Vibration in sterring wheel above 65mph

Newcarneeded

I recently bought a car privately and have noticed that at high speed - 65mph and greater - there is a noticeable vibration through the steering wheel.

I am not unduly worried by this as I am guessing it is a wheel balancing issue. Is this the case and is it easily fixed?

How much should i pay to have them balanced?

The car wont be due an NCT for a while so i'm going to wait until a pre NCT to have it done as there is plenty of rubber on the tyres and the problem is only noticeable above 65mph. Is this safe or should i get it seen to right away?

Wishbone Ash

Newcarneeded wrote:

How much should i pay to have them balanced

Approx €10 at any tyre fitter.

JHMEG

From my own experience the high-speed wobble is tracking as opposed to balance.

If you suspect balance but want to rule it out, swap the front wheels onto the back.

Wishbone Ash

JHMEG wrote:

From my own experience the high-speed wobble is tracking as opposed to balance.

If you suspect balance but want to rule it out, swap the front wheels onto the back.

Tracking which is off will make the vehicle veer to one side. Unbalanced tyres cause vibrations.

JHMEG

As I said, from my own experience, bad tracking can cause high speed wobble. Drifting off centre will also happen, but at any speed.

Fey!

IME, balancing rather than tracking. Ask your tyre fitter.

Check your tyre pressures first, they may be too high/low or unequal (which can also cause a pull to one side).

Sonnenblumen

Wishbone Ash wrote:

Tracking which is off will make the vehicle veer to one side. Unbalanced tyres cause vibrations.

Spot on WA. BTW do you like W.A. music?

Idleater

Another thing to check is that all the wheelnuts are tightened securely.

I had that a while back, one of the wheelnuts had come loose slightly and it caused a vibration in the steering wheel.

L.

digweed

nereid wrote:

Another thing to check is that all the wheelnuts are tightened securely.

I had that a while back, one of the wheelnuts had come loose slightly and it caused a vibration in the steering wheel.

L.

had the same thing too...what kind of car is it, i know fords are notorious for having warped discs, this could cause the wobble too at the higher speeds.

D.

JHMEG

nereid wrote:

Another thing to check is that all the wheelnuts are tightened securely.

I had that a while back, one of the wheelnuts had come loose slightly and it caused a vibration in the steering wheel.

L.

Actually, that's a good point. If the lug nuts aren't tightened in a criss-cross fashion, the wheel will be very slightly off centre on the hub. I had this happen recently, when I absent mindedly tightened them in straight order. The wobble was there at all speeds tho, increasing in intensity as speed increased.

Larry David

Sonnenblumen wrote:

Spot on WA. BTW do you like W.A. music?

Send him a PM.

Sonnenblumen

Larry David wrote:

Send him a PM.

Larry the Elve- You know where the Exits are, go on, and don't look back.

Fey!

JHMEG - good point about the criscrossing; I had forgotten the reason for doing that!

NewCarNeeded - as you can see, a lot of these things can be checked in your drive or at a half decent service station, without the expense of any kind of garage. However, for better peace of mind, try a tyre specialist.

One final thing to check is if there are any lumps on any of your tyres; ie, do the sides of the tyre bulge like a small pingpong ball? This can also cause a wobble, and is extremely dangerous. Replace tyre immediatly. Often caused by kerbing.

OT: LarryDavid - shouldn't you have PM'd Sonnenblumen? At least he stuck his message in a message that was on topic, unlike yours.

johntreacy

What make of tyres have you on the car cause I bought an almera and got the car tracked and balanced a couple of times. changed the front wheels to the back and even got two new rims and put them on. Every time I pulled out of the tyre fitters same thing no difference. in the end I was putting it down to the fitters until 2 months later I put two new front tyres on the car it's perfect since. The tyre's were cheap imported remolds that were on it when I got it and it felt like it needed to be balanced but it was the tyre's that weren't in balance

Wishbone Ash

johntreacy wrote:

but it was the tyre's that weren't in balance

But it is always the tyres that are balanced - not the wheels. The balancing weights are placed on the wheels but it is the tyres that cause the imbalance.

Wishbone Ash

Sonnenblumen wrote:

Spot on WA. BTW do you like W.A. music?

Of course Sonnenblumen. Argus - what a masterpiece! (better get back on topic before I'm slaughtered )