Steering Wheel Shake / balancing

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jnorton

New Member
Joined
Jun 28, 2003
Messages
22
Hi

I have a 2000 model C320. When I get to around 60 mph up to 70 there is a shake coming through the steering wheel. I had the front wheels re-balanced and since then, I have had the back ones checked as well and it did seem to help. I then had 2 new tyres fitted to the front, which were of course balanced at the time but I am still experiencing a shake through the wheel at the above speeds.
Above and below these speeds it is unoticble ( as far as I can tell ) , but it ruins the feel of the car. It is also more noticible when you are carrying passengers.

I was going to get the front wheels re-balanced ( not a the same garage that fitted the new tyres ) to get them checked but if this fails, does anyone have any idea what else could be causing this. Also,when I brake there is no vibration, shake, pulling etc.. from normal braking, so that is OK !

Thanks


Jason
 
Originally posted by jnorton
Hi

I was going to get the front wheels re-balanced ( not a the same garage that fitted the new tyres ) to get them checked but if this fails, does anyone have any idea what else could be causing this. Also,when I brake there is no vibration, shake, pulling etc.. from normal braking, so that is OK !
Jason

From what you have said it is almost certainly wheel balance mate. If that doesn't cure it this time then my only other suggestion is play in the steering which would be unusual.:confused:
 
A lot of garages buy these cheap wheel balancers.

Watch him do it, is it one where he had to spin the wheel on the machine by hand? These machines are innacurate. Most kwik fit/ just tyres etc have these, and they can never get it right.

The best balancers are the big huge things, you put the wheel on, it spins the wheel itself to a very high speed...these give the best results. I think ATF have these in their bays...

Also, if using stick on weights, these are often not good enough if there is a large imbalance, need to use the tap on weights, unfortunately ugly....

Jay
 
Are your front and rear wheels the same size? You could try swapping them around?!?
As Jaymanek says, try going to a good tyre place who will balance your wheels on the car, aka properly!
However I would have a look at the possibility of other causes - Anti-roll bar bushes possibly? When the car is jacked up, have a good look and give both front wheels a bit of a shove. If they have any abnormal movement (ie back and forth) then this may be your problem!?!?!
 
Wheel Balance Update

Hi

Well, I took te car for the wheels re-balancing ( this is about the 3rd time now in 3 months ) to an Motor Sport Wheel dealer. The last lot of balancing on the front was way out... since they re-balanced it's been so much better B U T !!! Again still at around 60 - 65 there is still a shake coming trough the wheel. Although this is not as bad as it used to be, it's still quite noticble and really spoils the drive of the car.... Not sure what else to check. Does anyone think it is worth having the back re-balanced even though it does feel like the shake is from the front ?

The car is due it's first MOT at the end of Sept 03, so I have it booked in for the local Merc Dealer to take a look at the wheel problem etc.. before then.

Thanks for your replies, much appreciated !! as this is driving me crazy !

Jay
 
get them to check if your wheel barings are ok?

jack it up and rock the wheel and see if there is any play in it, mine was loose and done the same!
 
I had a similar problem with my car.

There was a definate wobble at 65-75mph, no matter how many times i got the wheels balanced it got no better.

I bought a set of alloys, and it dissapeared altogether.

Before I sold the car I put the original rims back on, in the same order as they came off, and of course the vibration returned.

I changed each wheel in turn for the spare, and an the third try, OSR it dissapeared. OSR became the spare, I sold the car.
 

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