Steering wheel shaking a little after tire rotation

[Haulero]

Hey guys I was wondering if any of you had this problem before: My car was fine until I did the tire rotation, I did it my self, this is not the first time I do it. After that, the steering wheel shakes a little Not a lot but you can feel it, I know my car and thats why I know this problem was not there before the tire rotation.

What I did was: swap my front tires from the right, to the left, from the left to the right. and rear tires the same, right to left. left to right.

[Zef_66]

Have a shop check the balance on your tires. And also the alignment. Both can cause a shaking. But I would lean towards the tires are out of balance.

[Pittman06]

Its more then likely a bent wheel that was on the back that you didn't notice. Balance NEVER causes a steering wheel shake unless there REALLY bad. Balance always causes a vibration, a shake is almost always a direct result of a bent wheel or a tire hop from broken belts or out of round tire. Take it back to your tire shop and have them spin your fronts and look for a bad tire or bent rim

edit- Swap your wheels front to rear to check this at home, side to side won't change much. Get the bad one to the right rear to minimize you feeling this

[Zef_66]

Its more then likely a bent wheel that was on the back that you didn't notice. Balance NEVER causes a steering wheel shake unless there REALLY bad. Balance always causes a vibration, a shake is almost always a direct result of a bent wheel or a tire hop from broken belts or out of round tire. Take it back to your tire shop and have them spin your fronts and look for a bad tire or bent rim

edit- Swap your wheels front to rear to check this at home, side to side won't change much. Get the bad one to the right rear to minimize you feeling this

In my book, a vibration in the steering wheel is very similar to a wheel shake. For someone not familiar with cars trying to figure out a problem over the internet, I assimilate the two the same. And from that, I try to offer advice for the most common problems first.

None the less, have someone take a look at the tires, rims, and check balance.

[Haulero]

I did the rotation myself and I saw nothing wrong with my tires, I done a rotation before on this car and didn't have this problem. If I put the tires back on the place where they used to be I'm sure my car would be ok, but that doesn't mean the problem is fixed, may be I need alignment and balancing on this tires

[chumley]

I don't know about todays procedures, but I learned in auto shop 35 years ago that tire rotation should be from front to rear, rear to front same side for RADIAL tires. I don't think there are too many bias ply tires being used today by the average driver. Somebody clue me in if I've missed something here. Chumley

[Haulero]

In the manual (not pontiac) shows 5 different procedures to rotate your tires

1.- Front to rear and rear to front (same side)
2.- Right front to left front and left front to right front
3.- Right rear to left rear and left rear to right rear
4.- Right front to left rear and left rear to right front
5.- Left front to right rear and right rear to left front

Confusing? lol

[JDCMoney]

I usually send the fronts to the rear same side, then send the rears to the front cross sides if they are not rotational tires... that way it takes 4 tire rotations for a tire to be in the same position.

Otherwise if they are rotational than front to rear, rear to front same sides.

As to the OP, Check your front tires if they are chopped. Rub you hand on the threads and see if you feel uneven wear, that will cause a vibration. Also, do you have rotational tires that u rotated to the other side of the car cuz that will cause the tires to rotate against the threads and cause vibrations...

[JDCMoney]

after rereading your post i noticed you swapped your fronts left to right and right to left and the same for the rears...

Make sure you dont have rotational tires....

[Haulero]

after rereading your post i noticed you swapped your fronts left to right and right to left and the same for the rears...

Make sure you dont have rotational tires....

It may sound stupid.... but what do you mean with "rotational tires"?

[BackInBlack]

It may sound stupid.... but what do you mean with "rotational tires"?

Rotational tires are usually have a performance tread that is designed to rotate in one direction only. Look for an obvious arrow next to the word "rotation" in the sidewall.

[Pittman06]

Rotational tires are usually have a performance tread that is designed to rotate in one direction only. Look for an obvious arrow next to the word "rotation" in the sidewall.

actually called "directional" tires as in they only go one direction, like Asymetrical tires that have one side ment to face out. Your problem is you crossed your tires and you have a shake in a tire/wheel. Thats it, no questions asked. I've done this for 7 years and see it everyday. A proper automotive rotate with non directional tires is front to rear, rears swapped sides to front. Shops put a bad balanced or bent wheel assembly on the r/r of your car so when you leave the shop you can't feel it. Once you rotate that one ends up on the l/f and you feel it. Swap those 2 back and it will more then likely be gone or spend the $15, go to a shop and have them balanced

[Haulero]

Thanks guys for your info about rotational or directional tires.... I'm gonna check my tires tomorrow to see if they have an arrow or something that tells me what direction they should go. By the way, that shaking is gradually going away, I don't feel it as much as I used to when I rotated my tires. I'm going to check them to make sure I don't have them going in the wrong direction tomorrow. Thank you guys for your help

[chumley]

Very enlightening, I've learned something. Chumley