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Mud on wheels causing imbalance

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15K views 13 replies 12 participants last post by  holter95  
#1 ·
Has anyone had this happen?

I took the new Subie down a muddy mountain road. The next day (I did wash the car) the car began to shake at 100km/hr (60 mph). Apparently, the back side of the wheels were covered in dried mud.

I guess I did not do a good enough job washing the car.

Any advise???:cool:
 
#2 ·
Fairway said:
Any advise???:cool:
Clean the wheels.. ? :9:

I have never had it happen with mud - usually I can't build that much up inside - it goes flying, but I have had it happen several times with snow & ice. I just put on some gloves - kick & poke it all out until it's mostly clean & voila - no more shaking on the road.
 
#7 ·
yeah ive had this happen plenty of times. i also used to work at a tire place and just seeing what a couple ounces can do to the balance of the wheel tire combo is kinda crazy.

as said up above clean the crud inside of the wheel back spacing and your balance should return to norms if you diddnt toss a weight while playing around.
 
#9 ·
skyphix said:
HIt the car wash right after muddin'? Thats what most of the dirty folks here do.
agreed. if you do play around quite a bit id suggest just getting a small pressure washer for at the house. thats what i did and now i use it for everything that i never thought about using it for window, deck, hot tub, bbq grill, siding on the house, engine bays, washing cars. great investment for $50 considering taking your car to car wash its $1.50 for 3 minutes.
 
#12 ·
I get it all the time with the mud. It's WAY worse than snow as it doesn't shake loose or melt. You could try putting a coating on the inside of your tires so that it will be easier to get the mud off, but it'll get there anyway.
 
#14 ·
If you just wash the wheels from the outside, you'll just liquefy *most* of the mud, which will in turn settle at the bottom of the rim and solidify, thus causing your imbalance. Had it happen several times to me, especially with that nasty clay-type stuff (the same crap that snaps shear pins like toothpicks on a Bobcat auger while digging deck footings... :cursin: but I digress...)

Pull the wheels off and blast em good, making sure it's all out of the crevaces and cracks. Roll it around to keep the mud from settling in one spot on the wheel. Let the wheels dry face-up on level ground to allow the remnants to drip out evenly.

Snow will do the same thing, but it usually doesn't get wedged as far up into the outer cracks of the rim and it's lighter, so the imbalance usually isn't as bad with a wheel full of snow. It also has that nifty feature where it melts (unless you live in Minne-soh-tah).