steering wheel vibration + wobbly car

[stevej 0]

Hi

 

i am newbie to the forum although have owned as election of VW incluidng Mk1 Rivage cab, VR6 golf. after several years of waiting finally got my C, 2l 16V L plate 10 months ago.

 

great car, but not without some issues (which appears to be the case with most)

 

car steering all fine when got, was on 17" alloys when bought it and is still. has had front wishbone and rear axel bushes replaced early on after getting. Then developed v wobbly steering wheel at low speed + clunk on driving off. got front alignment and balance checked but no diff in fact maybe worse after alignment check, albeit by KF only. eventaully 2 new front tyres and new front engine mount helped massively but over last 6 weeks there is still a slight wobble felt through the car at low speed although not really much movement in steering wheel at this speed. as speed up wobble goes but still vibration through sterring wheel getting worse as get 60 plus.

 

thoughts : rear tyre issue, front wheel alignmnet etc ?????????

 

passed MOT 4 months ago no issue, and had new rack approx 18 mnths ago.

 

grateful for any help/suggestions as its driving me crazy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

:?

[Supercharged 2]

Must be something at the front if it's that bad... bent wheel??

 

Were the ball joints changed when bushes done? - MOT should have picked those up tho...

[dr_mat 0]

It's not uncommon for newly fitted tyres to be not correctly balanced, so I'd get them checked again as a first step.

[Walesy 0]

I had a problem that sounds a bit like this, after replacing quite a few things that made no difference it turned out to be a driveshaft.

[Bendy 0]

i'd def get the balancing looked at, i had a similar problem after a couple of the sticky wheel weights came unstuck. steering wheel was vibrating, took it to my mate who re balanced it and job done no vibrations anymore.

[herisites 0]

Mines doing this at the min, i think it just needs the wheels balancing though as i cleaned my wheels thoroughly the other week and i think i have just knocked some of the weights off. Bloody annoying though :mad:

[stevej 0]

thanks for the help / advice

 

ill get checking and let you know how i get on :)

[stevej 0]

2 new rear tyres sorted the horrible wobble at slow speed and re balance at front problem now sorted. nice smooth ride :D

[MonkeyVR6 0]

Interesting...

 

I'm getting a bit of vibration thru the steering wheel between 60mph - 80mphish, especially if braking between those speeds.

 

Also, as a slight bizzare thing, I seem to get a noticeable amount more tyre noise when turning right :cuckoo:

 

As I'm sure you can imagine, this is driving me c-r-a-z-y...

 

The only thing that I've changed recently is removing all the wheels off the car as I did a cheap (i.e. pikey) refurb with a silver spray can to last me until the summer when I'm going to get them done properly. I wonder if I put them back on the car in a different order? Would that affect things?

[vwaddict 0]

i've got a similar prob with the whole right turning thing, its a bit noisey when going straight, not noisey at al when turning left, and way noisier when turning right!!! cant figure it out.

 

Anyone else had this prob???

 

Thanks in advance

 

Tim

[ben_wooduk 0]

Mines doing this at the min, i think it just needs the wheels balancing though as i cleaned my wheels thoroughly the other week and i think i have just knocked some of the weights off. Bloody annoying though :mad:

 

:offtopic: a bit off topic i'm afraid. But has anyone heard about putting weights under the tyre? So the weights are in the same position, but the other side of the alloy (that make sense??) i've had my refurb done for 5 months now with new weighs and they are all rusty and look terrible :mad2:

[colinstubbs 0]

:offtopic: a bit off topic i'm afraid. But has anyone heard about putting weights under the tyre? So the weights are in the same position, but the other side of the alloy (that make sense??) i've had my refurb done for 5 months now with new weighs and they are all rusty and look terrible :mad2:

 

Might look okay but you'd be shagged if one came loose inside the tyre :shock:

[dr_mat 0]

It would also make it impossible to get the tyre to seal to the rim.

Your tyre fitters obviously fitted crap weights if they're rusty, they should be galvanised.

[StuartFZR400 0]

Glad you've sorted it. Always check the cheapest items first, ie free stuff, like balancing back at the shop. After that I'd start looking at suspension top mounts and ball joints - looking for a split boot etc, which would explain the clunk at take-off. So if it comes back, you know where to look.

 

Someone mentioned spraying thier wheels; should be fine if you did a good even job, but if you got blobs of paint on the inner rim edges (j) theres a chance the tyres not on properly. However, once balanced the wheel should spin fine and therefore make no difference to which corner of the car you put it on.

 

Mines doing this at the min, i think it just needs the wheels balancing though as i cleaned my wheels thoroughly the other week and i think i have just knocked some of the weights off. Bloody annoying though :mad:

 

Easy done I guess, especially easy to loose when they're the nicer Stick On ones. Just whipp off the wheel, stick onto a spindle (got a spare bike spindle?, or stick of wood), make sure the spindle is level (stick in a vice maybe) and spin - the wheel should come to rest at random positions; but not the same position.

 

I remember getting judder at precicely 60mph after getting new tyres. Took it back to the shop where they insisted it was done correctly. He put it on the jig thing and spun it up; it was out by the smallest margin, where he then said - barely anything mate. I told him to rip off the weights, deflate the tyre and align the spot with the valve; he spun it up and put on half the weights than before and was all perfect. Such a noob!!

[MonkeyVR6 0]

Someone mentioned spraying thier wheels; should be fine if you did a good even job, but if you got blobs of paint on the inner rim edges (j) theres a chance the tyres not on properly. However, once balanced the wheel should spin fine and therefore make no difference to which corner of the car you put it on.

 

It wasn't the paint I was worried about affecting the weight distribution...however, I was under the illusion that as I'd put the balanced wheels back in a different order on the car it would affect the car's handling. Obviously not. :help:

 

Any idea what it could be then?! I'll go and get the tracking done I suppose?! :brickwall:

[StuartFZR400 0]

Any idea what it could be then?! I'll go and get the tracking done I suppose?! :brickwall:

 

Its bound to be wheel end of things, doubt steering rack etc. So again, lets start with the freebee items:

1. grab each front wheel with both hands and pull hard, yanking back and forth. Nothing should move.

2. check for balance of both front wheels, by you (as above) or tyre fitter; also have them check the state of the tyre - uneven wear can cause a wobbly ride

3. while wheels are off, check the brake caliper/carriers are fixed tightly (although would expect judder to be at all speeds if this were the cause).

 

You've done those and it still judders. Next suspect might be wheel bearings or ball joint.

4. check ball joint boot (rubber) for splits

5. check wheel bearings.

6. check suspension, not loose at ends/mounts etc

 

Should not be tracking unless its miles out.

[MonkeyVR6 0]

Any idea what it could be then?! I'll go and get the tracking done I suppose?! :brickwall:

 

Its bound to be wheel end of things, doubt steering rack etc. So again, lets start with the freebee items:

1. grab each front wheel with both hands and pull hard, yanking back and forth. Nothing should move.

2. check for balance of both front wheels, by you (as above) or tyre fitter; also have them check the state of the tyre - uneven wear can cause a wobbly ride

3. while wheels are off, check the brake caliper/carriers are fixed tightly (although would expect judder to be at all speeds if this were the cause).

 

You've done those and it still judders. Next suspect might be wheel bearings or ball joint.

4. check ball joint boot (rubber) for splits

5. check wheel bearings.

6. check suspension, not loose at ends/mounts etc

 

Should not be tracking unless its miles out.

 

Cheers mate, I'm really grateful for the knowledge! I've booked my car into the garage tomorrow morning.

 

The front engine mounts, front suspension and top mounts are all new! The front two tyres are new, plus the wheel weights were moved recently to the inner part of the alloy. It all felt fine until I removed the wheels from the car and then put them back on (I think I put them back on the car in a different order).

[colinstubbs 0]

It would also make it impossible to get the tyre to seal to the rim.

 

I was assuming he was talking about the stick-on ones - obviously :wink:

 

It all felt fine until I removed the wheels from the car and then put them back on (I think I put them back on the car in a different order).

 

If the tyres are new it shouldn't matter where the wheels went unless they're directional? Could you have got something trapped under the mating surface? Do you have after market wheels and locating spigot-rings? Could be a problem there?

[StuartFZR400 0]

Good call Colin

 

1. Mr Thread starter - I'd whip off the wheels, ensure all faces are clean (back of wheel and also hub) and put back on. Should all be fine. (regardless of order). Using Wheel spacers?

 

2. After checking above, I know you say the tyres are new and thus balanced recently, but as said, they can easily be knocked off or become loose or even slip half an inch.

[Neil VR6 0]

I had a horrid vibration which turned out to be a collapsed diff support bearing in the gearbox. It also lunched a new inner CV joint which was originally suspected to be the culprit.

[colinstubbs 0]

I had a horrid vibration which turned out to be a collapsed diff support bearing in the gearbox. It also lunched a new inner CV joint which was originally suspected to be the culprit.

 

That prospect will cheer him up! :lol:

[Neil VR6 0]

Apols for being the harbinger of doom! For me it was a problem that was diagnosed late after it felt like I'd ended up replacing half the car. Another example of me trying to solve problems with local grease monkeys when I should have taken it to JMR in the first place! :grin: