Exe_Chris
Member
I've been having an issue with the steering wheel shaking at high speeds (~70+ mph) that I've finally managed to solve, so I'll post what worked (and what didn't) in case it can help anyone else.
First thing to check was tyre pressures / balance, but they were all balanced and at the correct pressures so it wasn't that. No obvious knocks or buckles on the outer rim either.
Others have had issues with worn drop links, so I replaced the ones on the car with the Meyle HD links. Handling maybe sharpened up a bit, but it didn't cure the wobble.
I checked for wear around all the suspension components. No cracked bushes, and no undue play or knocks from anything on either side, so things like tie rod ends seemed fine.
The car brakes straight and true, without juddering, so didn't appear to be warped disks either, and the wobble was not rpm-dependent, so it didn't seem like the drivetrain.
Then, yesterday, I jacked the front of the car up, put it on axle stands, turned the engine on and put it in gear. Got out and looked at the insides of the front wheels as they turned. It was fairly obvious to the naked eye that there was a buckle / lack of straightness in the front left wheel. Every time it completed a revolution I could see part of the rim 'jump', which did not happen on the other wheel.
I swapped the wheels, front to back, changed the tyre pressures and went off for a test drive. Problem solved! I can't notice any incidental issue now that the buckled wheel is on the back either.
Let that be a lesson, just because tyres are balanced, and the outside of the wheel looks fine, doesn't mean the inside isn't damaged. It's just typical that the wheel that is buckled was itself a replacement for another wheel that was damaged, though more obviously.
First thing to check was tyre pressures / balance, but they were all balanced and at the correct pressures so it wasn't that. No obvious knocks or buckles on the outer rim either.
Others have had issues with worn drop links, so I replaced the ones on the car with the Meyle HD links. Handling maybe sharpened up a bit, but it didn't cure the wobble.
I checked for wear around all the suspension components. No cracked bushes, and no undue play or knocks from anything on either side, so things like tie rod ends seemed fine.
The car brakes straight and true, without juddering, so didn't appear to be warped disks either, and the wobble was not rpm-dependent, so it didn't seem like the drivetrain.
Then, yesterday, I jacked the front of the car up, put it on axle stands, turned the engine on and put it in gear. Got out and looked at the insides of the front wheels as they turned. It was fairly obvious to the naked eye that there was a buckle / lack of straightness in the front left wheel. Every time it completed a revolution I could see part of the rim 'jump', which did not happen on the other wheel.
I swapped the wheels, front to back, changed the tyre pressures and went off for a test drive. Problem solved! I can't notice any incidental issue now that the buckled wheel is on the back either.
Let that be a lesson, just because tyres are balanced, and the outside of the wheel looks fine, doesn't mean the inside isn't damaged. It's just typical that the wheel that is buckled was itself a replacement for another wheel that was damaged, though more obviously.
