Why would a wheel wobble??

[Sweet Stealth]

Hey everyone.. I have a 88 dodge aries and was curious as to why the wheel would wobble..

I can drive down the road and the whole wheel/rim wobbles around.. Several people have actually pulled up next to me and told me this.. Also seen it myself when my buddy drove it down the street..

Im looking to get it fixed and am wondering what some causes would be.. Its a beater car so Im not looking to spend a lot of money..

I asked my brother and he though a wheel bearing or something?? Not sure.. Anyone help me out with some ideas or whatever? Im basically gonna sell the car either as is or when I get it fixed if it doenst cost much.. Kinda depends on asking price with the cost of a repair like this..

Any help would be very well appreciated..
Thanks
Ryan

[CraigFL]

You need to define "wobble"....

Jack the car up on that corner and if you spin the wheel and it wobbles, the wheel is probably bent. Grab the wheel and rock it side to side and in an out at the top & bottom to see if something is worn.

If you can only see it when you're driving, it could be loose/worn suspension parts like ball joints, tie rod ends, bearings. If it shaking in an up and down motion, it could just be worn shocks.

Or, it could be something as easy as out of balance...

[Sweet Stealth]

Thanks for the response..

By wobble.. I mean that driving down the road everyone can see that the hole rim moves around..

There is a small dent in the rim from hitting a curb but im pretty sure it didnt wobble after doing it.. It started doing it over the summer and I hit a curb in the middle of winter..

If I were to put the spare on and drive it down the road and it didnt wobble that would probably mean that the rim is bent then right?

Or if I put the spare on and that wobbles then it would probably be something like tie rod ends or something like that then?
Thanks
Ryan

[mechy1barry]

put the spare on!!!!

[CHARLANE]

Bent frame, bad races, brakes pulling, out of round, unbalances, rubber wasted, etc.

I would bet on a bent frame though. Do you know if this vehicle was in a wreck before?

[Sweet Stealth]

Thanks for the replies..

THe car wasnt in any big accidents.. I know someone hit the car on the side a long time ago(like 10yrs ago..) Ive owned it for 7yrs or so now.. The rim is bent a little from sliding into a curb but its not too bad.. It didnt wobble like that until at least 3months or more later..

So the little accident was from before 7yrs ago cause it was my grandmas car actually..

I really dont think the frame is bent.. I know the shots are pretty much gone. I havent gotten around to lookin into why it wobbles around because its been kinda rainy and/or cold lately.
Thanks
Ryan

[b's]

yea, from what i'm hearing i pretty sure your wheel bearing is bad. i'm not sure what it'll cost you but i'm guessing around 30-90 dollar just on the wheel bearing. not sure what the labor will coat. but hey it might just be some lug nut you might have let lose.

here some things that might cause a wheel to wobble; wheel bearing, struts, tie rod

[renzokata]

hi everyone, i just recently wrecked my 93' camaro-i lost control of the road and flew off the road, over a cub(sideways) and into a fence. after driving it home, i noticed it drove terribly, my steering wheel shook back and forth and i had to turn the wheel a bit of the way to the left to get it steer str8. also it was very difficult to control-after going about 35+... the sound of tires screeching can be heard. jacked it up and nothing LOOKED wrong on my front end, but after doing a second check-i noticed with the wheels str8-my car was off to the left a little bit. i cant drive it now because it has worn out the tread on my front left tire. also my wheels have metal and tire ripped clean off along the edges from going over the curb so hard. would changing my rims and tires + a front end allignment fix this?

[curtis73]

Sweet Stealth, I suggest that your suspension components are in need of checking. You are right, if you put a known straight wheel on and the problem still exists, then its not a bent rim. However, if the problem goes away, its not necessarily a bent rim. It could be tie rod ends, excessively negative caster, a loose bolt in the lower control arm, or one of several things. I think a better test would be to rotate your tires and see if the wobble follows the wheel or if it stays in the same position.

Check the obvious things, like lug nuts. Jack it up and give the wheel a spin like CraigFL mentioned and you should be able to see it if its bent. While its up in the air, grab ahold of anything you can get your hands on and shake it to see if its loose.

I might be missing something, but I'm going to go against the majority here and say that I don't think its bearings. If a bearing is bad enough to allow wobble, I think it would have seized by now. It would have at least complained so loudly that you couldn't have ignored it this long. Still worth checking, but I highly doubt that's the issue in this case.

[barretire]

Originally Posted by Sweet Stealth

Hey everyone.. I have a 88 dodge aries and was curious as to why the wheel would wobble..

I can drive down the road and the whole wheel/rim wobbles around.. Several people have actually pulled up next to me and told me this.. Also seen it myself when my buddy drove it down the street..

Im looking to get it fixed and am wondering what some causes would be.. Its a beater car so Im not looking to spend a lot of money..

I asked my brother and he though a wheel bearing or something?? Not sure.. Anyone help me out with some ideas or whatever? Im basically gonna sell the car either as is or when I get it fixed if it doenst cost much.. Kinda depends on asking price with the cost of a repair like this..

Any help would be very well appreciated..
Thanks
Ryan

It is probably warped