. Start from "free" diagnostic - lift the car up with tires to begin chasiing vibations. Once I had non-hub centric spacers on rear tires and also expirienced some vibrations from the rear, I didn't know they were the reason by that moment. As soon as I got speed in the air left rear tire began literally jumping!! If rears round evenly on any speed, swap front pair to the rear and check agan. If any tire starts to vibrate, get them off and see if brake disks only vibrate etc.. easy logics. Don't forget to switch DSC off on the shifter.

 

Did you make this upgrade and the car was fine beforehand?
Just to state the obvious, that points to the wheels/tires.

Because we've been in stay-at-home lockdown for 6 weeks now, I shifted my car 1/4 turn every few weeks. However, I don't actually believe tyres develop flat spots unless it's a very long time. And I never heard criticism of Pirelli before, but that's my fault (I have Bridgestone just because it came with them)

I'd be suspecting the quality of the tire shop, although you say you've been to 3 of them. Maybe the same guy got fired from the first 2 shops (and UFO's are real)

Clacky universal joint in the driveshaft? Obviously I'm struggling here.

 

On my 04 X350 replacing the drive shaft (gearbox to differential) solved an annoying steering wheel vibration.

I believe that some machine shops even can balance the drive shaft.

 

Got it back today and its much better than when I dropped it off. I swear, every time it gets balanced it feels different. I am afraid to rotate the tires now or even take off a wheel. It is acceptable now though, but still not as good as new. Since I spent way more than i wanted, i am just going to hold off on any more fixes for the time being until later in the year. I will look at some other vibration causing issues such as engine and trans mounts, wheel hubs, driveshaft balancing, u-joints, flex disc, etc...hell by the time I am done with this it will be a brand new car lol.

 

Ok, went to another shop and they after checking it out they recommended to replace the center support bearing for the driveshaft and both motor mounts for $1600. What do you think of that price? I imagine most of that is labor. I also took many pics of the under body of the Jag. I have never seen underneath before, it looks pretty good. Will post those soon.

 

I remember a shop here in the San Francisco Bay Area that did he same thing. I couldn't believe all the tread they would shave off. Never made sense to me at all.

 

Have done a similar thing with worn motorcycle tires.
They do tend to flatten when they get some miles on them.
An old trick to get the last miles out of them, & have them handle.
Bike on center stand, running & in gear, used a surform tool, then reshape the tire to the proper form.
Then a drill motor, with someone to use it to do the front one.
Makes a serious change for the better, in the way the bike feels, & handles.

 

Ok finally got rid of the shimmy. Had to replace the upper control arms too! The right one had some play so that helped a bunch. Still some general vibration but now its drivable without being annoying. Too bad I am selling it now anyway. Getting bored with it and want to buy an XKR or a 911. I am going to post the listing here on the forums.

 

I have the SAME EXACT ISSUE, lol. I am hoping the front forward lowers fix mine. https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...g+wheel+wobble

 

No one has an updated "what actually cured this problem" story?