I have a 2002 XKR and I am experiencing a vibration in the front end and steering wheel when I exceed 60 MPH. I recently replaced my front right tire because it was severely cupped and it was causing the vehicle to vibrate/shake at all speeds. Of course I had a four wheel alignment done when the tire was installed. The left front tire looks and feels good/smooth but I'm thinking that maybe it could have some hard to feel and see cupping beginning as well. Does anybody have any other ideas on what it could be? The 20" wheels make the car a bit over sensitive to begin with. They look great but ride stiff. Anyway, any suggestions?

 

Could be a lot of things....something as simple as having them rebalanced, or if one tireis brand new and one is worn could cause the problem...Or could bethe front wheel bearings..or a variety of worn suspension components... Why was it severly cupped to begin with? That should indicate you had a problem that needed resolution before you changed the tire.

 

I had a JAG shop align and replace multiple parts in the front end during the tire replacement. I'm pretty confident that all the front end parts are sound at this point. I think I'm going to replace the front left tire and have both tires rebalanced. That's probably the least expensive approach. I'll just go from there.

 

I hear a 'road force' balance will get your wheel in balance much better than a regular job. It simulates the weight of the car during a balance. I had mine done when I got new sneakers for the xk8. Not everyone has the machine either, so maybe consider this also when doing the other front tire, which I think is a good choice to replace on your end. I would feel confident that two fresh tires, road force balanced, and those new suspension parts (which were what exactly? bushings, shocks?) should result in a smooth ride. keep us updated.

 

nsion defea road force balancer measures the "roundness" of the tire, you can drill a hole in a brick, spin it and balance it, but how would that ride? Like crap thats how, and without checking you can balance all day and still not have a smooth ride. Also cupping inside is from too much toe out, and if you dont use Mercedes recommedations on using a pressor bar when setting toe you dont take into account suspension deflection when driving. This leads to an alignmen t that look good on the alignment rack, but wears tires, last time I checked no one drives to work on an alignment maching. This is why I check the movement of toe out by pressing out the front tires to simulate what the tires do when youre driving down the road. And in many cases it results in more toe in than spec'd. This is a bug issue in the 03 and uo Stype, and 04 and up XJ8, Jaguar finally relented and changed the spec for more toe in on the 03 and up Stype, but never did on the XJ. But this applies to all cars not just Jaguars, the alignment machine is a tool, not the end all. When i see the same cars time and time again. I see what works and what doesnt. And a tire shop or other shop will never see you again till you need tire again. I can do an alignment and see the car again in a few months for a service and see if the tire wears shows an alignment the likes or not...

 

Follow Brutal's technique and use a pry bar to leverage pressure against suspension points. A 'static' check is not enough, you need to replicate road forces. Double check your A arm bushings. They wear out and cause a shimmy. While you're there, check out the ball joints and wheel bearings.

 

My tire guy force balances the wheels then mounts them on the car. Then he spins them on the car and fine tunes the balance again. Smoothe as glass ride. I had a hard time getting the wheels balanced on my old Rolls Royce. Four shops tried, but this new guy I found was the only one that accomplished it.

 

Problem is fixed. All four tires needed to be re-balanced. Drives great now! Thanks for all your input!