steering wheel vibrating

[Suburban_Chi_GTi]

only at 50+ mph my steering wheel starting vibrating and if you accelerate hard at 50+ it becomes worse

its not wheel balance because it would be at slow speeds too

so i was thinking it was possibly control arm bushings?

i would like to figure it out before the dealer charges me too much

 

[RSMark5]

You can have a wheel out of balance and not feel it at low speeds. Just because you don't feel it doesn't mean its not there. Its just not happening at a frequency that you notice. Put it on a lift take the front wheels off and check the balance. While its up there take a poke around at the front and rear control arm bushings, give a nice shake to test the wheel bearings all the obvious things. My guess, wheel out of balance.

 

[Suburban_Chi_GTi]

You can have a wheel out of balance and not feel it at low speeds. Just because you don't feel it doesn't mean its not there. Its just not happening at a frequency that you notice. Put it on a lift take the front wheels off and check the balance. While its up there take a poke around at the front and rear control arm bushings, give a nice shake to test the wheel bearings all the obvious things. My guess, wheel out of balance.

i just got the rims a few months ago and had them balanced.
so that would suck if they fucked me over and didn't correctly balance them
and yeah ill lift up my car and check out the other parts

thanks

 

[RSMark5]

i just got the rims a few months ago and had them balanced.
so that would suck if they fucked me over and didn't correctly balance them
and yeah ill lift up my car and check out the other parts

thanks

I think you're getting close. New wheels leads to new vibration....could have a bent wheel, could have a wheel out of balance, could have a tire out of round. Lot of combinations.

 

[nvturbo]

More than likely it's a wheel out of balance. I had this same issue after having Discount Tire install new tires. One of the tires in the front was off balanced.

 

[GTIMKV20]

If you just had them balanced you could have easily lost a wheel balance weight and they are again out of balance. Take them back to the place that did them and explain the situation. I vote wheel/tire balance issue.

 

[Merkle]

i just got the rims a few months ago and had them balanced.
so that would suck if they fucked me over and didn't correctly balance them
and yeah ill lift up my car and check out the other parts

thanks

It's possible a wheel weight fell off as well. Rotate your tires front to rear and see what happens.

 

[N.W.Z]

I have the exact same thing, it is frustrating..
I don't think it is a wheel balance issue as I had all the wheels balanced three times this month without any progress.
I'm taking my car to the dealer, I'll let you know if they figure it out.

 

[Carbon Steel]

If you just had them balanced you could have easily lost a wheel balance weight and they are again out of balance. Take them back to the place that did them and explain the situation. I vote wheel/tire balance issue.

++1

 

[85RedGolf2.5]

depends on where you go to balance... If you go to a "one stop shop" of auto service, you won't get the best of people working on your car. But if you go to specialty shops, then you get specialty service.

As for the one that has an issue with Discount tire, Report that shop, They do not like when their business are not getting it right the first time. I talked to the manager at one when I had a problem, he threw in Road Hazard for free, and balanced them himself.

Anything over 45 MPH and vibrating is 95% of the Time a Tire or Wheel issue.

 

[Thomason84]

Given my 15 years as a mechanic I would say to jack your car up off the ground and place your hands on the tires 3 and 9 o'clock positon and slightly wiggle it (left to right) just enough to see if the tie rod ends are broken.

To check for the ball joints put your hands on the 12 and 6 o'clock position and wiggle. any movement means one or more of you joints are bad.

Usually a vibration in the steering wheel is a tie rod end because so many things can damage them and they are fairly weak. I would do this check before paying someone to balance your wheels. If you don't know how to do this, grab a friend that does.

 

[85RedGolf2.5]

Don't Tie Rods also wiggle at low speeds too, and what he is feeling is a vibration that gets worse as the speeds go up

 

[Thomason84]

Not necessarly. Usually it is felt at highway speeds (45 to 75). If it is really bad you would feel it all of the time.

 

[smrtypants44]

I would also make sure that your hubs don't have any accumulated rust on them which is preventing your wheels from being correctly seated

 

[Suburban_Chi_GTi]

I have the exact same thing, it is frustrating..
I don't think it is a wheel balance issue as I had all the wheels balanced three times this month without any progress.
I'm taking my car to the dealer, I'll let you know if they figure it out.

thanks man i appreciate that