vibration at 50mph - checklist needed

[shirt]

I bought a daily driver on tuesday and having passed through the average 50mph scameras on the m62 have detected a marked vibration at that speed.

I'm going to have the front wheels balanced tomorrow but wondered what else may be the cause. any ideas? car is an x reg clio rsi

[davemac250]

In no particular order.

Check the balance. Even if this is OK they are only checking upto the speed the balancer rotates at. If it continues rotate the wheels and see if there is a change.

Check the tyres.

Check wheel bearings.

Check suspension components.

Admit defeat and drive at 49 mph everywhere.

[Snoop Bagg]

Could be anything from tyre pressures, I'd check those first before paying to get the wheels balanced!

[jon-]

davemac250 said:

In no particular order.

Check the balance. Even if this is OK they are only checking upto the speed the balancer rotates at. If it continues rotate the wheels and see if there is a change.

Check the tyres.

Check wheel bearings.

Check suspension components.

Admit defeat and drive at 49 mph everywhere.

To explode suspension components (in most likely order of issue)

- track rod ends
- lower arms
- top mount

Sometimes you'll find a tyre (or wheel) just won't balance.

[TonyRPH]

Snoop Bagg said:

Could be anything from tyre pressures, I'd check those first before paying to get the wheels balanced!

Tyres must be inflated to the correct pressures before attempting balancing anyway.

[shirt]

its had a 3rd party mot this week (inc. new spring) and dealer serviced 5k ago so i would hope the suspension is fine. car goes arrow straight with no hands on the wheel.

i'll start with tyre pressures & balance.

[TonyRPH]

jon- said:

Sometimes you'll find a tyre (or wheel) just won't balance.

At which point you can resort to on car balancing, which does solve the problem most of the time.

[Jimmytno1]

Check that the rear tyres have not worn out of shape, have seen this plenty of times on clios/saxos/small pugs

[freakynessless]

Had a similar experience recently at 70mph. I changed a tyre and rotated the others. Now all is well and good.
Also, while I was at the garage getting the tyre changed I was given a lesson on how to look for tread wear indicators which was nice.

[TonyRPH]

Jimmytno1 said:

Check that the rear tyres have not worn out of shape, have seen this plenty of times on clios/saxos/small pugs

Which is usually caused by worn dampers.

[8400rpm]

Don't forget the driveshafts.

[Snoop Bagg]

TonyRPH said:

Snoop Bagg said:

Could be anything from tyre pressures, I'd check those first before paying to get the wheels balanced!

Tyres must be inflated to the correct pressures before attempting balancing anyway.

Correct, but for the sake of maybe 20p it's worth checking before taking to a garage and then paying for full re-balancing of four corners, and possibly saving £25 or so!

[lescombes]

Jimmytno1 said:

Check that the rear tyres have not worn out of shape, have seen this plenty of times on clios/saxos/small pugs

+1..... the rears tend to curve or twist...yes twist the tread....causing imbalance.... seen it on a 2CV too..

[jon-]

TonyRPH said:

jon- said:

Sometimes you'll find a tyre (or wheel) just won't balance.

At which point you can resort to on car balancing, which does solve the problem most of the time.

Tell me more...

[TonyRPH]

jon- said:

TonyRPH said:

jon- said:

Sometimes you'll find a tyre (or wheel) just won't balance.

At which point you can resort to on car balancing, which does solve the problem most of the time.

Tell me more...

Read about it here

[jon-]

TonyRPH said:

jon- said:

TonyRPH said:

jon- said:

Sometimes you'll find a tyre (or wheel) just won't balance.

At which point you can resort to on car balancing, which does solve the problem most of the time.

Tell me more...

Read about it here

Good to know, thanks.