Rio has low speed wobble and high speed vibs

[John Deppong]

I have had this car (2001 Rio) 3 years and have not figured out what it is. At high speed 60 mph I get a steering wheel wobble (shaking like something is out of balance. But I have changed tires and Kia has changed all the rims. I have rotated the tires until Iam blue in the face. Something is out of Balance. Also when Iam in stop and go traffic I can actually feel the car rock like the tires are out of round. Anybody have any ideas. When I first bought the car I noticed that the rims where badly damaged like someone hit the curb really hard. The hub caps were pressed into the inside of the rim. Dont know if that is bad enough to bend any front end components. The tires have been wearing evenly for the longest time so I have not considered a wheel alignment. Does anyone have a similaiar problem with the 2001 rio.

Thanks!

[Raven1210]

does the wobble and vibs go away after you changed the tire??

[scscase17]

i have the same thing happen when i am doing around sixty on the freeway. i just changed the tires and it is still there. Les Schwab said nothing was wrong when they looked at my car. I have an 03 rio, i also test drove one before i bought mine and it did the same thing. I dont know about the low speed wobble though...

[RallyBlue03]

I have the high speed wobble as well (03 Rio). Its really noticeable on the highway- and rather annoying, lol. Can't for the life of me figure out why.

Good luck figureing it out though.

[Raven1210]

My car just developed this wobble last week. I am going to be throwing it on the host this weekend and take a look. Its from the rear of the car. If I find it I well update everyone. I have to replace the struts. I acully think it mite be the rear stablizer link maybe come loose. But time well tell.

[bludragon]

I had a prelude that I had put a pin hole in the oil filter. When it wasn't running no oil leak. When it was on, a tiny drop would drop straight down to the ground. At highway speed however it would blow the drop onto the shaft and unbalance it. I wiped the shaft and replaced the filter. Its amazing how little can unbalance something rotating at high speed.

It will be interesting to find out what is going on with your car. If you have it on a lift spin the tires and watch for movement on top of the tread.

[Raven1210]

sorry I ment to say vibe's I was half a sleep when I typed that

[Raven1210]

I just replaced my struts and greesed up the sway bar bushings in the rear. The vib is gone. My old struts where shot. I pushed them in and they stayed in. How many km/s or miles on your car?? Mine has 142,000km