BAD Vibration through car, worse with mileage and speed.

[Bluebottle]

Hello there,

I bought E89 last week. Drove 120 miles home 60 to 80mph: no issues.
Removed all four wheels for refurbishment. Car left on four axles stands and two jacks under central jacking points for 6 days where the rain poured onto uncovered brakes and hubs.
The repainted and rebalanced and straightened wheels with same tyres were refitted by me with same wheel bolts.
Within two miles at 20 to 30mph I could feel vibration/knocking through the seat, but not steering wheel. This feels worse when turning right and steering wheel is pulling slightly right. Vibration was bad at 60mph and as the car got hotter/travelled further. Rear wheels were rechecked but are balanced perfectly. Braking while driving reduces the knocking / vibration. No obvious heat on wheels from binding brakes; front discs were hot to touch after 5 miles, rears were very warm.
No codes in my basic reader.
My "new car" is in the drive where it will stay as it is currently undriveable.

Any ideas please.

 

[enuff_zed]

Sounds pretty much like the front callipers are binding.
If it didn't do it before you let them get rained on then you 'may' get away with pulling the slider pins and cleaning them up.

 

[Pondrew]

Have you jacked each wheel and spun it to see if the brakes are binding badly, or any wheel is obviously not bolted on straight?

I would get a full can of brake cleaner, take pads out, spray everything liberally. Check the mating faces of the discs and wheels for any bits or crap or rust. The smallest bit of grit on either face can cause havoc.

 

[Bluebottle]

Thanks folks, the really annoying things is, with no garage (yet) I am reliant on dry weather and it never seems to stop raining long enough to do anything.

Whilst wheels were away I painted hubs and the very edge of discs with Hammerite paint. I am not sure if this causing ABS fault but no lights on dash and I purposely activated the ABS to see if it cleared the issue, so I know that works.

I shall wait until the weekend and try investigating, to see if it is anything "simple" I can do myself.

 

[B21]

Could be either a deformed tyre or maybe you put some paint on the hub face?

 

[Bluebottle]

Could be either a deformed tyre or maybe you put some paint on the hub face?

Thanks B21, yes I did paint the face of the rusty rear hubs . Looks like I need to check remove some Hammerite, and strip down the brakes and clean everything. the tyres are only two years old but I will spin them as well.

 

[B21]

Could be either a deformed tyre or maybe you put some paint on the hub face?

Thanks B21, yes I did paint the face of the rusty rear hubs . Looks like I need to check remove some Hammerite, and strip down the brakes and clean everything. the tyres are only two years old but I will spin them as well.

Sometimes the tyres develop a bulge /bleb that can seem innocuous but thorws a wobbly..clealry something has happened as a result of your 'fettling'!

 

[Bluebottle]

Clearly B21.

I blame JenniferLouise and yourself for showing me your unmarked wheels and calipers, I was jealous :evil:

I just hope you are right and my "new car" hasn't developed an expensive mechanical fault. :x

 

[B21]

Clearly B21.

I blame JenniferLouise and yourself for showing me your unmarked wheels and calipers, I was jealous :evil:

I just hope you are right and my "new car" hasn't developed an expensive mechanical fault. :x

IMHO. unlikely ..pretty bombproof chassis on these babies..

 

[Nictrix]

Check the wheel bolts are torqued correctly
Check the tyres are on the right way if needed
Check tyre pressures
Check there isn't a rear wheel on the front and vice versa
And maybe the wheels are not balanced properly.

 

[Pondrew]

I just hope you are right and my "new car" hasn't developed an expensive mechanical fault. :x

Very unlikely coincidence seeing as you have just taken the wheels off and done some cosmetic upgrading.

Always start with the simple....."what have I done to cause this issue"

I fitted new wheels (had the tyres fitted and balanced obviously) on a car a couple of years ago.
First 'shakedown' drive produced a steering wobble at 50mph plus. I thought "fecking tyre garage haven't balanced the fronts properly".
Went home, took the wheels off, looked for signs of problems, found nothing. Was just about to phone the garage and give them a piece of my mind, but I cleaned the hub faces and wheel faces again just to be sure. Put them back on and the wobble went. Obviously a tiny bit of crap on one of the faces. It doesn't take much.

 

[Bluebottle]

Check the wheel bolts are torqued correctly
Check the tyres are on the right way if needed
Check tyre pressures
Check there isn't a rear wheel on the front and vice versa
And maybe the wheels are not balanced properly.

Thanks, I am pretty sure, BUT will remove all wheels, calipers and excess paint and ensure everything is perfect this weekend.


Always start with the simple....."what have I done to cause this issue"

Yes after more than half a century onthis planet I have learnt it is always my fault

 

[raymond.harper]

To rule out overheating brakes, get one of these cheap infrared thermometers, hours of endless fun using it. Point it at the discs and calipers to see what temperature they are. Do it quickly as they do cool down quite fast. I would also check for a broken spring. A long shot, but if all the wheels were on full "droop" a suspension bush may have become damaged, check the front suspension top mount.

 

[Bluebottle]

To rule out overheating brakes, get one of these cheap infrared thermometers, hours of endless fun using it. Point it at the discs and calipers to see what temperature they are. Do it quickly as they do cool down quite fast. I would also check for a broken spring. A long shot, but if all the wheels were on full "droop" a suspension bush may have become damaged, check the front suspension top mount.

Thanks, I know those thermometers are very useful, I shall have a look at them.

I checked all springs and shocks whilst wheels were away; no problems. I hope the suspension hanging without the weight of the wheels would not do any damage; I'll put it on my list of possibilities after the paint and tyres though.

 

[MikeyH]

Someone on here or another forum had a similar problem and it turned out that the tyre fitters had over-tightened the wheel bolts with their air tool to some really high amount and distorted the hub.

 

[Bluebottle]

Someone on here or another forum had a similar problem and it turned out that the tyre fitters had over-tightened the wheel bolts with their air tool to some really high amount and distorted the hub.

Hmmm! I don't have a torque wrench for wheels, mine only goes up to 50Nm, I do my wheels up with an extension bar. The wheel fitter was surprised how tight they were yesterday so maybe I need to ask my wife if I can have another bigger torque wrench

 

[Pondrew]

Someone on here or another forum had a similar problem and it turned out that the tyre fitters had over-tightened the wheel bolts with their air tool to some really high amount and distorted the hub.

Hmmm! I don't have a torque wrench for wheels, mine only goes up to 50Nm, I do my wheels up with an extension bar. The wheel fitter was surprised how tight they were yesterday so maybe I need to ask my wife if I can have another bigger torque wrench

Unless you are using a 10ft bar on your wheel bolts and jumping on the end of it, you are unlikely to tighten them enough to do any damage IMO.

I have had cars where I have had to use massive long extension bars to loosen wheel nuts and it has never done any damage with them being so tight.

 

[Busterboo]

My "new car" is in the drive where it will stay as it is currently undriveable.
Any ideas please.

Drive slowly to your nearest major tyre fitters - the ones people on here often hate, but who have a lot of experience of tyre/wheel/brake/lower suspension problem.

However, if the car really is "undriveable" now, call a mobile mechanic.

Whatever, you obviously need more than the inevitably blind advice of members here, no matter how good, and your own knowledge & facilities.

 

[MikeyH]

My "new car" is in the drive where it will stay as it is currently undriveable.
Any ideas please.

Drive slowly to your nearest major tyre fitters - the ones people on here often hate, but who have a lot of experience of tyre/wheel/brake/lower suspension problem.

However, if the car really is "undriveable" now, call a mobile mechanic.

Whatever, you obviously need more than the inevitably blind advice of members here, no matter how good, and your own knowledge & facilities.

Yes, good advice.

 

[CliveN]

This really does seem like brake binding. I had a caliper stick on my MC and it caused all manner of grinding noises and vibration. A quick temp check if the disc showed it was off the scale hot. Discs should get warm but will not get hot unless used hard. If they are very hot after just travelling without much brake use you have binding callipers. As the callipers were exposed to rain it seems a no brainer. Sliding pin brakes are pants frankly