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morning guys, quick question. I have the front end wobble and was wondering if all tires/rims require balancing. My tires are brand new but dont have any weights and such on them and was just wondering before i start buying front end parts. Thanks John jr

Usually an out of balance tire will result in wheel hop not front end wobble or any form of side to side shimmy. All tires should be balanced simply to prevent abnormal wear.

Wobble, side to side shimmy or the death wobble are symptoms of worn front end parts that allow the wheels to move freely from side to side when tightly holding the steering wheel still. The usual culprit is the pivot bearings often referred to as king pins.

Locate a few commercial truck fleet operators in your area and ask their in house mechanic where he sends their front end work to. Then take your jeep there and have that shop evaluate your suspension.

wes, thanks. I will get the tires balanced this week and have the king pins checked out. john jr

Also check the front wheel bearings... My PO forgot to put the lock wahers in correctly and my wheel bearings were very loose... caused all kinds of problems till I got that fixed...

Hope this helps...

I did not balance my tires/rims, and after checking the whole front/steering system i had no wobble anymore, i also removed the temp. steeringdamper. Tires with innertubes are hard to balance and if so the balancing is not a garanty for the future. I can easy drive about 50 mph without any problems. My son's GPW has not balanced tires and he also has no problems. Tension on the kingpen bearings is very important, it creates a kind of damping ( togehter with the knuckle sealings). That is my expierence.

succes, Erik