steering wheel shake after all wheels off??

[Foxfan88]

OK today in auto mech class we all took our cars to inspect the brakes since we start working next week.

I got mine up on a lift and all the wheels off. I need new rear shoes so i bought em after school and i am going to put them on monday.

But after i left the school and made my way to my home school i noticed the steering wheel had a little more shake than it normally had. Around 65 was where is was shaking. I never got any faster really. But i am wondering could it be doing this if i dont have the lugs tight enough??

We used a tq wrench and its at 100 foot lbs.

Could it be a sign that i need an alignment?? My steering wheel is turned when the wheels are straight. My car pulls to the left when i let off the wheel. And i got this shake now at higher speeds. The front tires are new so i am sure they are fine and balanced. They have an alignment rack in there so i will get one here soon.

Just thought i would get your input!
thanks for the help...

 

[Aaron]

This could be a number of things.

1st - It sounds like your car is out of alignment if your car pulls to one side on a level surface. Even if your tires are new, having a bad alignment will ruin tires fairly quickly, and that's what may be happening.

Did you put the tires back on the same way or did you rotate them? If you rotated them, you may notice new driving characteristics such as shaking at a certain speed.

You said you "think" they are balanced? If you're not sure, take the car back to where you bought your tires from and tell them you want the balancing job checked because your car shakes. They should do this for free if you just bought them.

 

[ka0tyk]

you possibly lost a weight for the tire balance.

 

[Shakerhood]

Even how you run your lug nuts down can have an effect, all 4 or 5 should be at least finger tight before applying any torque to them, if you run the first lugnut down tight before the others you can actually warp your rotors.

 

[Foxfan88]

Yeah they were finger torqued. I got the tires like 4 months ago so they arent brand spanking new but they are in front and they are nice and clean etc etc.

i didnt rotate the tires. I guess i am just noticing it more now. i dont know.

PS
what is the "balance" of a tire exactly??
whats the alignment of the front end exactly????
lol they sound like stupid questions but i got to find out somehow....

 

[Euphoric306]

wheels and tires arent perfectly balanced meaning there's heavy spots in the assembly when it spins, causing vibration

front end alignment is adjusment of certain angles of the front suspension to ensure your car goes down the road straight, steers like it should, wears tires evenly and naturally, etc.

the books in ur auto class should cover all this... id recommend reading them for basic general automotive knowledge

 

[_jb_]

Did you tighten the lugs down in a star pattern?