Okay guys:
Car is a 2000 Pug 406HDi. It went in a couple of weeks ago for a service, and emerged with a new tyre on front offside. Tracking and balancing were also done at the time.
However, I now get a nasty vibration at anything over 60, turning into steering wheel wobble at 75-80.
Is this anything to do with there being one new, and one old tyre on the front? I would have thought it would be best to replace both at the same time - but what do I know?!
Any advice I could get would be great - so I can visit the dealer with a bit of knowledge.
Cheers guys and gals.
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DieselBoy,
If the rear wheels/tyres are the same make/age then swop them with the fronts and see if that cures your "wobble".
I would have thought it would be best to replace both at the same time - but what do I know?! Correct!
Best of luck
Den.
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New and old shouldn't make a difference, the new tyre and wheel are dynamically balanced so where is the vibration coming from.
Check the new tyre for balance weights, it's not unknown for newly balanced wheels to lose their balance weights.
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it's not unknown for newly balanced wheels to lose their balance weights.
Or slip on the rims if not given time to bed down properly.
Far too many people accelerate like bats out of hell just after having new tyres fitted and then wonder why their wheels are out of balance.
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What condition is your spare in? YOu could always swap this for the new/old front tyre and see whether the problem is still there/goes away/gets worse.
Andy
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Thanks for your advice, all.
Just got back from Express Fit where they've swopped back to front and re-balanced - for nowt.
On the drive back everything was fine and dandy.
Cheers.
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Cool - One Happy Customer then, who will return?
Way to go!
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Aargh! My journey to work this morning was wobbly once more! Not as bad as before the tyre swop, but still noticeable. I've been told that the driveshaft could be misaligned, but would the vibrations really be felt through steering....?
Any advice anyone could give would be great.
By the way - I'm still impressed by the pricing and service of Express Fit, even if this is taking a while to sort out.
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I suggest you have the wheels balanced on the car using an on-car balancer.
You might have to do some searching around to find a workshop with one!
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Thanks - I'll try to find somewhere to do that.
However - I think that my front discs may be warped. I've noticed that the wobble is also on braking, and last night I braked harder than normal when slowing down from 'ahem' mph on the motorway, and the feeling can only be described as wobbletastic.
Is there a chance that the warped discs are binding and causing me my woes?
Either way, I'm going to take it to le garage dans le weekend to check it out.
Thanks guys - your advice is gratefully received!
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If it wasn't wobbling before you took it to the garage then almost surely they haven't balanced the wheels properly?
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Ho-hum, I'm still wobbling.
Took it to a local garage at the weekend. They took it for a spin, and checked the discs. They said they were warped but only very, very slightly. Replacing them wasn't necessary, according to proprietor.
"If it wasn't wobbling before you took it to the garage then almost surely they haven't balanced the wheels properly?"
They've been done twice now, albeit by the same garage. Have spoken to a couple of garages who said the calibration of off car balancers is more accurate than on-car.
I'm going to get them done again, then see where I am.
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Here's an odd suggestion: out of shape tyres. I've now had 2 cars with tyres which weren't round - seriously! It causes the symptoms you describe. They don't have to be old to be out of shape either, and it won't show up on the wheel balancing kit. I suggest the new tyre which was fitted might be the culprit. Swap it with the spare, and see what happens - costs nothing to try, at least...
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Thanks, I'll give that a whirl when I get chance in daylight (the nights are drawing in!) and see where that gets me.
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I'm with ANO, here's a past post of mine on the subject...
You need to be 100% sure about the tyres before looking any further. I have known some folk spend ages going through options only to return to an out of round tyre.
Changing wheels/tyres front to rear is a first step. But of course you can't be sure that the rear tyres are perfect.
I have known dealers and tyre centres that think if a wheel/tyre is perfectly balanced on their machine it must be OK. They ignore the fact that on the machine the tyre is in free space and unaffected by tread variation once balanced. Put it back on the car in contact with the road and it is a different matter.
DL's on-car balancing may do the trick if it is an odd balance issue not tread variation.
My careful check is to jack up each wheel in turn and spin it slowly with a fixed pointer (something like a dial test indicator stand) just touching/close to various parts of the tread and sidewall. You might be amazed by the lumps and tread deviations found on an otherwise good tyre.
M.M
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Here we go again.....
I've been to and fro, and nothing is wrong with the balancing. Also have changed the new tyre for the spare, and it has no effect.
Is there anything else that I haven't thought of that may be contributing to this? It's got to the point now where I'm thinking of leaving it and carefully monitoring for premature tyre wear. Or I could just drive at 60mph everwhere instead of 75-80 where it is most obvious.......
Thanks all.
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