Steering vibration

[CatalystV12V]

Having driven 200 miles today I'm wondering whether I've got a steering issue... Think I'm in total paranoia mode at the moment as the 3 year service is looming and I'm seeing gremlins everywhere. So thought I'd pass it by you lot to see whether I'm just being hyper sensitive today or whether there's a potential issue...

So the steering has always had a lot of 'feedback' or 'feel' however today there seems to be more than usual. At motorway speeds I release the wheel and there's a definite side to side oscillation going on. It seems to be unaffected bŷ speed. But more pronounced on some road surfaces.

So my question is has anyone else experienced this in their v12v?

I've recently had new front tyres. I Checked the wheel weights and they still seem to be I place. It just doesn't feel right.

Will have to check tyre pressures in the morning.

Richard

[josh bear]

Hi

I will be interested to see the responses. My db9.2 does the same thing at motorway speeds. There is no drift and the tpms shows the correct pressures in the tyres, but I get a vibration / oscillation. I have also noticed it on some surfaces more than others and I also think it is worse when the suspension in sport or track mode as opposed to normal.

I assume the wheel weights are those square things on the alloys.

Josh

[V8 Animal]

There are disk weights on the ceramics too

[CatalystV12V]

Didn't know the disks were weighted too... Thanks for the info.

Yes wheel weights are the square bits stuck behind the spokes. Obviously the v12v doesn't have variable suspension as per the db9 .. But interesting that you're experiencing something similar in sport mode. Anyone else?

[whoami]

I had exactly this in my DBS.

There is a technical support bulletin, accessible by the dealers, which instructs them how to eliminate the problem.

There are also a couple of threads on here (from a few years back) discussing the problem.

[V12woollie]

I get a vibration at 80mph and over. There is indeed a technical bulletin that addresses the issue. It involves finding what balance weight the ceramic disc needs, applying that to the wheel and then balancing with that weight in place. The ceramic balance weight is then removed from the wheel so in effect the wheel has been balanced taking into account the imbalance of the ceramic disc.

No weights are put on the ceramic disc.

The pain in the arse of course is that this has to be gone though every time a new tyre is fitted so for now I just put up with the vibration, which I have also noticed doesn't happen on all road surfaces.

[whoami]

V12woollie said:

I get a vibration at 80mph and over. There is indeed a technical bulletin that addresses the issue. It involves finding what balance weight the ceramic disc needs, applying that to the wheel and then balancing with that weight in place. The ceramic balance weight is then removed from the wheel so in effect the wheel has been balanced taking into account the imbalance of the ceramic disc.

No weights are put on the ceramic disc.

The pain in the arse of course is that this has to be gone though every time a new tyre is fitted so for now I just put up with the vibration, which I have also noticed doesn't happen on all road surfaces.

The dealer will do it at the same time as fitting the new tyre so not much of an issue, surely?

[DB9VolanteDriver]

Common problem with the ceramic discs. I've had my front wheels balanced to compensate for the front disc imbalance. I could feel the slight vibration and this was only with the discs being out by a mere 1/2 ounce...it obviously doesn't take much to induce the dreaded vibration. Brembo should really be doing a much better job of dynamically balancing the discs from new.

[whoami]

DB9VolanteDriver said:

Common problem with the ceramic discs. I've had my front wheels balanced to compensate for the front disc imbalance. I could feel the slight vibration and this was only with the discs being out by a mere 1/2 ounce...it obviously doesn't take much to induce the dreaded vibration. Brembo should really be doing a much better job of dynamically balancing the discs from new.

A very good point.

This has been known to be a problem for some considerable time (I actually thought it had been eradicated).

Poor quality control/production processes within the manufacturer should have surely been addressed by now?

[V12woollie]

whoami said:

The dealer will do it at the same time as fitting the new tyre so not much of an issue, surely?

Of course. But if I am not near a dealer if I get a puncture, or I decide to have new tyres fitted elsewhere and not pay dealer prices for them then it is a PITA.

[DB9VolanteDriver]

V12woollie said:

whoami said:

The dealer will do it at the same time as fitting the new tyre so not much of an issue, surely?

Of course. But if I am not near a dealer if I get a puncture, or I decide to have new tyres fitted elsewhere and not pay dealer prices for them then it is a PITA.

Once completed the first time, you no longer have to mess with the discs and you don't have to go to an Aston dealer to have new tires mounted. On each disc is marked the weight and its position. You mount new tires, position the wheels on the car unbalanced, place a line on the wheel's inner surface directly opposite the mark on the disc, then add the weight to the wheel, balance the wheel as normal, then remove the 'disc' weight....done.

Yes, it is more work than normal, but does not require Aston to do this part since the disc imbalance has already been determined and does not change.

[CatalystV12V]

whoami said:

I had exactly this in my DBS.

There is a technical support bulletin, accessible by the dealers, which instructs them how to eliminate the problem.

There are also a couple of threads on here (from a few years back) discussing the problem.

Every day's a school day... Thanks very much for the information.

I won't pay dealer prices for tyres so use an excellent independent near me. Guess I ended up paying the price :this time

So does the car leave the factory with this weight and position marked on the disc or do I need the dealer to sort this out ?

[Lunablack]

Many tyre places have the facility to balance the wheel on the car....this way the whole rolling mass is balanced....

[josh bear]

Thanks from me too for the information learnt a lot. So in summary this is a known problem for cars with ceramic disks.

Quick additional question. I can see the square wheel weights on the alloys. Both front wheels have three each. The drivers rear has 6 but the passengers rear has 8. Is this right? I.e shouldn't they be equal?

Thanks

Josh

[V12woollie]

DB9VolanteDriver said:

Once completed the first time, you no longer have to mess with the discs and you don't have to go to an Aston dealer to have new tires mounted. On each disc is marked the weight and its position. You mount new tires, position the wheels on the car unbalanced, place a line on the wheel's inner surface directly opposite the mark on the disc, then add the weight to the wheel, balance the wheel as normal, then remove the 'disc' weight....done.

Yes, it is more work than normal, but does not require Aston to do this part since the disc imbalance has already been determined and does not change.

Thanks for the information - good to know

Service bulletin is here:

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=v...

[cayman-black]

josh bear said:

Thanks from me too for the information learnt a lot. So in summary this is a known problem for cars with ceramic disks.

Quick additional question. I can see the square wheel weights on the alloys. Both front wheels have three each. The drivers rear has 6 but the passengers rear has 8. Is this right? I.e shouldn't they be equal?

Thanks

Josh

Right. As each wheel might need more or less weights to get the right balance.

[ripley500]

V12woollie said:

Thanks for the information - good to know

Service bulletin is here:

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=v...

Out of interest/boredom I read this service bulletin - when you consider the steps involved for diagnosing & fixing it does go some way to justify the dealer service costs as I can't see the local Kwik-fit doing/knowing this. However, I wonder if all the AM dealers follow such procedures.

[whoami]

ripley500 said:

V12woollie said:

Thanks for the information - good to know

Service bulletin is here:

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=v...

Out of interest/boredom I read this service bulletin - when you consider the steps involved for diagnosing & fixing it does go some way to justify the dealer service costs as I can't see the local Kwik-fit doing/knowing this. However, I wonder if all the AM dealers follow such procedures.

It did take a long time to get AM to concede that there was a problem in the first place.

[V8 Animal]

V8 Animal said:

There are disk weights on the ceramics too

TBH I thought this problem got sorted out in the early cars

[8Tech]

Why would a CCM disc need balancing when its a fraction of the rotating mass of a steel disc and that does not need balancing?

I suspect the OEM steel discs may be balanced during manufacture and because of the light mass of the CCM discs, they assumed they would not need it. Either that or they do not run laterally true, and thats disgusting considering the price of them.

In 25 years of installing thousands of unbalanced, motor factors discs, I have never had an issue with an unbalanced disc. They must be a significant way out too because noone bothers balancing a wheel to take into account the different weight of a locking wheel nut over a standard wheel nut, especially a Sport Pack Ti one and that makes no difference!

I have not seen a garage with an on-car balancer for 20 years either since I left Ford in 1988.

Edited by 8Tech on Sunday 25th August 20:50