Rear wheel wobble...

I was at work about a month ago and the parking lot was a sheet of ice. The ice was melting so, it was pretty slick. Anyway, I put my jeep in 1st gear and let out the clutch, I wanted to try 2wd before I had to put it in 4. So the tires started spinning without me even thouching the skinny pedal. I got out to look while the tires were spinning and noticed my back left tire had a wobble to it. I didn't check the right side.

The lugs are tight, and I'm pretty sure the tires are properly balanced.

What could this be?

How much wobble? It could just be that the tires are out of true, it could be a bent flange on the shaft, or it could be a bent wheel.. could be something between the wheel and the axle flange..


Swap the tires left <-> right and repeat your experiment. It will narrow down where to look.

did you hit any curbs or anything like that lately? maybe slide into a curb in the bad weather? if so, could be a bent rim. its best to just replace rims when they get bent. sure you can hammer them out with a handheld sledge, but some will tell ya that compromises the structural integrity of the rim.
i'm thinking worst case scenario now, but could it be a bent axle shaft? i'd check to make sure everything's tight first.

The rims are actually aftermarket 16"s, I personally don't like the rims, But I will check the rims like you guy said. I bought the jeep about a year ago with them on it, but I have another set with different tires that I run in the winter.

The only reason I'm thinking it's not a bearing or something is because there is no funny noise from the rear. I do use the jeep offroad though, so maybe I bent a rim like that.

andrew2516 said:

The rims are actually aftermarket 16"s, I personally don't like the rims, But I will check the rims like you guy said. I bought the jeep about a year ago with them on it, but I have another set with different tires that I run in the winter.

The only reason I'm thinking it's not a bearing or something is because there is no funny noise from the rear. I do use the jeep offroad though, so maybe I bent a rim like that.

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A bent wheel flange probably wouldnt make any noise. Switch a wheel out and see what happens.. that will tell you pretty quick if its a wheel or an axle.