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[Ian_Fearn]

I had 4 new tyres fitted the other week and had the wheel alignment done on one of those Hunter machines. Initially the steering wheel was 45 degrees out so they sorted that but worse still, a pretty nasty vibration starts at about 70mph. Lets just say it gets worse as the speed increases AND THEN over a certain speed it pretty much goes to normal again.

I got them to recheck the wheels were well balanced and it came back with the same vibration. It does feel like the vibrations come through the 'car' rather than through the steering wheel.

They told me the rear wheel alignment was out but they couldn't release the track rods so they left it as is. On closer inspection, they're well seized so I've bought a couple and will fit them this week.

The question is.... Do I go back to said garage and chuck another £50 at a 4 wheel alignment OR do I need to be investigating a place to do a full review of the geometry. Does anybody have any recommendations in the Derby (ish) area?

[Martin_1962]

Wheels in Motion Chesham

[Shackeng]

http://www.wheels-inmotion.co.uk/tyre-fitting-centres.php Try this for your local centre, they should do geometry in accordance with WIM, Chesham, but check with them.

[Ian_Fearn]

Theres one near an outlet store in Mansfield so i'll drop the mrs off first....

I'll keep the credit card on me though.....

[TheBoy]

Rear wheel balance, or buckled wheels.

45 degrees? They are talking booolax!

[jonny2112]

Where did you get the replacement rear arms Ian?

I have virtually the same problem, though the vibration starts at around 55-60. I know I need new droplinks in the front, so I'm gathering all the bits together to do all the maintenance work prior to further alignment. I hadn't thought of the rears though.

[05omegav6]

Where did you get the replacement rear arms Ian?

I have virtually the same problem, though the vibration starts at around 55-60. I know I need new droplinks in the front, so I'm gathering all the bits together to do all the maintenance work prior to further alignment. I hadn't thought of the rears though.

Allgerman do them about £75 each iirc...

[jonny2112]

Cheers Al. Worth considering if the front end work doesn't cure the problem.

[05omegav6]

A proper set up starts with the back end, then sets the front to match... important in that the adjuster at the rear does both toe and camber and determines the thrust angle (critical on RWD), whereas the front angles are all independently adjusted

[Ian_Fearn]

Rear wheel balance, or buckled wheels.

45 degrees? They are talking booolax!

Sorry, I meant the steering wheel was at 45 degrees when going in a straight line!

I got the arms from Eurocarparts. They're Lemforder jobbies so the better quality ones and they were only £52 each.

[wheels-inmotion]

The vibration is a wheel balance problem, the steering position is geometric.

Regarding the wheel balance the wheels need to be mounted on the machine by the stud holes, not the wheels centre hole. Reason for this is the centre hole is cosmetically central....... Sad to say this is why French cars have solid centre wheels meaning there's no option other than balance them via the stud holes.

[Ian_Fearn]

Interesting about the centre hole being 'cosmetically' central. How many places out there have the facility to balance by the bolts?

I've had a couple of Citroen XM's and Xantia V6's without centre holes and I was told they couldn't balance the wheels but I never had a problem with them.

I'm convinced this is something more than just wheel balance though and its coming from the back of the car not really through the steering wheel as I've experienced before. I always struggled to get the wheels balanced well on my old Puma but I've never experienced such a harsh shudder through the car, proper teeth chattering.

I do wish I was closer to the main WIM place in Chesham. Bit far from Derby though....

[05omegav6]

It's only fiftyish miles down the M1

[Sir Tigger KC]

I had a similar problem a few years ago with a pair of faulty tyres which I'd had fitted to the rear end.  I can't remember the brand but they were cheap budgets (£40-50) and after a lot of toing and froing to the tyre shop and much balancing and rebalancing, they reluctantly agreed that the tyres were out of shape and replaced them.    Problem solved. 

[wheels-inmotion]

There are distinctive clues when it comes to vibration, the clues are not the law but offer direction.....

Vibration under 20mph suggests a distorted tyre or wheel
Vibration at say 60mph that disperses at a higher speed suggests a wheel balance frequency
Vibration at the seat suggests the rear is the focus and at the steering wheel the front is the focus
Vibration under torque suggests a drive-train problem
Vibration under braking suggests brake pad matter contamination or drive flange problem. Don't be fooled it's near impossible to warp a brake disc.