Steering wobble

B

bojan

Member
Hello guys, I'm having a steering wheel wobble from 60-70mph, sometimes really crazy wobbling, sometimes almost don't feel it at all!

Had it for 2 years! Driving me nuts!

What have I done so far:

1. Hunter wheel balancing different places 5x
2. Hunter suspension alligment different places 3x
3. Changed 3 sets of tyres and 3 sets of wheels 2x18 inch, 1x17 inch
4. Changed from Mayle HD control arms to soft ones
5. Changed rear springs
6. Changed all 4 discs and pads
7. Read all the posts on forum that's why I did everything above
8. Checked the suspension by couple of Bmw indies both in Croatia and Slovenia-suspension appears to be in great shape everything tight
9. Driven the car with and without distancers

Wobbling started 2 years ago when I was doing hunter alingment, what I think is the reason is when the guy that did it (btw reputable place) banged a lot with a hammer on the front suspension because he couldn't unscrew the front where you do the aligment, maybe he pranged or something. Later when other Hunter place did the aligment they warmed the same place up didn't banged it. In both of the cases the aligment was done without a problem, and all the Indies say that it is normal to bang or warm up that part in order to do the aligment.

All in all going crazy it always happens at the same speed 60-70mph!
 
If you hadn't already done it, so many times, I'd say it sounds like wheel balancing / warped tyres / buckled alloy but looks as if you have already gone down that route.

Sticking brake calliper? Warped brake disc? Dam just read and you've done that too.

Erm ... Is there anything that you haven't changed ? Had the steering unit itself checked? Anything under the car loose at all? Trim/under trays/ exhaust / exhaust baffles / catalyst??

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
 
I don't think the dampers would be causing it, I mean if they're shot, as it always happens on the straight road with no holes, like motorway. What are the track rods? Do you have a photo of them just to know what it is exactly in our language to tell it to the indie?

Thanks.
 
If your dampers were shot you would have uncontrolled vibration throughout the suspension, you would only having the springs to soak up the bumps but no damping.
Your track rods are easily replaced, they are located at the ends of the steering rack, the end that connects to the hub.
 
zycho said:
If your dampers were shot you would have uncontrolled vibration throughout the suspension, you would only having the springs to soak up the bumps but no damping.
Your track rods are easily replaced, they are located at the ends of the steering rack, the end that connects to the hub.
Click to expand...

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
What he says.

I had an old E34 which had steering shimmy at a certain speed. Changed front dampers and top mounts (after changing thrust arms, discs, etc) and it cured it.
 
Ok I have googled them I know what they're. But if it is track rods wouldn't the wheels be wobbling on lesser speeds as well especially when I'm cornering. This only happens from 60-70mph, bellow that absolutely nothing. The steering wheel is rock solid, without a smallest hint of wobbling. If it is track rods, it would occur on smaller speeda wouldn't it?
This feels like there is a small gremlin who at 60-ish turns on the woblling then at 70 turns it of. When I'm cornering bellow 60 there isn't abolutely any wobbling.

The suspension is not wobbling at all, that's why we have deducted propshaft as well. My Bmw specialist calls it fine wobbling meaning that only the steering wheel is involved in it! He has lots of experience preparing the M3's for racing. He had everything apart and it left him scratching his head as well.
 
The same could then be said of wheel balance, why only at certain speeds, different things resonate at different speeds/frequencies, same goes for the dampers.
Hey, its only a maybe, just my tuppenceworth.
 
Sticking caliper would be my thoughts, sometimes they might stick other times they don't. My brothers e46 had wheel shake from that, sometimes worse than others.

Is one wheel covered in more brake dust than any others? Can you feel any wheel hot after a run?
 
Sticking caliper is my take on it too.

Mine was a violent steering wobble until the pads almost caught fire.

:thumbsdown:
 
I guess you should check all the places that attach the wheel to the car. That's:

- top mounts
- lower arms
- steering rack

Check all of these are tight or you can have a vibration. 50-60mph is where it manifests but it's probably just a function of the natural frequency of the specific mass and moment of inertia of the specific setup on your car, which is uncontrolled, i.e. with a different set of wheels it'd change speeds.

Don't give up!

Oh a favourite, on Capris (until recently my main hobby car) the steering wheel wobble is radial play in a bush in the steering column, which again manifests itself at a specific speed, i'm guessing the Z doesn't have this bush per se but worn UJs in the steering column or worn splines somewhere in the steering column could cause it.
 
zycho said:
If your dampers were shot you would have uncontrolled vibration throughout the suspension, you would only having the springs to soak up the bumps but no damping.
Your track rods are easily replaced, they are located at the ends of the steering rack, the end that connects to the hub.
Click to expand...

Thanks guys for the answers, I have just booked the car on wednesday to replace the track rods. The whole rods not just the ends. My Bmw indie is interesting into the solution as well so he will put new track rods and then see if anything changes, if not he will return mine so I don't have to pay for new ones if nothing changes.

He told me that the track rods are the things that you also screw or unscrew when you're doing the wheel alignment?, so if you go back to my original story this might be the culprit, as I said the guy at the wheel alignment place 2 years ago was banging on them with a hammer like crazy as he couldn't unscrew them that easy, so maybe, just maybe he damaged them back then. As the wobbling started after that first wheel alignment. And now when the new ones come in the situation might be changed!
 
zycho said:
If your dampers were shot you would have uncontrolled vibration throughout the suspension, you would only having the springs to soak up the bumps but no damping.
Your track rods are easily replaced, they are located at the ends of the steering rack, the end that connects to the hub.
Click to expand...

Not necessarily true. I had a bad steering wobble between 60-80. Tried wheel balancing, alignment etc but it was the shocks. Dead, leaking, no rebound. It was a little crashy but was lowered so to be expected, but only 'symptom' was a wobble at high speed.
 
T2FFN said:
zycho said:
If your dampers were shot you would have uncontrolled vibration throughout the suspension, you would only having the springs to soak up the bumps but no damping.
Your track rods are easily replaced, they are located at the ends of the steering rack, the end that connects to the hub.
Click to expand...

Not necessarily true. I had a bad steering wobble between 60-80. Tried wheel balancing, alignment etc but it was the shocks. Dead, leaking, no rebound. It was a little crashy but was lowered so to be expected, but only 'symptom' was a wobble at high speed.
Click to expand...

Ok, was it really a shaky wobble, my steering wheel shakes like crazy 1-2 cm up and down, from 100 km/h (60 mph) then after 120km/h (70 mph) goes back to being normal. I'm also interested what mileage did you have then? How many shocks did you change? What brand? How much did you pay?

Thanks!
 
Rory said:
Sticking caliper would be my thoughts, sometimes they might stick other times they don't. My brothers e46 had wheel shake from that, sometimes worse than others.

Is one wheel covered in more brake dust than any others? Can you feel any wheel hot after a run?
Click to expand...

As you can see from my post up there I have changed all 4 discs and pads. There was a steering wobble with old discs and there was a wobble with a new ones. So not that definitely.
 
The wheel sort of turned 1-2cm each way as if you were making quick small adjustments to the steering. It kicked in around 60, calmed after 80, although the peak wobble moved slightly from 70 to 60. I imagine this is because I too kept driving on it, as I was in europe on a driving holiday!

I swapped all shocks with Bilstsien shocks and Eibach springs. The OEM shocks were dead I guess as I'd put on those cheap lowering springs that came up on here last year. They dropped the car too far and killed the shocks. I think atleast 3 were fully dead.
 
jamiez said:
Have you tried a different driver ;)
Click to expand...

I don't understand the question, yes the car was driven by various mechanics, etc., and all of them experienced the same thing. It is a clearly visible issue.
 
Update: just to share what was done,
First: we have changed the complete track/tie rods (together with the ends), have put the new ones but the situation is the same (my mechanic has informed me) and thankfully I didn't have to buy new ones as they're not the culprit he has returned them and has put old ones back as they're in fine fettle.
Second: he has turned off the electric servo on steering and drove without pas to see what will happen and if there is any fault with electric pas. But again the wobbling is still there

So as you have mentioned the last thing to try is the shock absorbers, so I'm getting those, and if they're not the reason for wobbling I don't know what else to check, as everything else was checked, changed etc.
 
It will be the shocks, trust me I felt your pain, hated the car with terrible ride, so bought the B12 kit and changed it all myself in a couple hours on the driveway. Easy job.
 
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