Bongo Fury

Back to the wheel balancing and 65mph shakes topic again.

Took the Bongo back to the tyre specialists who balanced the wheels a couple of months ago which resulted in the shakes being worse and starting at 60mph.

Showed them print outs (prints out?) of the forum topics re balancing with stud adapters.

They looked at me as though I was a complete idiot!
They humoured me a little and with a withering look offered to have a go next Saturday morning, implying that it would be a complete waste of their time (and no doubt my money!).

They thought the problem was an inherent design fault of the vehicle if so many suffered from it. They looked at the alloys somewhat askance.

That said, they do seem to be a very knowledgeable outfit and do a heck of a lot of specialist tyres.

Obviously never seen a Bongo before mine.

Any comments anybody before I see them next week?

I've not been following the threads concerning wobbles but I had trouble with an old van a few years ago. Getting the wheels balanced on the car (as opposed to taking them off) cured it.

Hi Pippin,

I had the shakes at a steady 65 mph disappeared at 70. I changed my tyres and asked the fitter to use the 5 stud adapter to balance the wheels. He didn't know how to use it so he balanced the wheels the simple way and the wobble disappeared. I am positive that having evenly worn tyres all round is a major factor in getting rid of the wobble. Prior to the new tyres I had quite a difference in tread depth between front and back.


James

Interestingly, since the wheels were (un)balanced which made the shakes worse I have had the front brake discs replaced.
That obviously required removal and refitting of the front wheels.
Guess what? The shakes are not as bad, although still present.

hi.i had the shakes on mine for ages,even after numerous balancings etc,tyre fitter told me thar the dunlop "grasspic tyres"that i had fitted were like chewing gum a really soft compound.so i had a harder compound fitted and this cured the problem,also don,t forget you should have 195,s on the front and 215,s on the rear fitting the wrong sizes can make the vehicle unstable.paul