Wheel balancing, or is there a different cause? Options

[JohnB]

I've owned three 914's over the last 25 years and all have had the same issue. At some speed between 60 and 70 mph I get the kind of shake you'd get from an unbalanced wheel. Even after having the wheels balanced I always get it and I've had every kind of wheel and tire combination (steel and alloy wheels of every kind, Yoko's, Bridgestones, Michelins, and Vredestein tires, you name it.) I've talked to a few other owners and they report a similar thing.

Is it possible there's an unbalanced half shaft causing the problem or some other thing like an out of round wheel I haven't discovered? Why can't I get the tires to act balanced?

The easy fix so far is to either drive lots faster (IMG:style_emoticons/default/driving.gif) or lots slower (IMG:style_emoticons/default/dry.gif) but I'd rather not have the problem.

I've also had the alignment checked and at least on my current car all's well except the right wheel camber (or maybe they said caster). They can't get it into spec. The shock mount looks like it's all the way forward and maybe that's part of that problem.

ideas?

[brp914]

I've had this problem too. One thing I did in the past is to have the wheels/tires balanced on the car. But thats time consuming and the places I found did it by trial and error. If they got it right, wow, smooth as silk.

I bought mich mxv4 for one of 914's recently and now that one is vibration free, so I'm surprised to hear of your bad experience with them. But if you park your car for weeks or months ar a time that can lead to flat spots. Also might want to jack up your front end and spin the wheels to see if the tires are out of round, and check for play in the bearings and suspension. good luck, I know it is annoying. It seems like the 914 is susceptable to this, but its not normal and can be fixed.