Steering shimmy when fully laden

[2o6]

I am not sure why my car does this. When unladen, (just me) the steering wheel feels perfectly fine. However, when I have more than one passenger, I get this really odd wheel shimmying at around 35-40MPH. It's irritating and startling.






I'm not even sure what would cause this.

[S204STi]

It's because your car is a pile of shit.

[Gotta-Qik-C7]

It's because your car is a pile of shit.

[2o6]

It's because your car is a pile of shit.

Yeah.

[S204STi]

In some seriousness, typically that shouldn't happen when loaded unless it's heavily weighted in the back end (particularly beyond the GVWR).  So unless you have Ms Piggy riding shotgun it does sound like you have a suspension issue of some type.  Or it could be those used tires you like to buy.  You still running those?

[Rupert]

I'm gonna say the used tires.

[2o6]

In some seriousness, typically that shouldn't happen when loaded unless it's heavily weighted in the back end (particularly beyond the GVWR).  So unless you have Ms Piggy riding shotgun it does sound like you have a suspension issue of some type.  Or it could be those used tires you like to buy.  You still running those?

I do have aftermarket SVT springs, but I don't think that would do it. Those are OEM spec.

I'm gonna say the used tires.

It might be, I think.

[S204STi]

STILL using those shitty used tires?  Christ on sale....

[2o6]

STILL using those shitty used tires?  Christ on sale....

They still have good tread on them, though. 

[S204STi]

SHITTY USED TIRES

[MX793]

They still have good tread on them, though. 

"Good" tread with shifted or broken radial belts.  Yeah, sounds like a "good" set of tires.

[2o6]

"Good" tread with shifted or broken radial belts.  Yeah, sounds like a "good" set of tires.

It only does it when fully loaded, so that's why I never paid it any attention.

[S204STi]

Yeah, funny how loading a vehicle up reveals problems with the tires.

[Secret Chimp]

Buy another pair of mismatched used tires and find another random mechanical problem that takes you three attempts to fix, the third not actually fixing it but just appearing to for the time being.

[Eye of the Tiger]

Buy some new $19.99 tires at Pep Boys. No, wait. Go for the $29.99 ones. Or just get a Scion xB, because those are a lot more stable than a Focus with SVT suspension.

[Gotta-Qik-C7]

He should have put that SVT sway bar on...............

[2o6]

He should have put that SVT sway bar on...............

It wouldn't have done much, and the stock one is on. Putting on that bar would be far more trouble than it's worth.

[Eye of the Tiger]

What are the DOT numbers on those tires?

[2o6]

What are the DOT numbers on those tires?

I never checked.

[Eye of the Tiger]

I never buy used tires without looking at the DOTs. They could be 10 years old or some crap.

[MX793]

I never buy used tires without looking at the DOTs. They could be 10 years old or some crap.

DOT # only tells you the last digit of the year.  Tires made in 2000 have DOT numbers that end in the same year number as those made in 2010, so your tires might be 2 years old or 12.

[hounddog]

We have experienced a similar issue with trucks on the farm.  Sometimes when we load them heavy with hay/whatever we get that shimmy, even if they have never done it prior with the same tires.

It is often fixed with rebalancing.  Sometimes, however, it takes new tires.
Once, it was a broken engine mount.

Which, now that I think about it, since we switched to all diesel trucks we have never experienced a broken engine mount.  Wonder why?