Car vibration/shaking at 80mph +

[AC5L4T3R]

Hi Guys,

At the weekend I fitted a new set of wheels that were bought from another forum member and have noticed a lot of vibration/wobbling once I hit 80mph or more (I'm on the Autobahn when testing). The wheels were balanced by the previous owner (I believe).

The wheels are 19 x 9.5 ET 50 on the rear and 19 x 8.5 ET 40 on the front and I had fitted them with 10mm Eibach spacers on the rear. I took the spacers off and the vibration would only start around 90mph after this.

I took them to a tyre shop this morning and the guy said the front right tyre was fairly worn on the outer edge and could be causing the wobbling. He then put it on a lift and manipulated the front right wheel with both hands and it looked like the wheel nuts weren't screwed in properly (they were) the wheel would move that much.

The other mechanic that was there pointed to the bushing on the wishbone (see image) ,did the same on the left side and said this is what's causing the wobbling. However, with my old wheels I did not get any wobbling at any speed. When I am driving, it feels like the problem is on the rear left wheel but I could be wrong. When I fitted them, I tightened all the nuts hand tight whilst it was in the air, then lowered it and did it with tool. I didn't use a torque bar as I don't have one.

Any advice/help would be much appreciated.

 

[Armscarf]

I always try and follow the fault. Put the old wheels back, if the problem goes away then it's likely that there's a problem with the tires, wheel balance, spacer fit or possible a buckled wheel. It's not very scientific but it's worth getting the tires checked/replaced, making sure that he spacers aren't an issue and a re-balance that you can trust. In the end it's the cheapest solution and it wont do any harm to rule those out.

 

[AC5L4T3R]

I removed the rear left wheel and had a look for anything obvious, which I didn't see. Put it back on and now the shaking seems to have gone. Seems odd.

 

[Armscarf]

I removed the rear left wheel and had a look for anything obvious, which I didn't see. Put it back on and now the shaking seems to have gone. Seems odd.

I had a spacer on an old Celica GT (when that was a thing) that simply had some crud behind it, could it have been that?

 

[ph001]

He then put it on a lift and manipulated the front right wheel with both hands and it looked like the wheel nuts weren't screwed in properly (they were) the wheel would move that much.

That sounds more like play in the wheel bearing than anything else. But if that has disappeared with the old wheel back on it all sounds a little strange. I would just get the wheels re-balanced at a decent tyre fitting place as a starter for 10.

 

[buzyg]

I had a clump of mud stuck to the inside of a wheel once that produced the same effect. Took it for balancing, where they spotted it and simply knocked it off. I drove away, all sorted. did not even charge me.

 

[AC5L4T3R]

So an update.

On Friday I took it to a garage where you can rent their lift and tools etc to change my springs. Did the rears no problem but once I got the front one off, a quick test showed that the shock was completely dead so looks like new shocks all round too. I had the wheels balanced but the problem still seems to persist, so I will replace the control arms too.

Can I use Bilstein B4's with 30mm Eibachs? The B8s are a little out of my price range when having to factor in new control arms.