Wheel Wobble...

[K Simmonds]

Does it increase under load eg in higher gears. I've had this on cars with worn inner cvs.

I've also experienced this on a MK2 GTI.

[Rusty]

Does it increase under load eg in higher gears. I've had this on cars with worn inner cvs.

No, was worst on the motorway at steady 80.

[Rusty]

So 525 miles over Christmas, with plenty of motorway driving around wobble speed Need to sort this out. I'm changing the front brakes soon so I'm hoping that they're part of the problem as they judder a bit and it all seems in phase when you brake during the wobble phase. It also seems to change with left and turns, which I've had with the 996s before. I'll be trying some different pads as the DS2500s are prone to juddering if the car is left outside and the discs get Rusty, which they always do, leaving a pad imprint.

[DJones]

Andy, have the wheels been refurbished, if yes check the large centre hole where it mounts on the driveshaft, particularly if powder coated as they often won't be centralised because of the paint between the mounting face and you can't get rid of the vibration until you clean it all off.

Darren

[Rusty]

They're BBS wheels with genuine spigots, which are clear. I'll check the bores though.

[RAOUL]

Hi Andy. Do you get any clunks? I've had a 'mare with top mounts, then steering damper. Clunks disappeared for a bit, back now! I'm thinking of re-furbing my prop, its shakey on the back end like something's out of balance. I too wondered about inner cv joints, mine have been regreased but never changed. Car has approx 300k miles on it now.

[Rusty]

The front discs are to be replaced and I need to clearance something at the rear as it's touching. Other than that, everything is pretty tight and I have new mounts coming for engine, 'box and diff. I'll have a look about when I'm doing the work and see if anything looks off.

[Rusty]

New front discs and pads and swapped back the stock rear discs and still not solved.

I'll be looking to try some wheels off a car that doesn't have the same issues next and see if that works.

[Ryss]

Its unlikely that two sets of tyres and rims are giving the same problem.

I would check the following.
Tie rod connection to steering rack.
Tie rod to strut.
Control arm bushes.
Wheel bearing.
Top shock swivel bearing.

Run a test to see if wobble is speed related or rev related. 80kph in 4th and 5 th.

Hope you find this problem.

[A1QSHIP]

If you can, check the c/v joints on a drive-on lift. With parking brake set & vehicle out of gear, rotate the four drive axle c/v joints to check for looseness. If you check the drive axles with the suspension in droop, i.e., with the wheels hanging down, the c/v joint will not be in the same wear place and any play may not be noticeable. BTDT. Some people believe that if the axle can easily move "in & out" that this indicates excessive wear.
Don't forget the center driveshaft c/v's & center support bearing.
HTH, Chris

[Rusty]

Cheers both. It's speed and not revs as I checked today. With the wheels on the ground, there is no movement in anything. Top mounts are solid items and are in good order.

I tried on/off power and things were the same. Oddly, turning right feels a little better than left but not sure what that is down to.

I'll check the tie rods and try my other rims to see if they give identical symptoms or not. As they're track wheels, the tyres have bworn a bit since they were last balanced.

I'll get there at some point, at least it's limited to a very small window around 80.

[Ryss]

Has the vehicle been standing for a long time on both sets of wheels.

Could be the the tyres have developed a flat spot from standing. Had this with my Land Rover.

Try a fresh set of wheels or rears on front to see if there is a difference.

[Rusty]

Bought a DTI so I can check the hub and disc runout, so just awaiting its arrival...

In other news, I jacked each side of the car up in turn, put it on axle stands and ran the wheels at tick over in 2nd to see what I could see... There is a small flat spot on the inner edge of the right hand front, which figures as with the camber and castor changes, the steering input changes the camber a fair bit more than stock, hopefully explaining the different behaviour when turning.

I've swapped the front wheel with the best rear one, so will test drive later today to see if anything has changed. I've also contacted a local wheel place to enquire about straightening. The wheels are a few years old so its not a surprise that they have 'character'...

[Rusty]

Still going with this one... Nothing obvious has made itself known yet...

[rynaqui]

How much camber are you running? I've found that and possibly alignment would cause issues at high speed.