Just got new rims and tires, balanced and aligned but its feels like they weren't. If I go over 50, I get a shake in the steering wheel. The faster I go the worse it gets. I'm only 16 so I don't have too much experience with this (I'll admit that now), but I didn't know if this had to do with the bearings or ball joints or what. I've read on here about the bushings making the suspension clunk. I don't have any clunking but I also didn't know if the shaking could happen as a result from the bushings. I would appreciate any help.

 

staz, I and others will recommend you get your new tires 'force balanced' on your wheels. Most likely you got a static balance only. Call around to find a shop that has the rather special (and pricier) machine, and let them have a go at it. These cars are very sensitive to the very slight of imbalances...especially if your previous set felt smooth, that is definitely my advice to you.

 

Yeah, h20boy is onto something there, if it was smooth before, nothing's suddenly happened to your bushes to make the car shake, increasing vibration with speed has only ever been down to something that rotates on any of my cars in the past.

Another possibility - I have had problems with aftermarket rims in the past, spend two years trying to solve it on my Alfa Romeo 166, finally had it solved by a tyre specialist who is now my first port of call every time. The wheels on a Jag are hubcentric - meaning the hub sticks out a little and the wheel has a perfectly matched hollow that fits the hub and bears the weight of the car, the lugs merely hold the wheel to the hub.
Often aftermarket rims are generic and they use a spigot ring to ensure this hub match, mine was plastic and did diddly squat, so no matter how often I had the wheels balanced they never quite sat right and my man said the wheel studs were bearing the weight of the car not the hub, went back to manufacturer rims and the shake was cured immediately.

So I reckon maybe you should get back to your supplier and check 'em out. I do believe you can get metal spigot rings that will do the proper job. Of course some wheels may have the correct match to the Jag hub anyway. In which case your back to the road force balance.

 

Before I put the new rims on, I had the same problem. But the guy I bought it from said it needed an alignment (and the tire wear proved that). So I thought after I got an alignment, everything would be fine, but its not...so right now I have no clue.

 

Aaaah, OK if you had the problem before it's not a huge surprise you still have it, that at least rules out the rims themselves. I'm afraid it's probably gonna take professional diagnosis, do you guys have an annual road worthiness test like here in the UK we have an MOT test? I'd take it to a shop that does those sort of tests and ask 'em to take a good look at the front suspension.
Hopefully someone else with greater knowledge will chime in anytime now..........

 

agree, sounds more serious than just a wheel out of balance now. Could be suspension or even steering rack/link related. Find a british indy mechanic and let them diagnosis it as djdex recommended.

 

I thought I would let you guys know that I figured it out. Thanks for the suggestions and help, but it wound up being just balancing (thank god). The guys (original shop) who mounted and balanced the tires really screwed up. When I went to do the lowering springs, I told the guys (different shop) about the shaking problem. They said while they're under there, they'll take a look. Next day they told me everything looked fine, but since h20boy mentioned the balancing, I mentioned it to them. They said the front wheels were totally balanced wrong. They rebalanced all four wheels, switched the springs, and switched the bushings. I'm very happy with the results. No more shaking, no body roll, no "boatie" uncertain feeling, and stanced 10x better. I do have another problem that I thought would go away, but it hasn't. But I'm going to be posting that in the engine section. Thanks for all your help guys and maybe you can help me with this other problem too.

 

Good result in the end. Poor service from your wheel suppliers tho.

 

My own experience and that of members on this forum is that wheel ballancing is more an art than science. You put a "drone" on a ballancing machine, no matter how hi tech and fool proof the device, and you can get unsatisfactory results.
So far, I am getting proper ballancing only aboyt 60/70% of the time. Fortunately I have a good relationship with my tire dealer and he stays with it till it's right. They had to put a different tech on my case who could get the best out of the road force bal machine.
Part of the problem is that some model Jags, such as the XJ cars and perhaps others, are unusually sensitive to wheel bal conditions. You just have to stay with it till you get it right.