Steering wheel vibration/wobbling problem still not found

[bartsscooterservice]

Any ideas where to look are welcome ?

So far I can think of I changed/did:

- 4 rims repaired/balanced and holes drilled for conical lug nuts.

- new tires dunlop streetresponse, was balanced with the repaired rims yesterday

- new engine/transmission and differential mounts

- replaced propshaft and drive shafts

- replaced front and rear wheel bearings

- replaced every part of the suspension front and rear including tie rods etc.

- replaced steering coupler

- checked steering house play, seems minimal/normal ? Wheel responds directly to steering wheel movement

- There's no play in the steering wheel inside the car

- Engine runs well, pulls good in all gears, I do notice a little wobbling in the car when parked or in neutral and engine on idle.

- differential changed for a good R180 ( Leon V )

- There's was no play noticable on the exit side from the transmission/propshaft when I feel on the propshaft

- front brake discs: I feel no shocks or high low points in the brake pedal when braking, discs not warped, seem okay ?

- replaced all 4 shocks with kyb new ones

- front wheels where aligned not so long ago

- car does not pull left or right when I let go of the steering wheel

I might have missed something..

The problem start around 50 mph, and gets worse after that.

When I hold the steering wheel around 50 mph it's not much noticable I can feel it but I can manage to hold the steering wheel quite steady, but when I let it go at the same speed, it starts to wobble a lot left to right...

Gr Bart

[Pop's Z]

Just a WAG...it sounds like a bad tire. When belts in the tire shift they balance fine but they still cause the problems you describe. Try front to rear rotation and see what happens. Also have the tire shop do the balance on the car at speed. When I worked at a tire shop we had a portable roller we put up against the tire and we could then run it up to speed. The other thing that waves it's flag at me is the rims drilled for conical lug nuts. If at all possible see if you can switch out your rims/tires for another set from a Z friend to see if it's the your rims/tires. Good luck. I'm sure others will chime in here, also.

Cheers, Mike

[gnosez]

Ditto on rotating the tires front to back and trying a different set of wheels. Really not liking the drilling concept.

[bartsscooterservice]

Just a WAG...it sounds like a bad tire. When belts in the tire shift they balance fine but they still cause the problems you describe. Try front to rear rotation and see what happens. Also have the tire shop do the balance on the car at speed. When I worked at a tire shop we had a portable roller we put up against the tire and we could then run it up to speed. The other thing that waves it's flag at me is the rims drilled for conical lug nuts. If at all possible see if you can switch out your rims/tires for another set from a Z friend to see if it's the your rims/tires. Good luck. I'm sure others will chime in here' date=' also.

Cheers, Mike[/quote']

I changed front and rear allready, makes no difference. The rims had a centration problem, so the wheel shop drilled them to use conical nuts to center them just right. I also still think a wheel or tire problem like you suggest. There's not much fellow Z members around here from who I can try their wheel/tire. There's not much shops I know of that do wheel on car balancing here either :paranoid:

Edited March 23, 2014 by bartsscooterservice

[bartsscooterservice]

Ditto on rotating the tires front to back and trying a different set of wheels. Really not liking the drilling concept.

the drilling was done by a specialised shop for damaged rims, because they had a centration problem, also 2 rims where bent, they repaired it.

I have a feeling it is still the rims somehow..

[Jeff G 78]

I'm with Mike. The conical lugnuts are the red flag for me. I don't know if you have any other Z cars local to you that you could borrow from, but if so, that's where I would start. If the wheels were drilled even slightly off, you will have vibration issues.

[Walter Moore]

I had a similar problem that went away after I had new tires installed. I believe that it was less the tires themselves than the high speed force variation, becuase balancing the tires didn't have any effect.

For what it is worth, the shop where I had the new tires installed used one of the new Hunter balance machine that in addition to measuring imbalance can also measure the force variation of the assembly. High force variation is hard to correct, because you have to dismount the tire and rotate it on the rim then try again. (It is mostly trial and error on old wheels, particularly after they have been repaired.)

Before the new tires my steering wheel just buzzed on the interstate. Now it is smooth as glass.

[Mark Maras]

Dynamic balancing the wheels & tires will let you know where the problem lies, if it is a balance problem. Reading your description of a wobble in the steering wheel rather than a vibration, It seems that it would be more of an alignment issue. I would suspect steering linkage but you've replaced all of that. A re-check of the alignment would eliminate that possibility. As for swapping wheels with someone, it's a great idea, No other Zs around? Possibly other members could supply you with a list of cars that have the same bolt pattern, or wheel adapters that you could use temporarily.

Mark in Portland

[bartsscooterservice]

I'm with Mike. The conical lugnuts are the red flag for me. I don't know if you have any other Z cars local to you that you could borrow from, but if so, that's where I would start. If the wheels were drilled even slightly off, you will have vibration issues.

Hi, the problem was there, before they drilled the wheels. It made no difference.

My brother is thinking maybe one of the front wheel hubs may be bent, but I find that hard to believe.

Edited March 23, 2014 by bartsscooterservice

[bartsscooterservice]

Dynamic balancing the wheels & tires will let you know where the problem lies, if it is a balance problem. Reading your description of a wobble in the steering wheel rather than a vibration, It seems that it would be more of an alignment issue. I would suspect steering linkage but you've replaced all of that. A re-check of the alignment would eliminate that possibility. As for swapping wheels with someone, it's a great idea, No other Zs around? Possibly other members could supply you with a list of cars that have the same bolt pattern, or wheel adapters that you could use temporarily.

Mark in Portland

Hi Mark, I did not replace the steering rack. But not sure if this can cause those problems.

[bartsscooterservice]

I'm with Mike. The conical lugnuts are the red flag for me. I don't know if you have any other Z cars local to you that you could borrow from, but if so, that's where I would start. If the wheels were drilled even slightly off, you will have vibration issues.

I will try to see if I can get some other wheels yes..

[gnosez]

Loose rack?

Center of wheels not seating all the way down on hub? I had this issue with a set of aftermarket wheels and it drove me mad until it some how dawned on me that I had to grind down the hub assemblies. Real nasty vibrations.