Handling / Wheel balancing problems

[willstev]

Morning All,

I am hoping you can help a n00b. Sorry about this long post.

I have a 2005 Ibiza Mk4 3 Door Sport 1.4, of late I have had lots of issues and its doing me head in. So 1 week before Xmas, my steering seems a little dodgy, so I check the tyre pressure and I figure out I have a puncture on rear right. Anyways I go to my local tyre place , and decide to get 3 new tyres, front left was new in September 08 cause I had puncture then also. So they fit two new ones to the back and one to the front. After a few days of not driving it at Xmas , I take it out the 27th, its feels horrible, steering is very shaky and vibrates between 40-60 Km/h. So decide first thing Monday morning to go to the tyre place again. So I get them to move front tyres to the back and vice versa, also I ask for balancing to be done, along with the tracking. I come out drive home, seems ok. I dont drive it again till New Years Day because I had to drive to work.

It sucks again , same ol shakyness and vibration. So I decide that afternoon to go to another Tyre place, I get them to check the front wheel balancing, and they say its completely off who ever did last time hadnt a clue .

It now feels great, no shakyness or vibration and its running well. This morning, its back the shakyness and vibration , its seriously doing my nut in at this stage, can anyone suggest what the problem might be as I am starting to go insane.

Please help

Will

 

[DPJ]

Unlikely - but balancing weights falling off? A buckled wheel? A wheel bearing or trackrod end on its way out...

An odd one - I'd suggest going back to the last place and complain- see what they say first....

 

[warren_cox]

Check the wear on the inner edge of the oldest tyre.

Steve (Ruddmeister) had an issue with suspension on his LCR and it wore the edges off a brand new set of tyres in next to no time. Amost game them the effect of being like a 50p piece.

I'll leave the tyre fitters alone and find a good independent to get under the car and give everything a good inspection / shake to make sure nothing is loose or damaged underneath.

Does the whole car shake, or just the steering column?

 

[willstev]

Check the wear on the inner edge of the oldest tyre.

Steve (Ruddmeister) had an issue with suspension on his LCR and it wore the edges off a brand new set of tyres in next to no time. Amost game them the effect of being like a 50p piece.

I'll leave the tyre fitters alone and find a good independent to get under the car and give everything a good inspection / shake to make sure nothing is loose or damaged underneath.

Does the whole car shake, or just the steering column?

The whole car seems like its shaking this time , not as much in the steering column as before I got the balancing. The ride now just seems very bumpy.

 

[AndyHazza]

Like Warren said, probably best to get the whole car checked over, all the suspension bushes and other parts etc. Its very strange that it would ok one day and not the next on several occasions.

 

[warren_cox]

Only time I've ever had anything similar was when $hit Fit didn't do a wheel up properly on my car and it nearly came off (alloy wheel bolt holes were ovalised so it wasn't sitting tight on the hub).

Severe failing of a wheel bearing would only cause a grinding, not a vibration wouldn't it?

 

[DPJ]

.......
Severe failing of a wheel bearing would only cause a grinding, not a vibration wouldn't it?

With modern bearings, you're probably right......

 

[willstev]

I hate the thought of going to the stealer, but if it has to be done I suppose it has to be done.

 

[warren_cox]

I hate the thought of going to the stealer, but if it has to be done I suppose it has to be done.

I wouln't go to the stealers unless you have no choice.

There are plenty of VAG specialists out there who will give a far more insightful and specialist view of what is going on, and then fix it well.

Check out the sponsor section in the forum and choose one located near to you as I'd be inclined not to drive it too far, given the weather.

 

[AndyHazza]

Where are you located willstev?

 

[willstev]

Where are you located willstev?

In southern Ireland.

 

[Nath.]

I have had the same sort of problems caused by the tyre fitters fitting the wrong sort of balancing weights. they were fitting the hammer on type and they just kept moving around the wheels and going out of balance. get the tyres balanced again with sticky weights and see how that goes.


Failing that Mark where the weights are with a marker pen and see if they move. (they only need to move 5mm or so to cause a balancing problem.

 

[willstev]

Hey All sorry about the delay in coming back. Thanks for all your posts so far.

I am taking it back to the tyre place tonight, well I say tyre place I suppose you could compare them to Kwik Fit like you have in the UK.

Car is literally driving me bonkers.

When I go in there tonight, they are going to think I am bloody mental aswell, but its pissing me off so much at this stage.

What I could compare it to now is like a see saw effect , I could be driving long a stretch of road as smooth as glass and it bounces from side to side.

 

[willstev]

Righty o ,

Got it looked at, and one of the bushes is cracked at the top and bottom , anyone experience this, is it serious and can I drive, I havent got it fixed yet .

 

[Nath.]

I would be very surprised if a cracked bush is causing your balancing to be OK for 1 journey after tyre balance and then get progressively worse with more mileage.

I think you have an issue with balancing weights moving. This could be due to worn out dampers causing bouncing/skipping/vibration. I would deffo get the tyres rebalanced and mark the weights with a marker pen or tip-ex before they refit the wheels on your car. Then monitor the weights over the next day or 2 and see if they move in relation to the marks.
Failing this get the tyres rebalanced with sticky back weights as these no not seem to ever move.

 

[willstev]

I am not sure what to do now. I got them to check the balancing last night , and they said it was fine , and the only thing wrong was the bushing being cracked in two places on the front left. So I am really unsure what to do , I cant really go back there now again today, cause they will think I am nuts.

I suppose I could go to another garage but that will be 3 different garages I will have been to in as many weeks, its starts to get dodgy then as I am getting so many opinions.

 

[DPJ]

Get a mate to follow you as you drive at about 5-10 mph. See if he can see a wheel wobbling/weaving (if so buckled)....