I've got a bone stock 04 Lancer, stock 14" wheels too. Have excessive tire wear on the front wheels, and hardly any on the rears. Did a rotation, front to rear (not crossed) and tightened to 73 ft lbs. I am going to take the car down to the dealer (approx. 100 miles away) to get my 30k service done next week, and everything will be checked and/or replaced. Now I've got a slight wheel shimmy between 30 - 40 mph and it goes away above that. Under braking from freeway speed to stop it shimmies hard. I took all my wheels off and put them back on and it helped some. My question is, is it safe to drive the 100 miles to the dealer so they can do my 30k service and fix the shimmy?

 

It's probably caused by the excessive tire wear or improperly balanced tires... But the trip should be fine; just check the air pressure before the trip.

 

yeah, tire pressure is at 40 psi all around

 

make sure there is no bend in the wheel....if its just one tire you could always put on the donut and drive slow....but its prolly do to the tread wear

edit: here is a good test to make sure there isn't structural damage to the wheel...

Raise the car up to the point where you can spin the tire...if it wobbles you have yourself a problem....if not then its most likely the tread...good luck

 

Ill get it up on the lift and check it out, I hope its just the tread

 

Did you ever fix the problem?

 

go open your drivers side door and look down, there is a sticker there with OEM pressure settings...i believe front tires are supposed to be set at 28psi and rears around 29psi, or something in that region. 40psi is pretty high.

 

i think its actually like 32psi on up...28psi on stock tires seems low...however 40 is really high..

 

From the sticker:

Tire Size - 195/60/15
Front - 29psi
Rear - 26psi

 

Ahh, but don't miss the fact that he has an ES with 14" on it... different pressure slightly.

But, yet... 40 PSI is rediculous, let some air out.

 

wheel shimmying is a sign that you should have your wheel's aligned. i recommend that if you the psi fix doesn't work

 

this is true. i didn't realize he was in an ES. i was being silly and assuming OZ. thanks.

can somebody with an ES post the correct #'s for 14's on here for future reference?