Help needed, steering wheel vibration at 100+ kph

[Mk1DUB]

Hey guys,

As per the title, I've started experiencing minor (but noticeable) steering wheel rotation/wobble/vibrations when going at 100+kph and very very minimal at about 90-100kph.

The suspension/wheels have all been set up professionally, and they mentioned that one of the "wheel bearings" (quotation marks because I tried googling and found nothing for "wheel bearings"...) are in need of replacement.

Otherwise, I'm unaware of any other causes. So, my question to the forum is this, could worn "wheel bearings" cause significant vibration at high speed? Otherwise, what else should I be looking at?

Cheers lads/ladettes

Seamus/Mk1DUB

[ericcs]

sometimes if you have different wheels, and the centre hole is bigger than the lip on the hubs, you need spacer rings to centre the wheel properly. this is a common cause

[Mk1DUB]

i had my wheels bored to fit the car, only one of them was a little off but it was fixed with spacers anyway. So it wouldn't be this worn bushing that the suspension guys told me about?

[abreut]

Most likely a wheel out of balance, maybe a weight from the last wheel balance fell off one of the wheels. The vibration is much worse if this happens to one of your front wheels. So maybe rotate the back 2 wheels to the front and see how that feels.

[Mk1DUB]

Thanks mate I'll rotate the wheels and post the results

[GeorgeMK1]

Even with a worn out bearing, it shouldn't wobble too much. You should only really notice it while cornering if it were a wheel bearing

[Mk1DUB]

Hmmm if not the wheel bearing, what might cause the steering wheel to wobble only at 90-100+ kph?

I'm fairly certain that it wasn't happening after the suspension guys fixed up the camber etc, just felt like it spontaneously started happening...

[sports racer]

Even with knackered wheel bearings you shouldn't get wheel vibration. When I got my MK2 one of the bearings was so bad the disk scraped against the backing plate when you turned corners and made a terrible scraping noise. I did over 500ks before fixing it and there was never any vibration in the steering wheel.

Get your front wheels balanced, that should fix your wobble. You've probably lost a wheel weight.

[Mk1DUB]

Thanks for the solid input guys! I'll hit up the shop that did the work.

[brad]

Wheel alignment doesn't generally include a balance.

Have they actually balanced the wheel/tyre combo? Are the rims dad straight? Are the tyres perfectly round?

[Mk1DUB]

When they put the tyres on the new wheels they said it included balancing... so I imagine that would be the weights, yes? They didn't have the car, just the wheels, that wouldn't stop them from balancing the wheels though right?

The rims appear to be in good condition and there was no wobble for the last week (or before for that matter) since having the suspension/wheels set up at the shop.

[sports racer]

It's rare but wheel weights do fall off. Expect to pay for them to check the wheel balance.

Have you tried swapping the back wheels with the fronts to see if the vibration goes away?

You can also try this. Jack up one of the front wheels so that it's off the ground (with the other front wheel still on the ground). Make sure you are jacking up the body - don't put the jack under the wishbone and lift it from there. With the wheel now off the ground grab it on both sides like a giant steering wheel and try and twist it left/right then move your hands to top and bottom of the wheel and twist up/down. What you are trying to find is any play in the steering or bearings. The wheel should turn the steering slightly left/right as it distorts the tyre on the other wheel but there shouldn't be clunking sounds or freeplay. Up/down there shouldn't be any movement at all.

Remember you're trying to twist the wheel, not lift it up/down or left/right.

That should keep you busy for a while but it will tell you the condition of your steering rack, wheel bearings, tie rod ends, wishbone bushes and lower ball joint.

Cheers

Paul