Wheel wobble -- sick of it

Amoeba

Amoeba

Amoeba

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<stolen from another forum>

Ok so I've made a few threads now about my steering wheel wobbling at speeds >70mph (on the other forum ;)), but none of them have come to a conclusion and have died away so I've decided to make a new one with my latest issues in .

Previously it was pretty much a constant wobble at 80mph, but now it seems to have changed it's tactics a little in that the steering wheel will be fine for ~10 secs, then wobble violently for ~10 secs, then be fine.. etc. This is all at a steady speed (80ish) in a straight line on smooth road surface. When the wheel is wobbling it seems to start by coming through the car (can feel it through the pedals) and then into the wheel.

I have checked my spigots, tightened all the nuts, centred my crap spacers as much as I can and checked for play in everything (plus it's just had its MOT) and found nothing amiss. I'm getting fed up of it now...

Anyone got any ideas? If it was steady then I would say wheel balancing (which I've had done anyway but worth a second try) but this coming and going every 10 secs thing is foxing me!
 
It's been balanced though! And if it was a balance issue would the symptoms come and go so much?
 
What car?

Sounds like some frequency issue as it's coming and going.
but you have to do the basics:
Throw away spacers!
Is the car on original wheels?

Check wheels for buckles, rim damage.
All wheels balanced, down to a 1g tolerance if poss.
Check tyres for roundness or any deformation of the carcass
Try swapping rear wheels to front
Get wheel alignment done
Check/renew front suspension arms/bushes as needed.
May end up having to change tyre brand (incidently which brand are they - budget/premium etc?)
Check CV joints/driveshafts (if FWD) wheel bearings.

Report back
 
It's a wheel balance problem. You can balance the wheels until you're blue in the face though, it's never going to work unless you bin the crappy spacers. If spacers are a must then use proper fitting hub-centric ones.
 
Jamous said:
What car?200sx S14a

Sounds like some frequency issue as it's coming and going.Yep
but you have to do the basics:
Throw away spacers! No can do! Need spacers to make the wheels fit
Is the car on original wheels? Nope

Check wheels for buckles, rim damage. There is no visible damage but will try to get them put on a machine to check
All wheels balanced, down to a 1g tolerance if poss.Have been balanced but will get done again
Check tyres for roundness or any deformation of the carcassOne rear tyre has a very slight flap in the sidewall (damn curb)
Try swapping rear wheels to front Wheels are fatter at the back and won't fit the front :(
Get wheel alignment done Done recently but getting checked again soon
Check/renew front suspension arms/bushes as needed. Steering bushes are brand new poly bushes, tension rods are rose jointed Tein ones and the other bushes LOOK ok..
May end up having to change tyre brand (incidently which brand are they - budget/premium etc?)Tyres are Hankook Evo V12s on the back and Vredestein Ultrac Sessantas (SP!) on the front
Check CV joints/driveshafts (if FWD) wheel bearings.It's RWD

Report back
Click to expand...

bledd. said:
tyre pressures are ok!
tyre weargetting abnormal tyre wear on the inside edge of my front driver side tyre but can't figure out why :(
wheel balancingas above
wheel allignment/tracking as above
Click to expand...
 
Clarkey said:
It's a wheel balance problem. You can balance the wheels until you're blue in the face though, it's never going to work unless you bin the crappy spacers. If spacers are a must then use proper fitting hub-centric ones.
Click to expand...
These are on my to-buy list but they are expensive...

The car was fine for the first 6 months of ownership though so don't see why they have been so difficult for the last 6..
 
S14a, nice car indeed.


Can you try a set of standard wheels?
I'd be looking closer at the drivers side to see why it's wearing on the inner edge- either too much negative camber or too much toe out (usually affects both sides though) was the wheel alignment done on all 4 wheels? was it done after the abnormal wear?

Edit- whats the propshaft UJ's/flexi coupling like? If failing they give a similar symptom, but usually at a bit slower 50-60 mph speed. But definately comes and goes.
 
My Volvo does it at 90+
Whilst annoying, it acts as a rather useful speed limit..

Surprisingly aggressive though. The wheel shakes up and down..
 
Jamous said:
S14a, nice car indeed.


Can you try a set of standard wheels?
I'd be looking closer at the drivers side to see why it's wearing on the inner edge- either too much negative camber or too much toe out (usually affects both sides though) was the wheel alignment done on all 4 wheels? was it done after the abnormal wear?

Edit- whats the propshaft UJ's/flexi coupling like? If failing they give a similar symptom, but usually at a bit slower 50-60 mph speed. But definately comes and goes.
Click to expand...
Not got a set of standard wheels and the coilovers will catch on them anyway I think. 4 wheel alignment was done before the tyre wear - going to get it on a hunter rig soon though to see exactly what's going on.

Not sure about the UJs - it's getting some work done on it next week so will get my mechanic to have a look about..
 
Would the wheel bearings make a noise if they were on the way out? From what you have changed, I would say the next thing is the wheel bearings.
 
I had something similar, went through the works trying to find the fault, ultimately the tyre carcass was de-laminating inside but showed no physical signs whilst you were looking at it. Replaced both fronts, had them balanced by someone who knew what they were doing (not the oink from the backstreet garage) and it was fine when I sold the car 12 months later.
 
How wide are the spacers? They can cause balance problems if not hub-centric, especially of the wheel nuts have not been tightened evenly, or if they have been tightened with some weight on the wheels.
 
As others have said, balance issues that just won't quit can be a cross buckle in the rim (where it's twisted slightly, you should be able to see this on the balancer) or a weak spot in the sidewall causing the imbalance.

I've had this before, and it was a combination of both a buckled wheel AND a deformed tyre. Cost a lot to eventually work out the cause.

Just swapped the buckled one to the back and forgot about it :)
 
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