What about the back end shaking?? I may need to re-balance the rear tires, ya think??

 

Inspect your tires first. If the tread is not feathered, or the tire is not seperated, then balancing should fix the vibration.

 

Could a loose rear strut bar cause vibration of the rear end while driving?

 

Or a rear strut bar that too tight....causing vibration of the rear end?

 

I just went through this.

I had the car checked out and tire replacement solved the problem. Now, I had not experienced this before other tire changes so I was worried it was something more serious. Tires do wear differently each time.
Happy to say all is well.

 

you probably want to rotate (mount and dismount) the front tires right to left about every 5000 miles to even out the wear.

 

Most likely the shop is right.
I had the same thing happen to my wife's Passat, she must have hit a pothole and screwed the alignment. Not unough to be able to tell but in the long run the front tires wore out uneven and the car started to pull to the left so I had the car aligned and the result was the car still pulled to the left. I rotated tires but since I allways rotate my tires these had slightly uneven were also and still pulled to the left.
I bought two new tires for the front and no more pull to the left.

 

Scottrnelson:

I always test drive a car I'm buying BEFORE paying the money. If it seems to have an alignment problem, I make the dealer fix it before I pay and take delivery. This is specially true of the s2k, which has a very BROAD range of "factory alingment specs. To maximize tire life and oversteer, you want the rear toe in and front negative camber at factory minimums. Some drivers find the oversteer too much, and worry about the rear end break away that can happen, and opt for more toward the max settings in these areas.

In any event, the steering wheel centering is part of the alignment process. If yours isn't centered, your dealer should fix that problem free within 12 months or 12K miles. If not, the cost usually isn't much ($60 at my dealer), and is much cheaper than a new set of tires and/or putting up with handling that is irritating to you.

Thanks,
Richard

 

If the front tyres are directional tyres (as all high perofmance tyres seem to be) and you rotated them to the otherside of the car, wouldn't the direction of the tyre be wrong?

M@

 

Tires could've worn out wrong. I had similar issues but mine tramlined and followed ruts after an alignment along with new rear tires. Once I got new front tires, problem went away.