Steering wheel wobble/vibration.

[KungFuPanda]

I've just picked up a little Alfa 147 as a cheap runaround. The test drive was uneventful and the car drive well with no clunks from the suspension of vagueness. The drive was a mix of 30mph roads, speed bumps and dial carriageway.

On the drive home, I got on the motorway and when I hit 70mph, the steering wheel started to vibrate. When I slowed back down to 65mph ish it stopped. Also, when travelling at a speed in excess of 75ish, the vibrations stopped too. When I braked, the vibrating seemed to stop too.

Before I take it to a garage, what do you guys think it maybe? Worn tie rods? Unbalanced wheels? Brake discs out of true?

[TheRealFingers99]

I'd get the wheels balanced first: it's both the most likely and cheapest. Do check that no-one has fitted "universal" spacers, though -- they can make wheels very difficult to balance.

[lightthefuse]

Balancing first. Always balancing.

Or you could strike really unlucky like I did once and have to change the link arms on the front axle (one side or both).

[DKS]

The vibration stopping when braking suggests wheel bearing to me.

[Countdown]

DKS said:

The vibration stopping when braking suggests wheel bearing to me.

I'm not an expert by any means but with wheel bearing I'd expect noise rather than vibration . Also it would be more constant over a wider speed "range"

The fact that its only apparent between 70-75 suggests wheel out of balance to me.

[OldBuoy]

My vote would be balance/buckle. Try a front back swap to see if it improves.

[OldBuoy]

Countdown said:

DKS said:

The vibration stopping when braking suggests wheel bearing to me.

I'm not an expert by any means but with wheel bearing I'd expect noise rather than vibration . Also it would be more constant over a wider speed "range"

The fact that its only apparent between 70-75 suggests wheel out of balance to me.

A worn bearing can exaggerate other problems.

[DKS]

OldBuoy said:

Countdown said:

DKS said:

The vibration stopping when braking suggests wheel bearing to me.

I'm not an expert by any means but with wheel bearing I'd expect noise rather than vibration . Also it would be more constant over a wider speed "range"

The fact that its only apparent between 70-75 suggests wheel out of balance to me.

A worn bearing can exaggerate other problems.

Absolutely you'd expect a groaning or even whining but I was trying to think why it'd stop the vibration by braking. The wife's car, had a wheel off fitting new tyres and the o/s front bearing was totally shot; about 5mm of play, it was outrageous! Yet no noise at all, not in the slightest.

[Captainawesome]

I agree with the balancing first however….

I've had this problem before and had my wheels balanced by 2 different garages, both of whom told me that they were perfectly balanced. Still had a vibration above 80. Fitted a new set of wheels and the vibration disappeared. I also removed my universal spacers when fitting the new wheels so that may have been the cause.

I would suggest balancing, removal of any spacers and then if it's still there see if you can fit a different set of wheels just to completely rule out the wheels. If it does it with 2 sets of wheels, it's something else.

[DonkeyApple]

DKS said:

OldBuoy said:

Countdown said:

DKS said:

The vibration stopping when braking suggests wheel bearing to me.

I'm not an expert by any means but with wheel bearing I'd expect noise rather than vibration . Also it would be more constant over a wider speed "range"

The fact that its only apparent between 70-75 suggests wheel out of balance to me.

A worn bearing can exaggerate other problems.

Absolutely you'd expect a groaning or even whining but I was trying to think why it'd stop the vibration by braking. The wife's car, had a wheel off fitting new tyres and the o/s front bearing was totally shot; about 5mm of play, it was outrageous! Yet no noise at all, not in the slightest.

If the vibration only occurs between the window of 70-75 you'd be hard pressed to pick up the issue when braking as the amount of time in that window is going to be tiny.

I've just bought a Rangie Classic which has the exact symptoms other than that road surface can halt it or bring it on earlier. Until I get the wheels checked and balanced there isn't anything else that I can do about it.

[anonymous-user]

It will be the wheels balancing. Especially as you can drive through the wobble

If you apply the brakes and it stops then thats because you are slowing down and moving from out of the wobble window, also they act as a restraint and will stabilise the out of balance wheel to some extent and allow the coil spring to soak it up a little more.

[skyrover]

Make sure your wheel is actually round as well... potholes can inflict a toll.

[KungFuPanda]

Got the front wheels balanced and it drives perfectly on the mway now! Cheers for all your help guys.

[zebra]

If it is none of the above, could be that the tyre compound has gone off.