steering wheel wobble!

[pedro20001]

hi all, got awierd wobble through the steering wheel at about 50-65 mph. I had the front wishbones replaced earlier in the year along with powerflex bushes at the rear. I have also replaced the discs and pads with textar ones end of last year. a month ago I had 2 new 225/45r17 falken 912's and 2 weeks ago 2 new calipers and flexi hoses due to a sticking caliper (not bad, just enough to make a noise when reversing out of the garage in the morning). after the calipers were fitted the wobble seemed to improve but is now as bad as before! Any ideas? as it is ruining the drive of the car and i normally enjoy having fun in it!

[BladeRunner919]

Does the wobble predate all the work you've described?

[pedro20001]

pretty much; one thing i have noticed is when i jack up the front wheels and spin them, the lh is quiet whereas the rh although rotates esiliy, i can hear the pads catching even after the new calipers, flexi's and rebleed using a gunson eazibleed. i silicon greased the caliper guide pins. previously avon zz3's were fitted and began to wobble the wheel as they wore down. the falkens improved but it now seems as bad as before, even before the wishbones were done.

[Vic-Z3]

Wheel bearing .................

[pedro20001]

hmmm. possibly, no whine but will jack up and check for play top to bottom. any ideas how hard they are to do?

[Mint]

mmmm I had a similar problem earlier this year - wheel wobble at about 50 mph which turned out to be a sticking caliper - FOS in my case. I know you've had yours done and they are new but could one be sticking again?

Hope you get it sorted soon ...

[pedro20001]

thanks, even though the calipers have only been on 2 weeks ( eurocarparts pagid ) my gut feeling is the osf is catching - this was the original problem one as it was harder to push in the piston. i might remove the caliper and recheck to make sure it is ok. when you buy replacement parts you expect them to be spot on but maybe quality control isn't always 100%.

[Mr Silver]

I hesitate to ask but have you had the wheels balanced recently.

Regards

[BladeRunner919]

What happens under braking? Does the car brake straight and true, with no wobble? Or does the wobble improve/get worse?
If you lightly apply the brake at 50-65 (light left foot brake, right foot holding speed on the accelerator) what happens? If there's no change, it could be a balance issue, if it does change, could be a braking issue.

I don't suppose you have a dial gauge so you can check for run-out on the disc?

[Del]

You probably already know this but the tracking should be checked after work on the control arms. I have also seen it reported on this forum that the poly bushes make the car more sensitive to correct/exact wheel balancing.

If the vibration/judder occurs only when braking, I agree with Bladerunner 919 in that it is almost certainly caused by uneven brake disc wear which really means getting new discs. People often generically refer to this condition as “warped discs” and one characteristic is a noticeable binding (during part of the revolution) when spinning the wheel. Discs should be replaced in pairs.

EDIT - just noticed you replaced discs - I would focus on the balancing as well.

[Brian H]

I hesitate to ask but have you had the wheels balanced recently.

Regards

^^+1 my thoughts too.

[g8jka]

I had this a couple of months ago, quite a lot of juddering at this speed and above with it being horrendous sometimes.

Had 2 new tyres about a month ago and the wobble has now gone so obviously the newly balanced wheels and tyres cured my problem.

So as mentioned, check the wheels are balanced correctly.

[BladeRunner919]

If the vibration/judder occurs only when braking, I agree with Bladerunner 919 in that it is almost certainly caused by uneven brake disc wear which really means getting new discs. People often generically refer to this condition as “warped discs” and one characteristic is a noticeable binding (during part of the revolution) when spinning the wheel. Discs should be replaced in pairs.

EDIT - just noticed you replaced discs - I would focus on the balancing as well.

But do bear in mind that disc run-out can be caused by an incorrectly seated disc - if they are replaced and the seating face isn't completely smooth (corrosion, dirt, etc) you can get the symptoms of a warped disc without the disc actually being warped.

[Zedbedee]

Very quick check for sticking caliper, is one wheel hot after a run??

[Kornknarr]

My thoughts:
Rotor problem - either installation or warped? Because of the problem you described but then new rotors do that a bit.

Wheel balance?
Wheel adjustment?

When I changed calipers, rotors bushings, control arms etc (polyflex for the rear control arm bushing) I had a wheel adjustment made and thought I'd be fine. Went for a 600km spin and had in the end a very frustrating wobble in the steering wheel.

Bought two new tires (the old were really bad) and had them properly balanced - The car drove like a dream.

So - wheel alignment and balancing (and to some extent a better tyre) made the difference.

[BladeRunner919]

You could try swapping the front and rear wheels over (I'm assuming you're not an ///M with different sizes, of course). That may give a clue as to whether there's a balance issue. And it costs nothing to try!!

[pedro20001]

thanks guys, I will get my wheels rebalanced. I can't swap front to back as I have staggered 17" alloys. I can get hold of a dial gauge to check for run out / disc seating. really appreciate all the help. will let you know how I get on

[Lewy]

Don't rule out a tyre being 'out' - I put Falken 452s on my E64 and went through a load of pain trying to diagnose a wheel wobble and eventually realised that the tyre itself was running out. I'm a real fan of Falkens for performance but was very disappointed in their quality control. Worth a check when you get your wheels balanced anyway.