dazc

MY 00 Classic 47k non abused.

Had a slight wobble on the steering wheel, so I thought I would get some new tyres before winter, and this would probably cure it.


However I still have a wobble when driving. It is definately not:

a) A balancing problem as all wheels balanced spot on, checked myself, swapped front to rear etc before and after new tyres. Took them back for rebalancing etc.

b) A buckled rim as all rims are perfect.

c) Warped discs

Does anybody have any ideas, as I am running out of them fast and it's doing my fruit in...
Thanks, Daz

awd wrx

a bent or out of ballance drive shaft

dazc

Hope not.
Never done any standing starts, and you would think that the rear driveshafts would take more strain as they tend to grip where the front wheels go light?

It just seems to have crept in, rather than happened all of a sudden. Must be something to do with a rotating or wearing part though.

Thought about bearings too but there is no play or noise from them either.

Daz

awd wrx

how about a small bulge in the tyre , run your hands over them and see if you can feel anything there , they are usually on the side walls

dazc

Probably didn't explain well enough, they were new tyres on Friday so it is not them, as the previous ones were the same. Swap f to r and it's still the same.

Rebalanced them for good measure and its no different.
Feels like a balancing problem, but they are definately spot on.

Anybody?

ozzy

When do you get the wobble? all the time? certain speeds? under braking?

thinking out loud:-

tyre damage
alloy damage
tyre/wheel balance
brake discs
alloy/wheel hub surface not sitting flush
wheel bearing
driveshaft

Stefan

awd wrx

If the tyres and wheels and brakes can be ruled out , its either a drive flange out of shape , or a drive shaft , sometimes drive shafts have ballance wieghts on them , perhaps its moved or come off ??

jtabraham

Hi, I had a brand new set of wheels and tyres fitted, and had the same wobble as you, the balancing checked OK, no faults could be found with the tyre, replaced wheel bearings, track rods, strut tops cv joints, and still it was there, changed the wheels round aswell, still no difference. Upgraded the tyres to Yokohamas and ditched the cheaper tyres and hey presto, no more wobble/vibration. The tyre bloke reconned the cheap tyres werent 100% round. But it looked like it was more than one tyre as even changing them front to rear made no difference.
Hope this helps.

Creepy

Check out the steering rack bushings, it helped on my car...
You can't see it from outside but when I disassembled mine te were completely perished, one side had even turned into rubber powder !
http://www.ravensblade-impreza.com/m.../steering.html

Cheers

dazc

Some really helpful stuff here lads, will def sort through them all one by one.
Cheers, daz

dazc

Stefan,

tyre damage - No, new tyres and my old ones did the same
alloy damage - No, spun wheels on balance machine and all were round, asked fitter to check too.
tyre/wheel balance - Don't think so, watched balance machine stop at "000"
brake discs - No brakes are fine no vibration
alloy/wheel hub surface not sitting flush - Bells copper greased onto clean hub, did it myself checking.
wheel bearing - No humming noise when cornering? I don't think that they can be adjusted by tightening them up.
driveshaft ???? Will check

Creepy, steering rack bushes ? mounting bushes or inside the rack itself?

Wobble seems to occur at 50-60, then sometimes doesn't happen at all and feels smooth.
Strange.

Daz

davedipster

Tyres could be out of round. I can get vibration when the car has been sitting for a while. After a few miles the tyres are warmed and all ok.

Palmo

I am having the exact problems as you (MY02 WRX). I have tried all the things you mentioned. I had the wheels off the car a few times (for various reasons) and the problem disappeared without trace.

Then a week or so ago I replaced the front brake discs, pads & brake hoses (I was extremely careful to clean the hub where the disc mounts). Upon test driving the car afterwards the vibration problem is back (anything between 65 & 90mph - seems to come & go).

Like you I have new tyres (Toyo T1R's) replaced Bridgestone RE011's - problem still the same. I'm beginning to wonder if it is the position of the individual wheel on the hub? It's a shame I didn't mark the position relative to the studs before I took off the wheels the last time.

What tyres do you have? My car has done 40k miles and like yours I would say is 'non abused' i.e. no full bore standing starts, no kerbing etc. etc. Wheels are in excellent condition also????????????

Scooba Driver

I have the same on my sti4. Have changed the tyres from Toyos to SO3s, rebalanced them, changed the front disks and pads, no difference. Was beginning to think it is front shock absorbers but they are not leaking and passed the mot a month ago and the vibration was there then. The wheels have all been swapped around a number of times and it makes no difference at all.

dazc

Right then.

After taking wheels back for rebalancing several times, it turns out that when they balance them, the machine was set to round the weight required down to the nearest 5 grams in weight. (the smallest size weight available)

This way they balanced spot on. "000" coming up on the machine every time.

When this rounding factor was removed, all the wheels were all between "002" and "004" g out. They have now been rebalanced more accurately and drive spot on. This explains why when I swapped the tyres front to rear the problem was no different, and my last set too as they were balanced on the very same machine.

I was at my wits end with this so I hope it helps somebody else with the same problem.

Thanks for all your replies.
Daz

dazc

Just to add, anybody using non Subaru wheels, ensure that you have the correct plastic spigot in the centre of the wheel to centralise it on the hub.

This can cause the same problem if these are not fitted to aftermarket wheels, as the wheel can be slightly misaligned when bolted on, giving the feeling of running on buckled wheels.

Didn't affect me tho.WRC1s.
Daz