Sound a bit like warped front brake rotors. The condition will worsen as
they heat up. Try a different set of rims and tires and see if the problem
goes away.
Chris in Arcata
SJC Worldwide wrote:
> Here's a new Tiger question I've been struggling with.
>
> I have not been able to get my original LAT70 wheels balanced properly.
> At least I think it's the wheel balancing. Above 70-75 MPH, I get
> serious bumping (that back and forth movement typical of bad wheel
> balancing) from the steering wheel. It is progressively worse as speed
> increases. On heavy acceleration, as I'm getting past 65-85 MPH and
> getting ready to head toward the red line and pop it into 5th for
> continued fun with speed, the steering wheel vibration and bumping gets
> intolerable.
>
> I've had the wheels both computer balanced off the car and strobe
> balanced on the car. The strobe balance job was marginally better, but
> only marginally. Still way too much steering wheel bumping. Both shops
> said the job they did should result in a relatively smooth ride. Wrong,
> unfortunately. I also just had the front tires flipped on their rims,
> swapped wheels front to back, and re-balanced (off the car), and there's
> no improvement. Maybe a bit worse, actually.
>
> I have Michelin 175-70-13 tires on the car, all the bushings in the
> front suspension have been replaced with new (rubber), along with new
> upper and lower ball joints. I got under the front of the car with a
> wrench last night to make sure nothing was obviously loose, which it
> wasn't as far as I could see. Also, I run Spax adjustable shocks. I've
> tried them at various settings and this seems to make no difference,
> better or worse. Also, I have wheel locks on the wheels. Could those
> make them impossible to balance properly? The tire shops I've talked to
> don't think so, though.
>
> A conversation I had today with someone who should know suggested that
> there is an inherant vibration problem with LAT 70s in that they're not
> offset properly from the hubs and my experience may be common with these
> wheels. I hope that's not the case. I like the LAT70 look. I got an
> excellent suggestion from a lister that I should temporarily swap wheels
> with another Tiger that rides smoothly, which is ultimately what I may
> have to talk someone into letting me try
>
> Has anyone out there had a similar problem with LAT70s (or any other
> wheels), and if it's a design problem with them, is there any fix that
> can be done? I had my previous Tiger well over 100MPH a few times and it
> ran smoothly with no steering wheel bumping at all at those speeds. That
> car had cheap after market mags, by the way, but I ran it with Pirellis,
> not Michelins, for what it's worth.
>
> As usual, any help and suggestions will be appreciated.
>
> Steve Sage
> 1967 MK1A
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