Thread: MY12 D4 steering wheel vibrations/shake at highway speeds

Go and get a wheel balance (somewhere else)

Originally Posted by DiscoJeffster

Go and get a wheel balance (somewhere else)

Better still, to eliminate potential wheel or tyre issues, tomorrow morning I'm going to swap all four wheels and tyres with those fitted on my Dad's smooth driving MY12 D4. Being a known good set there will be no doubts when swapped.

Originally Posted by twr7cx

Jacked the front up and grabbing each side of the wheel pulled and pushed...

To "feel test" wheel bearings (and swivel pin housings for you oldies out there) you really need to hold the wheel at 12 o'clock and 6 o'clock (top and bottom). There should be absolutely no play whatsoever.

Originally Posted by DieselLSE

To "feel test" wheel bearings (and swivel pin housings for you oldies out there) you really need to hold the wheel at 12 o'clock and 6 o'clock (top and bottom). There should be absolutely no play whatsoever.

I'll check again when I've got it lifted to swap the wheels over. I can't recall where I grabbed it but I suppose the natural position is left and right at 3 and 9 o'clock. Any reasoning why 12 and 6 rather though?

Originally Posted by twr7cx

I'll check again when I've got it lifted to swap the wheels over. I can't recall where I grabbed it but I suppose the natural position is left and right at 3 and 9 o'clock. Any reasoning why 12 and 6 rather though?

Yeah it’s top to bottom 12 and 6, not left to right. You take out steering movement when you try I believe is the idea. If you didn’t notice movement it’s probably ok. I had no symptoms but I happened to check mine and found them loose/moving. Replaced. Nothing changed so I suspect I got mine early

What DiscoJefster said. There must, by definition, be lateral movement as steering has built in shock absorption with tie-rod ends. But there is no vertical shock absorption at the wheel bearings. Vertical shock is the job of the suspension.

And the result of swapping your wheels with the other vehicle was .......?

Check disc rotor wear, if this is uneven, I.e high and low tracks, ripples, bright and dull spots etc it is likely to be one or more of the pistons in the calipers being stuck and partially grabbing the brakes causing shudder. Explains the brake dust as well. You’ll need to rebuild the offending brake caliper(s) new seals and fluid etc. pistons are hard chromed and usually ok after getting them unstuck. Clean bores out and give them a polish with wet and dry. Even if the calipers slides are ok, the pistons can still grab.

wheel bearings are normally noisy and easy to detect, wheel/tyre imbalance pretty readily resolved with a computer balance, and especially if you’ve changed wheels front to back and it’s still there, unlikely to be wheels.