Wobble over 55 after tire rotation

Did a straight front to back tire rotation on the 96' XJ and the first time I'm up to 55 I get a fairly serious wobble that judging by it's frequency is almost definitely coming from one of the wheels. Is there any other possible explanation for this other than that one of the wheels is probably not centered exactly square on the lugs?

Driver's side.., passenger side? Both? If determinable to just one side go to tire shop for removal, and get a spin test. It just might be an inner belt failure causing a Hop.

Your wheel lug hole(s) could be wallowed out a bit, but that would be too obvious, and the tire person, or you should have noted that easily upon installation.

I have had such a belt failure, and it causes a "Hop", or a slight bounce, rather than a wobble. I too had rotated front to back, etc., and once removed from under the 350 engine, to the lighter rear end produced the same issue.

I have seen wheel(s), (no matter where positioned), where not all the lug nuts were not on tight, i.e., some were, and some were not, and thusly the tire/wheel would "Wobble", causing a slight side to side motion as the result, rather than an up, and down motion causing a hop.

Vibrations from the front can be felt in the steering, feet, etc.

Vibrations from the rear can be felt in your seat.

Front vibrations tend to be more noticeable.

Its possible that the tires are out of balance or something marginal in the front end became worse from the vehicle being raised and lowered.

You can check the lug bolts, rotate the tires back to original to see if the problem goes away, have the tires rebalanced, etc.

Tire balance can sometimes be "driven through". Vibrations between 55-60 might go away at 70.

Just had the tires rotated and the wobble shows up indicates a balance problem...almost always. If they moved rear to front then the balance is off on at least one of the front tires. Go back and have them re-balance the wheels.

Poorly balanced REAR tires might present a wobble issue, while poorly balanced FRONT tires will show up on the first drive at around 55 and like said above go away after 65 or so.

If it still does it, take it to another shop.

Thanks for all the advice.

For 4x4s I've read to do a straight front to back swap but someone else told me to x the fronts to the rear and bring the rears straight forward. Which is correct for 4x4s?

bradleyheathhays said:

Thanks for all the advice.

For 4x4s I've read to do a straight front to back swap but someone else told me to x the fronts to the rear and bring the rears straight forward. Which is correct for 4x4s?

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the "X" method is fine for most modern radial tires, with the exception of performance tires as far as i'm aware.
the front/back keep them on the same side rotation was more important with older radials produced before the early 90s. back then you really could stress the cords and pop them at highway speeds. these days the tires are far more advanced and unless they specify on the sidewall as a directional tire, i use the X method to keep the treadwear as even as possible.

i think your issue is tire balance...

ParadiseXJ said:

Just had the tires rotated and the wobble shows up indicates a balance problem...almost always. If they moved rear to front then the balance is off on at least one of the front tires. Go back and have them re-balance the wheels.

Poorly balanced REAR tires might present a wobble issue, while poorly balanced FRONT tires will show up on the first drive at around 55 and like said above go away after 65 or so.

If it still does it, take it to another shop.

Click to expand...

X2