Steering Wobble After FCAB Replacement??

C

coupedan

Member
 West Berkshire
So as the title says,

I replaced my front lower control arm bushes on Saturday with Powerflex polybushes.

I now have quite violent steering wheel wobble between 60MPH and 85MPH anything under and it's fine and anything over it's still there but barely noticeable.

Has anyone here had any similar issues regarding this before?

Cheers,
Dan
 
Not taking the piss, but have you done all the bolts up tight enough, including the wheel bolts ? I saw a thread on here recently where it was suggested that the FCA bolts being loose can cause wobbling. From your post it's happening all the time, not under braking or manoeuvring ?
 
...and exdos is your man for this sort of thing, hopefully he'll pop on soon :thumbsup:
 
No, I have not.

However, if everything is fitted back as it should be, it is likely that the stiff poly bush has highlighted a problem you have with another bush or wearable component elsewhere. The poly bush being so stiff will send more load to other components and if they are worn, you will quickly find out about it.
 
Bing said:
Not taking the piss, but have you done all the bolts up tight enough, including the wheel bolts ? I saw a thread on here recently where it was suggested that the FCA bolts being loose can cause wobbling. From your post it's happening all the time, not under braking or manoeuvring ?
Click to expand...

I know that I did do them up tight but haven't checked since Saturday as I have not had a chance to get the car back up in the air.

The wheels should be tight as I didn't take them off when doing the bushes as there's no need.. I'm taking the car to get wheels balanced in the next hour or so, so any indication that the wheels are loose will be shown by them.

Also, it doesn't happen when manoeuvring or under braking, is as straight as an arrow, even under 60MPH the issue is not there.. I'm a bit baffled as to what I could've disturbed?
 
simonlpearce said:
Are you runing spacers/spigot rings? Are they all correctly aligned and no dirt/debris between wheel/disc mating surfaces?
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I have spacers on the rear but these have been on the car for over a month with no issues so I wouldn't have thought that could make a difference?
 
I have exactly this, but as I have changed all of the below in quite a short space of time, I am unsure what it is. It only occurs on the motorway / dual carriageways at 65+

New alloys
New rear tyres
New control arm bushes
New drop links
Alignment

I asked the guys who did my alignment to check the front balance and cannot visually see any weights missing, as I had assumed this would be the culprit. Tempted to go and get the wheels balanced again just to be sure as that is surely the most common cause.
 
wilbo said:
I have exactly this, but as I have changed all of the below in quite a short space of time, I am unsure what it is. It only occurs on the motorway / dual carriageways at 65+

New alloys
New rear tyres
New control arm bushes
New drop links
Alignment

I asked the guys who did my alignment to check the front balance and cannot visually see any weights missing, as I had assumed this would be the culprit. Tempted to go and get the wheels balanced again just to be sure as that is surely the most common cause.
Click to expand...

I would check the ball joint(s) on the control arms (you may need new control arms) and the track rod ends.
 
Jack the car up and try wobble the wheel at placing hands at 3pm and 9pm. If you get any movement then your inner/outer track rod ends are shot. Then do the same again but at 6 & 12 to check for bearing play.

Aside from that it could either be worn top mounts, control arm ball joints or a wheel isn't straight or is out of balance. There isn't a great deal else you can check/replace.
 
UPDATE:

So I have just got back from getting all 4 wheels rebalanced.
I can safely say that the issue has gone away - took it up the motorway and sat at 60MPH, 70 MPH, 80MPH and 90MPH and got no wobbles.
Tested around the town and got no wobbles :D

The only downsides to this is that I had to take it to the stealers as they were the only people who could fit me in this afternoon that are locally to me, so £60 later and this has been resolved!!

On another note, it's funny how much the FCAB's drown out stuff like that when they are shot! Considering I had nothing before I changed them - I suppose that may be something to think about in the future :rofl:

Cheers for the help guys :thumbsup:
 
Given all you've done is changed the bushes, not removed wheels etc. and now have issues, it's logical to say it's nothing to do with wheel balance, tie rods, bushes, bearings, etc. ,etc.

I'd therefore be looking at alignment as the new bushes will invariably have changed it, especially as you've gone to poly.

I'd also ask you to define 'steering wobble' more specifically since you didn't say 'wheel wobble'.
For instance my car was true as a die and I swapped tyres 4 weeks ago. Since then the steering has a slight pull to left and right (not tramlining) but more a rhythmic minor pull to left then right, just between 60 & 80. This to me is steering wobble as opposed to wheel wobble (if that makes sense)

I know my issue is purely down to alignment, which needs to be different on the new type of tyres and will fix it asap.
 
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