Steering Wheel Shake

[Towers]

I've had my Leon FR for almost a year now and ever since I've had it there is a significant amount of steering wheel wobble/shaking when I hit 80mph on the motorway. I don't do much motorway driving so was a bit lazy and only put it into the stealers about a month ago to have it checked out under it's warranty.

They said they wouldn't be able to do a drive test due to the speed limit being 70mph but said they'd do visual checks etc. Anyway, they came back and said that the front tyres had been overinflated and had worn unevenly (the centre's of the tyre where on the legal limit) and this was therefore causing the wheel wobble. I had noticed the uneven wear previously to be fair to them. They therefore wanted £350 for two new 18" pirelli's to which i told them not to bother as they'd be cheaper in the internet.

Does this sound like a reasonable cause or is it likely to be something else (besides wheel balance)? Only reason I ask I'm due a service at the end of this month and want to fit the new tyres via blackcircles.com before the warranty runs out, therefore if it doesn't solve the problem I can send it back to the stealers again.

 

[rllmuk]

You need to get new tyres fitted and balanced and get 4 wheel alignment done with printout. If it still does it I'd be surprised, but at least you can then go to the dealers with it as a warranty job.

 

[Towers]

Thanks very much, will make sure i get that done with my new tires

 

[lesinge2k]

doubt it would be uneven wear... the most likely cause it out of balance wheels or a buckled wheel...

I had a buckled wheel, and shifted it to the rear and the problem went away... I have some new black aftermarket alloys on order as a long term replacement

 

[wjohnson]

Out of interest have you had a tyre changed recently by a mobile unit thats come to your house or place of work?

 

[dasc04]

Alignment (and too a certain extent new tyres) won't be the cause.

You just need them rebalanced.

There are two ways or types of balanced wheels. Static and Dynamic.

A statically balanced wheel is balanced on the top to bottom plane only.

A dynamically balanced wheel is balanced top to bottom and along the rotation axis (left to right so to speak).

Static balance is fine for low speeds but once the wheel is rotating at higher speeds (i.e around 75mph+) the rotating mass, or imbalance becomes more noticeable.

A wheel that is balanced statically will only have weights on one side of the wheel (usually outside as is easier).

Dynamically balanced wheel will have a weight on the inside and outside of the rim.

I would expect that Towers' wheels are balanced only statically, one weight may have fallen off or even both. A re-balance will solve. Don't get conned by a garage into new tyres if you don't need them! Unevenly warn tyres have no effect on the wobble. The may cause it to not steer straight but what you were told by the dealership was as usual garbage. If they are as they said illegal due to wear they will need changing so that will solve the wobble as the new ones will/should be balanced when fitted.

Hope thats clear.

Hello by the way, I am new. Been reading the website for a while since getting my FR and only just decided to post.

 

[Maximus2000uk]

I had exactly the same issue about 6 months ago. I had them balanced, and the results showed quite a substantial difference effecting one tyre. A weight was added to it, and now the car is fine.

 

[Towers]

Thanks for your advice, really appreciated. I actually need to get a puncture repair (hopefully not a new tire) on the rear left also due to a huge nail sticking into it so I'll take it to my local tire dealers and ask for the fronts to be inspected and dynamically balanced.

wjohnson - no, not had any work done to the tyres since I've had the car. It's an existing problem I have since buying it last August.

Got to say though that I love my FR and find these forums a great read!

 

[wjohnson]

Ok cool, i just thought I would check as I had a mobile tyre guy with my V6 Coupe and it started with a steering wheel wobble no one could cure. Im either thinking he bent something on the car or the rim itself.

 

[RickyD1975]

I would say that your front wheels probably just need balancing. I've had cars in the past which were very sensistive to the wheel balancing.

There's nothing worse than wheel wobble.