Huge vibrations in tiguan!! Help!!

[Tigger]

Hi all,

I have started having problems in my tiguan over the last few thousand kms. (now done 24,000 in total).

After going over 100 km/h, the car starts to vibrate, seemingly starting from the rear, and then the steering wheel shakes quite a bit. This gets worse and continues past the legal road speeds ...

Of course, the first thing I checked was the wheel balancing as well as the alignment. As some may recall, I have recently fitted new advanti concept wheels and tyres which were fine. I did not notice any issues immediatly after fitting and for a few thousand kms. But I natuarally thought these must be the cause of the issue.

I have been back three times now to my tyre shop, who are frustrated and make me feel like I am making it up. They say there is nothing wrong with the tyres or wheels...

I do not do any rough driving off-road, nor have I hit any potholes etc...

So...has anyone heard of any other issues that may cause somthing like this to happen??? I would really appreciate any feedback, as I am now so over it and do not enjoy driving at all while this issue is present.


thanks guys!

[thekraut]

Has the tyre shop done an 'on car' balance? If not, get them to do it and it should sort it. Had this problem with a car I owned a few years back after fitting TSWs - vibes started at around 90kmh.

[Tigger]

Hi mate, Thanks for the suggestion re on-car balance...

Not even sure what this is myself. The tyre shop certainly has not suggested anything like this. I dont even think they know what to do!

Know of any good places to get this done in sydney? I am willing to pay anyone proffesional to do it correctly.

[thekraut]

On car balance is where the wheels are left on the car and they use a machine to spin them up while on the axles - they can then balance out any mechanical irregularities. I got mine done at Bob Jane. Larger tyre shops should have the equipment necessary.

[Tigger]

Ah..ok thanks mate...

This shop I have been going to is a beurepairs, but obviously they are not hi-tech enough to offer such a service.

I am sure it is still wheels / balancing, however I have just read on another world forum that the tiguans had a small issue with warped brake discs causing a wobble / vibration.... this sounds like it may have some bearing on the issue??

Any thoughts anyone?

[Transporter]

Check your tyres again! Make sure that all tyres are circle not elliptical. It is called "Radial runout" it means that the tyre does not form a true circle. Most usual causes are bent wheel (out of round) or tyre not mounted properly (beads not seated) or simply faulty tyre. This are the main causes of vehicle vibration.

It happen to our Golf right from the day one we bought it. You need to tell to tyre fitter to spin the tyre and look from the side.

[Tigger]

Ok thanks. Good suggestions.

They have not stripped and refitted them yet. Perhaps this is the next thing that needs to be tried? then rebalanced again.

The shop is trying to get rid of me by saying stuff like "check with VW if they have any drive train issues etc....."

Funny how it has only happened with these new wheels though hey!?

[gregozedobe]

Another possibility is a too loose or non-concentric spigot (centre of wheel) so the wheel isn't mounted prefectly centred on the hub. If you jack up a wheel (with a proper jack, not the dangerously flimsy VW one) and spin it, it will be out of round.

If you still have the original wheels put them back on and if the problem goes away it is definitely your new wheels (and seeing as that is what you changed just before the problem happened it is very likely the cause).

[Tigger]

OK. that is another good suggestion thanks.

I will try fitting the old/standard wheels back on tomorrow and see how these run. This will confirm where the fault lays.

I am getting sick of wasting two to three hours each time I go into this shop and wait for them to fluff around.

Know of any other really good shops in sydney with proffesional / trained technicians??

[goodfella]

what about taking it to another shop, and geta 2nd opinion.

[franjae]

I had a set of Pirelli once that were not completely "round" and they caused similar issues. The shop spent hours working it out and in the end got new ones and so carefully fitted them and all fixed.

[Tigger]

Thats the problem goodfella....knowing who is reputable. Also dont want to have to go through all the hassles again... explaining it all, and running the same experiments aaarrrgh!

However you are correct, and I am more than happy to pay money to a place that can get it right...but where is the big question??

So many dodgy places around- even those with branded names on them cant get it right!

[Transporter]

Most tyre places don't employ mechanics, tyre fitter can be trained in a 1/2 day to fit the tyres, so it is understandable that they are not able to help if there is something wrong. Also guys if you need a wheel alignment ask the tyre place and verify before you go to them, that they have the data for wheel alignment for the Tiguan because chances are that they don't.

After removing tyres make sure that the wheel bolts are properly tensioned;120Nm in diagonal pattern. Otherwise you can get another vibration from the brake discs that can distort, if the tension is greater and uneven.

edit: when you removed the wheel always correctly tighten the wheel before you let the wheel touch the ground! Check the wheel bolts tension again after 50km.

[Tigger]

Thanks transporter,

I am not sure what tension they have applied when doing up the wheels...or even if they have used the correct bolts etc...

I didnt notice it at first...so could the beading be causing the issues? Does this distort over the course of a few thousand kms and get worse?

Now my whole arm shakes when I go over 95kmh!!!

[team_v]

Thanks transporter,

I am not sure what tension they have applied when doing up the wheels...or even if they have used the correct bolts etc...

I didnt notice it at first...so could the beading be causing the issues? Does this distort over the course of a few thousand kms and get worse?

Now my whole arm shakes when I go over 95kmh!!!

I going to go with the wheel bolts being the problem rather than the headligning.

Make sure whenever you take your car to get done that you specify 120Nm for the bolts and make sure they are long enough.