Steering wobble 60 - 75 mph

[JS2004]

Hey guys,

 

Car in question - 94 jspec n/a.

 

I have read a couple of posts about this, but they seem to mention wobble at speeds exceeding 90+.

 

I was doing betwen 60 and 75 and noticed vibrations through the steering, to the point where I am conciously holding the wheel a bit tighter.

 

Is this normal?

 

I know it could be a number of things - tracking, alignment, balance etc but not sure which one to tackle first. Would it be a case of trial and error? Dont want to be going through the inconvenience of having something done that isnt required.

 

I am going to try and get hold of a jack to check the wheels for horizontal play - if I find this, that would be wheel bearings?

 

I read some posts that mentioned taking it to dedicated wheel people, and not just a general garage..anything particular to look for?

 

Anyone had experience of these guys?

http://www.bushtyres.co.uk/store-locator/

 

Cheers

[scotty71]

Has one of the weights on the wheel come off thus affecting the balance?

[Mcgoo]

Check tyre pressures then wheel nuts for security. If thats ok get all four wheels balanced. They should check to see if your wheels are straight at the same time as all the pot holes on the road at the moment have bent a lot of wheels!

More expensive causes could be wheel bearing or a warped brake disc/s but you would feel that when braking also.

Its probably just wheel balancing if you don't feel it at lower speeds and it disappears above 70.

[JS2004]

I dont feel anything strange when breaking so thankfully that sort of rules that out.

 

Wheel weights? I dont think I have any of those on any of the wheels. It had damage to the alloys when I bought it.. some wheels have more curbing than the others.

 

Tyre pressure was recently checked and adjusted to 32 all round, I also checked the wheel nuts and they all seem fine - some of them have gone rusty on the outside unfortunately but its nothing major and I aim to get this part sorted soon.

 

I dont know if it dissapears after 70, I have been keeping it below 75 to stay on the safe side. We had a fair few potholes but I was actively avoiding bad roads - but the speedbumps here (Cussion types) are not too great - I usually line up and go over those so each wheel is at either side of it but some of them are a bit steep. Could this be doing much?

[Dnk]

I dont feel anything strange when breaking so thankfully that sort of rules that out.

 

Wheel weights? I dont think I have any of those on any of the wheels. It had damage to the alloys when I bought it.. some wheels have more curbing than the others.

 

Tyre pressure was recently checked and adjusted to 32 all round, I also checked the wheel nuts and they all seem fine - some of them have gone rusty on the outside unfortunately but its nothing major and I aim to get this part sorted soon.

 

I dont know if it dissapears after 70, I have been keeping it below 75 to stay on the safe side. We had a fair few potholes but I was actively avoiding bad roads - but the speedbumps here (Cussion types) are not too great - I usually line up and go over those so each wheel is at either side of it but some of them are a bit steep. Could this be doing much?

 

Get all your wheels balanced

[Mcgoo]

 

Wheel weights? I dont think I have any of those on any of the wheels.

 

That will be the problem then. As I said above take it to a decent tyre shop and get all 4 balanced. Probably cost you 10 - 15 quid.

[JS2004]

Sorted guys - thanks for the help!

 

I shall get it down to have the wheels balanced asap. It should be something Kwik Fit could do I hope, but ill have a look in the yellow pages to find some alternatives.

 

Thanks guys