Alignment woes

radman · 04-19-2006, 08:36 PM

I've been taking my 996 C2 cab to the local mega chain (Les Schwab) for alignments / balancing. I have only had this car for 2 1/2 years and this is my first Porsche. I have noticed that the car will only stay in balance for about 2-4 weeks before the high speed shimmy starts again. I do drive the car hard and only notice the shimmy over about 100 mph. Is there a more precise balancing I can ask for? Should I take it somewhere else? Is this just normal and I should just get over it?

Thanks ..

Netspeed · 04-19-2006, 08:45 PM

Is the shimmy felt in the steering wheel or in the seat? Steering wheel is fronts and seat is more than likely the rears.

Try and find a tire store that can do a match balance. What they (and the machine) will do is to find the heavy spot on the tire (they all have them) and then the heavy spot on the wheel. They will then "match" it so it produces the best balance with the least amount of weight.

Also, have you had the tires replaced recently? If the tire guy uses too much tire lube, then next time you brake really hard, you could actually rotate the tire on the wheel.

ZOA NOM · ZOA NOM's Garage

Confirm suspension freshness before any further alignments. Tie rods, ball joints, bushings in particular.

Netspeed · 04-19-2006, 08:53 PM

Maybe there's too much give in the suspension like the "bushings" in Zoanas' avatar!

That avatar always catches my eye....actually both of them!

Zeke · 04-19-2006, 10:14 PM

Well, I can't imagine a 996 needing a suspension rebuild already. I think you need a better tire shop. Do some reading on the Net about tire balancing. Study the concept of the tire's heavy spot growing to an out-of-round shape at speed. Sometimes you just have to get new tires. But, at least go for some truing and a Hunter Road Force balance job first. A 60 MPH computer balancer at the local high volume dealer is not enough for our cars.

captainrb · 04-20-2006, 09:33 AM

I had a balancing problem with vibration at high speed. The cure was to have the tires balanced(spun) on the car. This takes into account any imbalance of the brake rotors. Even had the rears done. They just blocked the opposite rear wheel and spun the other side. Not many shops like to do the rear. This did cure the problem