Wheel Wobble

[ChrisW]

Have suddenly developed quite a noticeable vibration between 30-45/50ish. It seems to have started since Friday when we had all the wheels off to replace brake pipes.
All the wheels went back on in the positions they came off.
Tyres were fitted about 3 weeks ago and were running fine until Friday.

Took her to kwik-fit today and had all the wheels re-balanced - apparently a couple of the wheels were 'out' but not 100% impressed after one of the "mechanics" came and told me they'd put the muppet on it.

Driving afterwards it seemed a little less but still quite noticeable.

Prop UJ's all seem fine and no play in wheel bearings etc.

I have a feeling it's probably still down to wheel balancing, I think the next thing I will try is swapping the spare wheel round to see if it makes a difference to any of them.

Anyone else had anything similar or any thoughts?

[Range Rover Blues]

Check for bulges in the sidewalls and stones in the tread.  Did they have any trouble balancing them?  Is it worse under braking?  Does the wheels shimmy left/right or just vibrate?

[robbie]

I did have something like this once on my old Cortina Mk4..... tried everything. In the end it turned out to be a balcne weight on the prop itself.

The only way I could prove it was to swap shafts with a mate of mine

Might be worth checking for 'clean' bits on the prop

[ChrisW]

No bulges, stones, no problems with the balancing, no difference with the braking, just a general vibration.
It only happens when 'driving' - take my foot off the accelerator and coast and it disappears.

You can drive through it tho - get to the other side of 45-50 and it's fine, likewise up to about 30 its ok just between 30 and 45-50ish it's quite a heavy 'whole-car' vibration  :?

Going to have it on the ramps again after work Wednesday and have the wheels off and have a looksy see if we can spot anything amiss.

[hobbit]

Not got a load of mud plastered round the wheel have you, can be rather annoying when dried!

Try swapping with the spare

[ChrisW]

No Kev nothing like that - it came on suddenly after we'd had all the wheels off to change brake pipes on the back end (easier access for bleeding with all the wheels off).

I did notice that one of the weights on one of the rears was a bit loose but its still happening after being rebalanced  :roll:

[Matt_H]

Russ Brown-Lee(some of you may know him) told me that rear wheels dont really need balancing.  Have you got a spare set you can swap with?

Matthew

[hobbit]

Didn't see the last line about the spare swapping sorry for repeating

Have you got access to a spare set of wheels, so you could eliminate the ones you have on as the problem, otherwise try a front to rear swap, did  the wheels go back onto the same corners they came off?

[ChrisW]

No not got access to a spare set - they're 245/75's I'm running.
The wheels all went back in their original positions both when we did the brakes and when kwik fit re-balanced them.

Will try a front to back swap first when we have a look if we can't spot anything, failing that will try the spare on each wheel and see if it makes a difference.

[hobbit]

Shame your not closer, got plenty of wheels round here you could borrow to eliminate that factor, but it sound like thats where your probs lie, it may mean a tyre strip down and re-fit, can't see that, unless the balancing machine was not suitable for the 16" wheels, and did not set correctly

[ChrisW]

UJ on the front prop gearbox end
 :(bigoops):  :(bigangry):  :(mad):

[Matt_H]

ahh well at least it's only £20 ish for a new one.  The most frustrating bit is not knowing what the problem is.  How did you narrow it down in the end?

Matthew

[ChrisW]

Well.... just before it started wobbling there was a squeaking noise low speed related.
On Friday the wobble almost disappeared - but the noise came back. I noticed later in the day a clunk developing taking up the drive, had a quick fiddle with the props and felt a bit of slack in the front  :roll:

On the ramps this morning swapping over to a new one!  :D
Quick oil and filter change and fuel filter, grease all the nipples we could find.
Looked at the front swivel seal that was leaking and hmmm'd and arrr'd a bit and decided to have a full day on her one Saturday in the not too distant future  

[hobbit]

Annoying how the problem can travel down the drive train, crawling round trying to isolate the problem you can hear against the other problems, that could be there too :?