Resonance vibration on 07 D3 V8

[willem]

I took my D3 to Warrnambool for registration after it passed the VIV and RWC inspections. It drove beautifully, except that there was this vibration/ noise coming, especially at about 100 kph. It seemed to disappear at over 110 and below 80. Did not hear it while coasting or under power/ acceleration. More at a constant speed.

It was hard to hear/ feel which part of the car it was coming from.

Best described as similar to but not the same as driving over the rumble strip.

Possibilities, that we could think of:

• Wheel bearing. But that would grumble all the time and be really noticeable while coasting.
• Out of balance wheels? Possible, but doesn't seem like it. Anyway, to cover that base, I've booked it in for a wheel balance on Friday.
• .......?

Has anyone else had a similar thing? I haven't seen anything on the forum in the D3 pages about it.

Any ideas would be well appreciated.

Thanks, Willem.

[the_preacher1973]

Torque converter?

[CaverD3]

Wheel balance?
Drive shaft?

[sheerluck]

Rear drive shaft centre bearing?

[Piddler]

Universal joint

[chuck]

Tyres

What tyres are you running.

I have a resonance on GG AT's at 100kmh on smooth bitumen.

[willem]

Tyres

What tyres are you running.

I have a resonance on GG AT's at 100kmh on smooth bitumen.

Thanks for the heads up on tyres. I'm running Continental Cross Contacts. I am getting them balanced today to see if that makes a difference.

But I think I found the main culprit. One of the brackets holding the upper control arm on the right rear suspension was slightly bent - see here for the reason for it might be bent - enough to touch the metal of the upper control arm. This was conducting sound/ vibrations through the body work. Straightening it solved the problem.

There are still other sounds etc coming through the car. I have checked every wheel for bearing problems and as far as I can see they are fine. I reckon I'm paranoid about sounds from the car at the moment! But as I work through them I think we will get it sorted in due course.

Willem

[willem]

I think it's a wheel bearing. The left front wheel bearing, to be precise.


How do I know? It's getting steadily louder and sounding more like a wheel bearing sound. It's a front wheel bearing because I can feel the vibration through the steering wheel rather than through my bum. It's on the left hand side because the vibration fades when going around a left hand bend.


A new part has been ordered.


Lets see if I'm right.


Willem

[BobD]

I posted some time ago about this noise from Cross Contacts. I could swear that it was front wheel bearing noise but I put the original Wranglers on and no more noise. Mine was so bad it caused a resonance in something in the front of the car and was getting worse rapidly.

May not hurt to get new wheel bearings but if the noise persists it is sure to be the tyres.

Bob

[willem]

Well, we are making progress. I installed the new wheel bearing on the LHF, but soon found out that wasn't the problem. So I decided to follow BobD's advice and check out the tyres. I still had the original spare, an almost new Goodyear Wrangler, and one of the other still serviceable wheels that were on the car and put a new Wrangler to match the other one and put them both on the front.


This seems to be a solution. The vibration is almost gone. The remaining vibration is much less and seems distant. I reckon this might be the rear Cross Contacts. I'll try to get another two tyres to test.


It's been interesting ...


Willem