Steering wobble!!!!

T

T2FFN

Senior member
 East Yorkshire
Evening all,

I'm 900miles into an EU roadtrip and the car is not behaving.

I'm getting pretty serious vibration and steering wobble (very visible) of a centimetre or so in either direction when going between 60-80mph. I didn't notice this on the drive from Hull to Dover, but did notice it immediately when coming off the ferry but put it down to bad roads at first. It first appeared around 70mph, but the 'window of wobble' seems to now be 60-80mph, so is worse!

I had both front wheel rebalanced before I set off to try to get rid of the tramlining, and didn't get to drive the car at motorway speed until the drive to dover. I dont remember the car having the wobble then, but maybe I had it on cruise at 80mph the whole way and missed it?

Could a bad balancing or a wheel wight coming off cause such a wobble and gutteral vibration in the car at certain speeds or is it something else? IThe roads are awful in Belgium and some of France, and I've unfortunately hit a few holes and bumps on these poor foreign motorways, which were unavoidable... so has this knocked something out of whack, or possibly bent a wheel?

I'm going to ask a local for the address of a tyre shop and hopefully get the car looked at and wheels rebalanced, but I have a lot of driving ahead and right now I dont want to drive the car, it just feels crap. :cry:

I'm in Basel (northern switzerland for the next 2 days then heading to Paris) so if any members are local to the area and know any garages, please reach out!

Thanks
 
Also I am happy to be on the french side of the border to visit a tyre place, as I imagine it will be much cheaper!
 
I experienced the same symptoms when I was driving around 70mph, was fine at higher or lower speeds - turned out to be a broken rear spring
 
Thanks Ranski. I have put on the FK springs not so long ago, so unless that has gone, they're brand new.

I can feel vibrations through the seat, floor and steering wheel when in the 'wobble window'. One problem I had when the springs were fitted was a knocking, which turned out to be a front spring not sat properly, and as its been up in the air to take the front wheels off...? I was also thinking wheel bearing maybe? Would that be specific to speed though?

Just found out theres a 'Speedy' tyre shop 2 doors down. (Using google). Was dark when we arrived :oops:
 
I'm having the same vibration for the past couple of months, and tried to solve the problem with brand new tyres and wheels. But nothing has changed, it is still there. Of course, first I have tried all the other remedies like wheel alingment and balancing etc. before buying new wheels and tires.
 
The strange thing is i haven't had it until now, and the only thing that has changed is the front wheels have been up and rebalanced, and driving on rougher roads.

We complain but at least our motorways are smooth, lit and/or have cats eyes.

Sent from my HTC One X
 
Asked the garage next to the hotel to have a look this morning... they said come back in a week lol.

Sent from my HTC One X
 
I haven't yet. I've had all 4 wheels rebalanced, and they noticed the front tyres have worn more on the inside, so when on the machine you can see they dont spin true. This may be partly to blame, but also the front spacers are not hubcentric, so i need to swap these too.

I'm going to save up for 19's and eventually, coilovers.

Sent from my HTC One X
 
It's worth checking the tyre surfaces for bumps or bulges by running your hand around, a tread defect can give quite a nasty vibration at speed. A leaking front shock can also set up a 'pitter-pattter' vibe. Good luck with solving it.
 
Funny enough I had (have) the same problem but at around 100mph+, a vibration that feels like its at the rear, first happened on a trip to France, got back had new tyres on but still no different, unless they didn't balance the wheels properly??? Got it in for full alignment and damper check next week so might show something up. I'm sure I read on an old post that wheels can be difficult to balance properly ( in two planes??)

You have checked the tyre pressure and wheel nuts and no sticking/dragging brakes?
 
Yep, brakes dont appear to be sticking, tyre pressures triple checked, nuts all tight.

I think the uneven tyres may be partly to blame, but also will remove the front spacers. This all started after a front rebalance / drive to dover. I dont recall it happening on the drive to dover, but was immediately apparent when coming off the ferry. It may be that I set the cruise control to be just above the wobble speed though, so missed it on the drive down.

The odd thing is some times its almost not there, sometimes its quite severe. That confuses me.
 
I'm sure whatever it is we've got the same problem, I'm going for a wheel out of balance!!

Same problem but mine is at the rear
 
Tyre pressures ? other than as you say thrown a weight , did you bounce it off the ferry from my experience its a big bump sometimes , maybe you have knocked it out , i am the bane of everyone behind me on the chunnel i think as i do 3 mph over every hump , Basle/Basel is crap for decent car service after living there for nearly 2 yrs if you can get to Zurich much more car friendly ,sorry i cant be more help
 
Took my e46 to Mercedes to have the wheels balanced-ran sh1t at speeds afterwards,took it to an independant tyre place,said the balancing had been done incorrectly,they redid them-fine afterwards,i know this may not be your problem mate,just saying.
 
Hi Andy,

I did think this might be the reason, so went to Savoy and had them redo them. While it is better (maybe), its not gone.
 
T2FFN said:
Hi Andy,

I did think this might be the reason, so went to Savoy and had them redo them. While it is better (maybe), its not gone.
Click to expand...
Ah-i just thought i would point out that it cant be guaranteed 100% from place to place-though it should be :roll:
 
I was actually glad the ellipsoids are corroded to feck, as if you watch how they remove the stuck on weights, you would not want them touching new wheels!!! :thumbsdown: :thumbsdown: :thumbsdown:
 
T2FFN said:
I was actually glad the ellipsoids are corroded to feck, as if you watch how they remove the stuck on weights, you would not want them touching new wheels!!! :thumbsdown: :thumbsdown: :thumbsdown:
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:cry:
 
its amazing what unballanced wheels can do. but i would expect you to notice it at lower speeds and for it to get worse and worse not stop after a time.

i took my westy to a aindale beach to get it photographed. it ran smooth and great on the way there.

so im there and i get all the photo's etc and then why ever not have a little play... so `10-15 mins of dicking about having a laugh. get off the beach and noticed a wobble. at 20 its bad couldnt get over 40 it felt like i had 50ps for wheels. the westy runs at 16-18psi so up to 25psi improved it a bit 35psi enough to be able to do 55 with not too much wobble on the 30 mile motorway trip home.

anyhow wobble decreases on the way home till i was able to do 75. a few days later in the daylight i see how much sand there was inside the wheel. i clean it out drop the psi back to 18 go and get a wheel balance done (no wobble at all on the way there). talk to the guy when i get there and ask him to check before if they needed it and then to just do it anyway. he said 1 was slightl out the rest were ok and didnt really need doing.

we both recon it was due to the wet sand ... point being just a bit of wet sand inside a 15" rim made a huge difference to everything.
 
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