Steering Wheel Wobble at 100+ Kmph


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Hello All,

I have recently got a Scorpio Automatic. I had not noticed till recently when I had the opportunity to drive 100+ km/hour and I started to feel the wobbling/vibration in my steering going through my hands, I was not very comfortable and had to keep it below 80km/hour.
The tyres have run around 10k and the threads are good and they are Michelin AT.
What could be possible causes and solution starting from small to big..
Thank you in Advance,
 
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Re: Steering wheel wobble at 100+ KMS/Hour

Hi Sunmmoha,

Welcome aboard. The steering wobble can be caused due to various reasons. One of the most minor and common reason for the wobble could be an incorrect tire pressure. Over-inflated tires often lead to wobbly ride. If you find the tire pressure to be correct, it might be a result of slight misalignment of wheels, however it is unlikely because of the fact that there is no pull of the car toward a particular side.
 
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Re: Steering wheel wobble at 100+ KMS/Hour

It can be the wheel balancing issue. Try driving faster once. If it is wheel balancing issue the wobble should decrease after 120 or so. The classic symptom of wheel balancing issue is wobble between speeds say 90 to 120 or so. The range may differ.
 

allhyundaicars

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Re: Steering wheel wobble at 100+ KMS/Hour

It can be the wheel balancing issue. Try driving faster once. If it is wheel balancing issue the wobble should decrease after 120 or so. The classic symptom of wheel balancing issue is wobble between speeds say 90 to 120 or so. The range may differ.
I don't think you should recommend driving at higher speeds. Like sunmmoha said it gets really uncomfortable and scary to even do 100 kmph.

But i agree it's wheel balancing issue.
 
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Re: Steering wheel wobble at 100+ KMS/Hour

Thank you, Akash. this model cones with tyre tronics which monitors tyre pressure and warns if inflated or low. so i think we are good at that check but i can still have the sensor checked to see it it,s working. Ranger and Allhyundai thanks for the suggestion, I'll get balancing done as it is the cheap and primary thing to do, I'll update post that done.
 
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Re: Steering wheel wobble at 100+ KMS/Hour

Sunmmoha@

Welcome to TAI!

As HR said go to a good tire shop check out the Air,Alignment and do tire balancing. Issue will be solved unless it is the problem with Alloy/Disc(rim). In case such issues are there technicians there will inform you to repair/ replace the same.
 
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What could be possible causes and solution starting from small to big..
Thank you in Advance,
There are various factors that can contribute to steering while vibration at higher speeds. Sometimes vibrations are due to minor reasons such as a wheel balance weight falling off causing wheel balance issues, but it is not always the case. For example, a used car with tons of miles where the suspension components are questionable is highly likely to experience a similar issue. You have not mentioned whether your car is new/used, but I am just gonna talk about all the factors that can cause this issue.

Before you throw money to a mechanic, there are few basic checks which you can do your own. Check all four wheels and make sure that the lug nuts/bolts are still tight. If this is good, then check all four tire surfaces for uneven tread wear. If any of the tires are cupped(if you are not sure what tire cupping is, do a google search for images) it can also cause lead to vibrations. If you see any tire cupping, chances are high that the wheel alignment is off on your car in which case you need to replace the cupped tire and do an alignment afterwards.

The other two checks need you to jack up the car and then check each wheel individually for excessive play. You can skip these if you are not mechanically inclined.:) Excessive wheel play in the front wheels are caused by two factors; bad wheel bearings or bad inner tie rod ends. Where as in rear wheels, bad wheel bearing is the only cause for excessive play. To check for a bad tie rod end on front wheels, grab the wheel at 3 and 9 O'clock position with your hands and then move it in and out with force while it is on air. If you feel movement, then the tie rod ends are bad and is the reason why steering wheel is shaking at higher speeds. To check for a bad wheel bearing, grab the wheel at 6 and 12 O'clock position and then move it in and out with force. If you see movement, then the wheel bearing is bad and is the cause of vibration. Do the same wheel bearing check for the rear wheels as well. Driving on a failed wheel bearing is dangerous, it will cause uneven tire wear/vibrations and can kick out wheels from the hub while driving if it is in real bad shape.

If you did not find anything yet, then give the car to a tire shop to check the wheel balancing. I am pretty sure that the tire shops in India will also check for any bend in the wheels as well. A slight bend in any of the wheels can also cause similar problems. They might also do a tire rotation afterwards.

After all these service from the tire shop if you still experience vibrations, then your car has got a problem with the suspension such as worn struts or strut bearing/ mounts etc. Usually the tire shops will be able to check these as well, but am not sure how the tire shops there operates. You can ask them whether they will inspect suspension components as well, if not give it to a regular car mechanic.
 

allhyundaicars

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The other two checks need you to jack up the car and then check each wheel individually for excessive play. You can skip these if you are not mechanically inclined.:) Excessive wheel play in the front wheels are caused by two factors; bad wheel bearings or bad inner tie rod ends. Where as in rear wheels, bad wheel bearing is the only cause for excessive play. To check for a bad tie rod end on front wheels, grab the wheel at 3 and 9 O'clock position with your hands and then move it in and out with force while it is on air. If you feel movement, then the tie rod ends are bad and is the reason why steering wheel is shaking at higher speeds. To check for a bad wheel bearing, grab the wheel at 6 and 12 O'clock position and then move it in and out with force. If you see movement, then the wheel bearing is bad and is the cause of vibration. Do the same wheel bearing check for the rear wheels as well. Driving on a failed wheel bearing is dangerous, it will cause uneven tire wear/vibrations and can kick out wheels from the hub while driving if it is in real bad shape.
nice detailed reply [thumbsup] you covered up almost everything [:D]
anyways , the other day i replaced arm bush , ball joint and tie rod in my hyundai i10. http://www.theautomotiveindia.com/f...ndai-trio-santro-i10-verna-16.html#post402444

just wanted to let you know that there was no vibrations felt on the steering , just some kut-kut noise coming every time the car went into a pothole and on delhi roads it's like every 10 seconds :P

so replaced all these things and finally the sound stopped coming.
 
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anyways , the other day i replaced arm bush , ball joint and tie rod in my hyundai i10. http://www.theautomotiveindia.com/f...ndai-trio-santro-i10-verna-16.html#post402444

just wanted to let you know that there was no vibrations felt on the steering , just some kut-kut noise coming every time the car went into a pothole and on delhi roads it's like every 10 seconds :P
From what you have said, I believe you were only getting the clunking noise when your car was hitting bumps or potholes. Were you having any difficulty steering the car at those times? Because a tie rod which is in very bad shape capable of making loud clunking noise that frequent will in turn pull vehicle to it's sides during normal driving conditions and you would have easily felt this. Were you experiencing this? If not, then it sounded like your car was having either a bad control arm or a bad ball joint.

A worn ball joint can produce clunking/thudding noises when the weight of the vehicle is transferred onto the wheels like when driving through a pothole or over bumps. But ball joints are normally sealed for its life and do not normally go bad easily unless proper maintenance was not done. Remember that a ball joint needs greasing every 3k miles or so, I assume service centers in India will do this upon oil change.

To me, this sounds more like a bad control arm was making the noise in your car. The control arm rubber bushing failure is very common in all cars as the miles pile up. You may or may not experience a steering wheel vibration based on the speed at which you were going and the road conditions Ideally, you should drive on a straight smooth road at higher speeds than normal to check front end vibrations and shaking. The tie rods and ball joints were probably starting to go bad and your mechanic might have decided to change those as well when he is there..[;)]
 

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