Steering shaking at high speed

[lemarin]

I recently made some upgrades on my '12 Golf R. Since then, my steering wheel shakes, sometime, sometime more, sometime less, at different speed (all above 140 km/h). I know it's not the tires, since it shakes on both, my winter tires and summer tires as well.
What can that be ?

here are the upgrades I've done recently, all at once:

-H & R sport spring
-Koni yellow
-White line lower arm bushing
-Tyrolsport subframe bolts kit

Also, I just put brand new set of front rotors+pads. Maybe the rotor does'nt sit properly on the hub ?

Any idea ?

 

[JhnR]

get an alignment done

 

[lemarin]

get an alignment done

I forgot to mention, that I had an alignment done the same day, after everthing was installed.

Only the brake were done later on, here in my own garage.

Maybe I need another alignment now that the spring are settle down ?

 

[mtorrent]

Lower arm bushes. Let some time to break in or verifiy the installation. I would go that way

 

[speedster]

Shaking while going around gentle corners (sweepers) at high speed?

 

[lemarin]

Shaking while going around gentle corners (sweepers) at high speed?

Actually, it shakes at highway speed (140 km/h+), strait line, gentle curves, sometime under acceleration, sometime during deceleration, while I keep the clutch disengage. Sometime at 140, sometime at 150, sometime, nothing at all !

It's very random....

And no shake at all under low speed, 70 or 50 km/h.

 

[TheRealveedub11]

I'm also experiencing the same symptoms.

 

[TheRealveedub11]

From my days as a TDI owner, found that they always have the best troubleshooting http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=347745

 

[lemarin]

I did not made many testdrive at high speed recently, but I reinstalled my front brakes (pads+rotors), and made a better cleaning of every parts, especially Under the rotor and I believe it solves my problem, so far.

I'll testdrive it again by next week.

 

[Edmundo]

Take a look at this diagnostic chart View attachment vibechart.pdf

 

[lemarin]

Take a look at this diagnostic chart View attachment 40092

Thanks for the chart. Today was shaking even more, so I started to try a diagnostic.

First of all, my right front tire was down to 28 PSI....all three other we're still up to 41 PSI, as recommended in the owner manual. This doen't help very much. I'll kee an eye on this one, to make sure it's not a flat tire.

Also, my torque wrench is broken, so I bought a new one to make sure I torque each bolt to the proper 88 lbs recommended by VW.

Then I switched both left tires, front to rear, and remove the lock nut on the front tire, just to make sure I eliminate every possibility. If there's no changes, I'll perform the same for the right side.

I'l drive her again tomorrow morning.

Also I was wondering, last summer on the track, I was turning clockwise, is it possible that my front left tire was so worn on the outside, that it's now unbalanced ?

By the next few weeks, I'll get the car realign again as the spring are now setteld down, and I'll have all 4 wheels rebalanced as well.

 

[Kato]

I'm having the exact same issue, the steering wheel and seat/armrest will shake above 135km/h...all 4 wheels were re-balanced with Roadforce, and alignment were done...shake remained.

Brought the car to a local dealership, they checked all suspension components, and everything was in spec. The technician advised during road test, he could feel the vibration too at heavy braking, and have estimated I have a wrapped rotor, and it could be causing the vibration at high speed.

New rotors/pads has been ordered, I will report back in a month if that would eliminated the annoying vibration.

BTW, I also has the Whiteline ALK, however that was installed last summer, and no vibration during that nor in winter.

 

[lemarin]

Thanks for feedback. I do have new rotors+pads installed up front. I'll have my mechanic to check at the same time as the re-alignment, to make sure I installed+greased all component properly.

It could be a coilspring not in proper position ? I also taught it could be my Koni yellow, which are now at the middle position: maybe they are too stiff for our horrible public road ? Maybe the rebound is too quick on our rough pavement ?

 

[Kato]

It could, but my DG springs were installed two season ago...the vibration started to surface around Dec last year, even with my winter wheels on.

I'm hoping it is just a wrapped rotor(s) that's causing this.

 

[peterbg16]

What do your tires look like? Get your wheels rotated and see if it's still there.
I had the same symptoms and it was feathering on the tires.

Also, It's possible that you/your shop warped the rotors when tightening the wheel bolts. Most people don't know/don't care, but overtorquing the wheels to the rotor can cause it to warp. Especially new ones that are being broken in. Torque is 88ftlbs. I would not go past 95ftlbs.

This becomes an issue with shops, if they do not use the proper torque sticks when impacting the bolts. I personally watched a shop I trust fully torque my front wheels to 120ftlbs and claim it was not a problem.

Pretty easy way to check a warped rotor is to take off your wheel and spin it by putting a bolt in so you can have good grip. Look directly into the mating between the pad and rotor, spin it slow then fast and feel/listen/look for differences in feel at certain parts of the spin. If you feel anything, reverse it and spin it again right away. If it recreates it at that specific spot you have a warp. If they spin completely evenly then I would look elsewhere.

A warped rotor under breaking will give off a definitive shake.

Also, check torque specs on the Control Arm. Overtightening there can also lead to vibrations and shakes. Same with the Tyrol Sport Kit.