Shaking in steering wheel

TURRICAN

Hello men and women
i have a problem wih brakes with an opel tigra 1998.
when at speed say 50mph and you press the brakes the steering wheel vibrates like mad.i can feel it thru the brake pedal too.
so far i have replaced the front discs pads,rear drums and shoes spring kit,rear wheel bearings.
its pretty much the same after all these changes.
this morning i slackened back the rear brakes and this seems to have got rid of the vibration in the pedal.the vibation in the steering wheel is still there tho.
i have checked the front tie rods and they seem ok.
what i have found tho nis a bit of play in the drive shafts.in each one with the wheels off the ground i can push each shaft in and out about 2 or 3 mm.
i dont know if there skould be play here.
if anybody could shed some light on this.
thanks

peasant

drive shafts should have some play to compensate for suspension travel.

possible reasons for your shaky steering in order of magnitude.

- unbalanced wheels
- tracking off
- damaged rim
- loose wheelnuts
- worn out bushes / links
- uneven brakes (but you fixed those)
- wheel bearings (you didn't do the fronts)
- steering box shagged

An Ard Ri

Sounds like your wheels need to be balanced

Jonty

warped disks??

Seth Brundle

Jonty wrote: »

warped disks??

Possibly but best off starting with the simple and cheaper options such as balancing and then alignment

Dartz

Balancing weights can fall of. Best not to jump to conclusions before plumping for an expensive fix.

I got a car gratis because the owner assumed a CV joint had failed, and it wasnt worth fixing. Turns out just to have been a wheel out of balance. I felt sorry for the guy, but he took it in good spirit...

mickdw

If a wheel was out of balance the vibration would be there whether braking or not so that is not the problem.
Also, sometimes when steering in shaking and the whole car starts to vibrate with it, it can seem like the brake pedal is also vibrating when in fact it may not be.
I would say your problem is down to worn front suspension components such as wishbone bushes, subframe bushes, track rod ends. Wear in these will mess up your alignment and can cause braking forces to pull these loose conponents around the place a bit.

Moanin

Could be either your inner or outter track rods?

68coupe

mickdw wrote: »

If a wheel was out of balance the vibration would be there whether braking or not so that is not the problem.
Also, sometimes when steering in shaking and the whole car starts to vibrate with it, it can seem like the brake pedal is also vibrating when in fact it may not be.
I would say your problem is down to worn front suspension components such as wishbone bushes, subframe bushes, track rod ends. Wear in these will mess up your alignment and can cause braking forces to pull these loose conponents around the place a bit.

I'd go with this one.
If tracking is out, its out, wouldn't occur only when braking. Same would apply for a twisted tyre etc. I would've put my money on warped discs. But since you replaced them and the pads, given that the discs you used weren't faulty it should've taken care of any braking issues. You need to get this on a lift, and have a thorough examination of the suspensions, wishbones etc, as mentioned above. Even the engine and gearbox mountings are worth examining.

TURRICAN

Thaks for all the replies lads.
i think it may go on a lift and get the suspension checked.

i gave the wheels another shake left to right and found play in the steering rods but i had to be fairly rigourous with them to get the play.
anyway cheers again lads!

kueef

the cv joint went on my micra before but i never got it fixed.. there was a knocking when turning the steering wheel.
just wondered how much it would have been to replace for future reference

kluivert

Tie Rods/Track Rods. €35 for parts to replace.

My car use to shake at 60mph. stop and then shake at 80mph again.

Recently before NCT get out worst, going over 60mph was a nightmare.

Aked dealer to fix never fixed took it to NCT, failed on steering rack and pinion condition. Dealer fixed and didnt charge on the labour.

Tie Rods replaced and the the car feels like new, so smooth when driving.

kluivert

kueef wrote: »

the cv joint went on my micra before but i never got it fixed.. there was a knocking when turning the steering wheel.
just wondered how much it would have been to replace for future reference

400-500e on an 2002 Audi A4 recently.