Ok, so here is where I currently stand. I brought my car to the dealer because I had a bad wobble/vibration my my steering wheel, especially at speeds of about 50-60mph. The dealer diagnosed my car. The steering rack was not centered, the had to install 4 new cam bolts in it. The ball joint was bad, and 1 of my rims was bent. After that I proceeded to go with the repairs, as it was partially covered under my extended warranty. The rack was re centered and the 4 cam bolts were installed, new ball joint was put in, only thing I did not do was the rim. I got the car back and it drove very nice, only had a slight vibration and a slight shimmy, but nothing near what I had before. I went ahead and purchased reman rim had it put it thinking the problem would go away, but it did not. I noticed that my tire pressure was sent to 34, I set it to about 35-36 and seems a little better with the shimmy but not much. I wonder where I should look next or what to do because it really does bother me and I don't want to keep throwing money away on something that is not going to get fixed. If someone could lead me in the right direction??? I also have had a dealer alignment done, and tires have been balanced before and after the new rim was installed.

 

Was the rim checked at mounting time or did you just take it on faith that it was
truly round?

 

yes rim was checked and it was all good.

 

Well if you have a bent rim, that means it hit something really hard. If you hit something so hard as to bend a rim, there is a good chance the steel belt in the tire was damaged/separated and can cause the shimmy. Have someone take a really good look at the tire that was on the bent rim.

 

The bent rim has been there for I don't know how long. Tires are new only had them for a few months. The shake was there before and after the tires were put on.

 

Don't know what model of Jag you have, but is it possible to interchange front and rear wheels and see what happens?

 

Mine does this too, really annoying and wish i could get to the bottom of it... replaced a lot of parts... thinking I'm going to do the steering rack next, and maybe the carrier bearing on the driveshaft...
You can feel the mild vibration through the body even, and the steering wheel shimmy isn't too bad under cruising but BRUTAL under light-moderate braking...

 

have you replaced the front wheel bearings ?

 

Yes, new front wheel bearings, rotors, pads, new tires and road force balancing on Zeus wheels, new wheels and new tires road force balanced, lower ball joints both sides replaced (whole vertical link), new motor mounts, new various control arm bushings in front end...

I'm thinking steering rack or driveshaft related at this point....

 

You can feel the mild vibration through the body even, and the steering wheel shimmy isn't too bad under cruising but BRUTAL under light-moderate braking...[/QUOTE]
Warped rotors perhaps?

 

He's replaced rotors

 

I would check for some rust/dirt caught between wheel and disk, or disk and hub.
Also check the steering axis inclination, you may have a bent stub axle.
http://autorepair.about.com/library/...bldef-748a.htm