Steering wheel shake
 

I have replaced the tires- the tire shop told me my rims were bent,

I have replaced the rims - new tires new rims - the ride is much much better but i still get a bit of a wheel shake when I drive. It is not constant not at every speed. Is it what they call road feel? or ?? what else can cause it - I had everything checked - the only thing I can think of is alignment (AWD car) - possibly?

The most common cause of steering wheel shake at some speeds but not all speeds is unbalanced front wheels, so the first thing I would do is take the car to a reputable tyre shop and get them to balance the front wheels.

I have had shaking on the wheels right after having Discount Tire mount and balance the wheels.

There was nothing wrong with the wheels.

I jacked the car up, loosened all the wheels, and tightened them hand tight while spinning them, then had someone hold the brakes while I torqued them in a star pattern to the full torque in 2 stages.

Shaking gone.

I suspect Discount Tire is putting the car down on the ground before tightening the wheels and they are not staying perfectly centered.

Had the same thing with our old RRS with the same solution.

Your tire(s) could be flat spotted. Storing them in the same position for a long period of time with or without air can cause this.

If the shake while you brake maybe it's the Rotors.

Literally the first sentence:

"I have replaced the tires- the tire shop told me my rims were bent, "

And I guess new tires can't be flat spotted..."Storing tires with or WITHOUT air" can do this. Stay in YOUR own lane. :icon_attention:

It is was a combination of a few things - out of alignment, bent rims and worn tires. I got new tires and found out the rims were bent. Got new rims and then an alignment. I got the tires from NTB but the Rims I had to order and another shop but them on - NTB did the alignment and told me if there was any more shake bring it back and they would rebalance the tires no charge because of the wheel size they have a special tool I guess to balance 19" and above rims. LSS - it drives much better - tiny tiny bit of vibration in the steering wheel so I will probably go back for a rebalance.

I've had the XF for 3 years now, and I can tell you one thing for certain; one small pothole and your alignment is screwed. Living in the Czech Republic means this is a frequent thing. Get someone with decent lasers geometry checking to fix it for you.

I'd suggest there is something wrong on your setup. The wheels bend really easily on potholes and that creates a lot of issues. While I've bent rims in the past and even fractured one which had to be replaced, I've checked the alignment and it has remained perfect
Are they sure there isn't something loose that shouldn't be?

I've got a 2015 3.0 AWD with only 16K miles, and have recently noticed increasing vibration in the steering wheel. (A little background info - I bought the car last November and garaged it for the winter). Living in the snow belt, I've since hit a few potholes, once bad enough to blow out the passenger front sidewall without even scratching the rim. I still have the factory ContProContact tires (245/40-19), and reviews on Tire Rack state that these tires are notorious for weak sidewalls. There is still a significant amount of tread left on these so I only replaced the one tire with a used one at that time, although I recently bought a set of Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3+ (taking advantage of the Spring rebate) should I have another pothole incident or the vibration becomes much worse. Adding to my decision for tire replacement, my cousin replaced his ProContacts and he said the ride/handling was so much improved, it was like he was driving a totally different car.
I really hate to pitch the Conti(s) since they have so much tread left, but if the internal sidewall belts are in fact becoming increasingly compromised, I may make the change, sooner than later.

I'm curious as to how many out there have had similar experiences that they attribute to the ContiProContacts?

are the tires run-flat?

my BMW had ContiProContact tires as well, they were runflat and NOTORIOUS for getting bubbles. it was almost ironic, the tires were designed to safely drive away when you have a tire issue, but were fragile and always caused tire issues.

you're going to have to change them if you're unhappy with them

No, regular - not run-flats.

Unfortunately my guess is you bent the rim when you hit the pothole. These jag alloy wheels seem to be soft and bend quite easily. If you feel it through the steering wheel then most likely the front wheels. I'd take it in and have them re-balance the front wheels and ask them to check if the rim is bent. I wouldn't put on the new tires until that's checked. Also possible you have thrown a weight. I've had that issue before on my summer wheels. Took them off for the winter and I guess the tape that holds the weights on weakened and they fell off after a hundred miles of driving the next spring and gave a vibration. Rebalanced and all was fine.

If it is bent you can have it professionally straightened by a specialist. About $100-150

If not then it may be a tire issue. But if if spins true and balances on the tire machine then it suggests it may not be the wheel. So check that the wheel is bolted and torqued correctly and that there isn't rust or debris on the hub or face of the wheel such that it's not mounted right

Thanks BritCars, good advice - I certainly don't want to mount new tires until I know the rims are okay!

The shop that mounted the (used) tire, is the place I've been using for 30+ years. I completely trust these 2 brothers to mount & balance. They would have certainly alerted me if that wheel was bent - they are extremely meticulous (unlike the chain stores that often experience high turnover in workforce). Throwing a weight isn't likely as I removed the original weights and thoroughly cleaned the inside of the rim prior to taking to them to have that tire replaced. The brothers even used grey painted adhesive weights very similar to the OE Jaguar.weights.
Not knowing the overall condition of the used ProContact tire (especially with their reputation for weak sidewalls), I mounted it on the rear.

When I put the Jaguar back on the road at the end of March after winter storage, I rotated the tires. I could tell by the lack of brake dust on the rear rims that it was the first time they were rotated. At that time, I cleaned the backside of the rims & examined for thrown weights, wire brushed any surface oxidation on the calipers & rotor hubs and sealed them with a light coat of black heat resistant paint. I also made sure the lugnuts were hand torqued to 90 ft lb - good and snug while off the ground, tightened twice progressively in a star pattern, on the ground.

I most likely will have the rest of the wheels / tires checked for being bent / out of balance before proceeding to mount the new ones. In the interim I might as well swap the other (driver) side, front to rear to see if it makes a difference.

I'm not getting my hopes up too high. After I took delivery of the new Michelins, I spoke directly to one of Tire Rack's test drivers regarding speed ratings relative to comfort & winter traction, and the conversation eventually got around to my issues with the ProContacts. He professed their inferiority to Pilot Sport(s) and suggested that I don't drive on them any longer, regardless of how much more use I thought I might be able to get out of them.

Yes - sounds like you're doing all the right stuff. As yours is not a staggered setup then agree that swapping back to front and seeing if that changes the behavior is a good idea

Then failing that you have the new tyres which I also believe will be much better on the car. So you should probably just give up on the old ones at that point
And if the vibration continues then you will need a full brake and suspension checkup

You should take your car to a shop that has a Road Force balancing machine - otherwise known as a Hunter 9700. All Jaguar, BMW, MB and Porsche dealers have this machine. The problems you describe sound like they are caused by inadequate balancing.

I have a 2010 that came with 19" Continentals but I replaced them with Pirelli P7s on which I blew out the sidewall on the right front tire when I hit a 3" hole (on a rainy night) that was cut into the road by the gas company and not marked in any way. The wheel wasn't damaged so I ordered a new P7 from Tire Rack and had it mounted and road force balanced by a local tire shop. The gas company eventually paid for the tire and mounting/balancing, so I was made whole.