I have 2000 miles on a 2005 Legacy Outback. I live on a dirt rd, Vermont has snowy and icey winters.

 

I was getting a shake in the car that I was fairly sure was snow or mud build up in the wheels. I rinsed it at a car wash and it was still there. My dealer worked on it and cleaned out all of the mud on the wheels by removing the wheels and also re-balanced the wheels.

 

Is this a recurring problem (ie.e am I going to have to remove my tires and re-balance every 2000 miles in the winter? Any solutions (washing the car every day is a bit tough in -20F weather) Is there a better rim that this won't happen with? The dealer service did say that they have been getting a lot of cars in with this problem and it is usually folks that drive on dirt rds.

Have you tried waxing your wheels to repel the snow and mud?

Have you tried waxing your wheels to repel the snow and mud?

 

LOL, joke, right?

LOL, joke, right?

 

You mean there are people who don't do this?

LOL, joke, right?

 

Whadaya mean, joke? I often clean and wax my alloy rims and I can assure you I've never had a problem with snow buildup.

 

Aloha.

Whadaya mean, joke? I often clean and wax my alloy rims and I can assure you I've never had a problem with snow buildup.

 

Aloha.

 

Only 'cause you stay out of the deepest drifts over there, Olnick.

 

 

Getting snow and ice buildup shouldn't keep throwing your wheels out of balance, unless the weights are coming off. If they are, whoever is putting them on needs training.

1) removed wheels

2) cleaned off mud & snow

3) re-balanced wheels (on a spin balancer I presume)

 

Between steps 2 & 3, whoever did the balancing would have been able to tell if the clean wheels were out of balance. Unless, of course, they knocked off all the existing weights at the same time they cleaned the wheels.

 

In any case, spraying off the wheels at the carwash should be sufficient to eliminate vibration, if the wheels are in balance.

as you may know

rally cars are subject to the same abuse

with mud/dirt getting caught in the wheels often

 

old rally secret??

 

spray the inside of the wheels with "pam" or a non stick cooking spray

 

makes a mess, yes

 

but try it

 

 

Jamie

Just a word of caution, pam is not so good on your brakes.

 

 

I've also heard a dirty rumor that if you use pam on your tires, the really knobby offroad ones, it helps keep mud from building up in the voids, but again, not so good on the actual tred.

LOL, joke, right?

 

No, it's not. Try it.