Steering wheel shake at highway speeds

[mistaleungg]

I've had a highway shake from around 75mph+ for 2-3 years now. It started completely out of the blue, was on the highway one day and suddenly had a shake. Since then I've made numerous part changes along the way that have made no difference. New wheel bearings, tie rod ends, different set of coilovers (may have even started before the prior set of coilovers as well), different wheels, more than one set of tires, and adjustable sway bar end links. All but the bearings and rod ends were just modifications along the course of time. Subframe is tight, no play found in the front control arm bushings (SuperPro ALK handles the rear mounting point), engine and trans mounts upgraded to Vibratecnics last year. No play at all when the wheel is lifted off ground and shaken and can't feel any play in the axle joints. It's super annoying since I ride the PA Turnpike often which has a 70mph speed limit and traffic that moves closer to 80. Thinking of replacing the driveshafts next in case it is the inner CV joint (even though it feels fine by hand). Car drives totally fine and smooth up til mid 70's. I would LOVE to get this solved. I plan on trying the replacement driveshafts soon, will report back if any change.

Edit-Forgot to add I also changed out the ball joints with SuperPro roll center correcting units when I did the bearings and rod ends

I have similar problems with my car.
I am suspecting worn balljoint or worn wheel bearing.
Also, can a warped rotor cause such vibration?

 

[SmokiesGTI]

I am experiencing the same issue on my car. My commute is 30 miles (60 each way) all highway and I usually set the cruise 75-80 and my steering wheel shakes pretty much constantly. A mild vibration is felt throughout the whole car. It is rock solid under 70mph and over 85ish is goes away again. My car was in need of an alignment after I purchased new tires (continental extreme contact DWS 06), but I procrastinated and let it go and I think I wore my tires unevenly. I just recently had an alignment done and was really looking forward to the issue going away. Unfortunately, it is still present at 70-80mph. I have rotated the tires with no change. I have gotten used to the shaking and thought it will go away with new tires, as it wasn't an issue with the previous stock Dunlops. I never thought this was an issue our cars could have? I haven't tried to replace any major parts, my car is completely stock. I am planning to upgrade the brake system this year with a ECS tuning upgrade kit and was thinking of maybe a rear sway bar to help with understeer. I am definitely interested in this thread and will continue to follow this to see if the front sway bar or bushings helps with your cars. Thanks for posting and good luck with your fix.

 

[riceburner]

HEY figured i would update this thread to OP and all else.

Keeping afformentioned posts from myself in mind, I at least for now have cured the shake.

I did all new wheel bearings (went with the most expensive ones that ECS sells that weren't OEM) and also did front ball joints. So, one of the two cured the shake, or maybe a combo of both. If you aren't hearing any sort of wheel bearing grind or 'thumpa-thumpa-thumpa' while cruising, i'd start with ball joints.

To keep in mind, my mods which could have played factors (and I had wheel shake before and after these) are VWR springs, adjustable sway bar endlinks, deadset kit, front stress bar, all motor/trans mounts, and a superpro anti lift kit.

 

[kram]

HEY figured i would update this thread to OP and all else.

Keeping afformentioned posts from myself in mind, I at least for now have cured the shake.

I did all new wheel bearings (went with the most expensive ones that ECS sells that weren't OEM) and also did front ball joints. So, one of the two cured the shake, or maybe a combo of both. If you aren't hearing any sort of wheel bearing grind or 'thumpa-thumpa-thumpa' while cruising, i'd start with ball joints.

To keep in mind, my mods which could have played factors (and I had wheel shake before and after these) are VWR springs, adjustable sway bar endlinks, deadset kit, front stress bar, all motor/trans mounts, and a superpro anti lift kit.

Did you do rear bearings as well?

 

[riceburner]

Yes i did. I wasn't positive which wheel/s were going out so i just bit the bullet and did them all lol. Well worth the peace of mind. The quietness of the rolling noise is so nice!

 

[kram]

Yes i did. I wasn't positive which wheel/s were going out so i just bit the bullet and did them all lol. Well worth the peace of mind. The quietness of the rolling noise is so nice!

Good to know! Thanks!

I posted in the other thread that was quoted in this one... I've had this issue forever.

I've changed wheels/tires/brakes/shocks/struts/springs/multiple balances etc etc....no improvement.

I've done one of my front wheel bearings, but it seems like its going out again. I have not done ball joints yet. Also have shaking in the rear...

Think I have to just bite the bullet like you did & change em all...I would love this car if it weren't for this. I do a ton of highway driving & hate it.

 

[riceburner]

Yep I'd probably start with the ball joints. If the boots and bushings are too work out I can see them having too much slip, which can allow the wheel to shake at speed.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

 

[MMKAY6]

I’ll have to try some of the suggestions in here. My car started shaking mildly at highway speeds about a year ago. Replaced the tires and had them roadforce balanced a few times and had multiple alignments performed. The shake just doesn’t want to go away and has gotten worse and what makes it worse it that it started out of the blue with only 35k miles on the car.

 

[MMKAY6]

Quick update:

I've been dealing with the shaking steering wheel at highway speeds for a year now. Replaced all 4 tires, had multiple alignments performed as stated above and had my suspension checked which checked fine.
This weekend I decided to try something else. Instead of just moving the wheels on the passenger side from the front to the back and vice-versa I just switched the wheels from one side of the car to the other as a last check. The vibration is just about gone!
So it looks like the wheels on my passenger side have an issue as they vibrate no matter which wheel is at the front. Here's the mystery though:
- Vibration was present with the old tires
- New tires were mounted in February of this year
- Balanced multiple times and even road force balanced

 

[SmokiesGTI]

Quick update:

I've been dealing with the shaking steering wheel at highway speeds for a year now. Replaced all 4 tires, had multiple alignments performed as stated above and had my suspension checked which checked fine.
This weekend I decided to try something else. Instead of just moving the wheels on the passenger side from the front to the back and vice-versa I just switched the wheels from one side of the car to the other as a last check. The vibration is just about gone!
So it looks like the wheels on my passenger side have an issue as they vibrate no matter which wheel is at the front. Here's the mystery though:
- Vibration was present with the old tires
- New tires were mounted in February of this year
- Balanced multiple times and even road force balanced

I am prepping for Wookies in the Woods this week and am definitely trying this!

 

[GTIZRX]

I will share my experience with steering wheel shake. I own 2 2013 MK VI Golf R's. My TR 4-door I bought new and have modified it but I will stick with the mods that affect steering wheel shake. This car has 34,000 miles. I did as some in this thread had done like changing tires with another car. Just a FYI make sure the tires you swap on are balanced as I was told they were but found out later they were not. This would have saved me a lot of time. I have stock shocks with euro springs, Neuspeed front & rear sway bars, B6 Passat aluminum front lower control arms and bearing carriers (I bought all of these parts new not used) Tyrol Sport front & rear dead set kits, Audi S3 solid rubber control arm bushings, Uni-Brace underbrace and Neuspeed RSe 12 rims with Michelin PSS tires. This car developed shake at speeds above 70 mph and I had it aligned, changed wheel bearings, reinstalled the stock control arm bushings and several tire balance attempts with no success. I did find when I did a road force balance that one tire would not balance as good as the others so I decided to get new tires as these were 3/4 worn. New tires fixed the issue so I reinstalled the Audi S3 control arm bushings and all was well. Well the shake came back recently as the car had set all winter, I drove it about 60 miles and it didn't get any better as I thought the tires were just flat spotted. I had no dash light but I checked the tire pressure (I know check them after sitting during winter months) and they were 7 psi low so I adjusted the pressures and after another drive it has all smoothed out. I think this car is more sensitive to tire balance and pressure due to the mods to stiff-in it up. My 2013 CW 2-door Golf R I bought with 44,000 miles (this is my daily driver) and it now has 47,000 miles and it is all stock and it had a slight shake at speed but it has some real real cheap tires and they are terrible. With this car all it needed was quality tires and a good balance. I don't know if this helps anybody but for my 2 cars it came down to quality rims and tires with correct tire pressures. The PSS tire from the TR R that didn't want to balance had no funny wear or any visual indicators that it had an issue but it was the issue. Hope this might help someone.

 

[damagi123]

I will share my experience with steering wheel shake. I own 2 2013 MK VI Golf R's. My TR 4-door I bought new and have modified it but I will stick with the mods that affect steering wheel shake. This car has 34,000 miles. I did as some in this thread had done like changing tires with another car. Just a FYI make sure the tires you swap on are balanced as I was told they were but found out later they were not. This would have saved me a lot of time. I have stock shocks with euro springs, Neuspeed front & rear sway bars, B6 Passat aluminum front lower control arms and bearing carriers (I bought all of these parts new not used) Tyrol Sport front & rear dead set kits, Audi S3 solid rubber control arm bushings, Uni-Brace underbrace and Neuspeed RSe 12 rims with Michelin PSS tires. This car developed shake at speeds above 70 mph and I had it aligned, changed wheel bearings, reinstalled the stock control arm bushings and several tire balance attempts with no success. I did find when I did a road force balance that one tire would not balance as good as the others so I decided to get new tires as these were 3/4 worn. New tires fixed the issue so I reinstalled the Audi S3 control arm bushings and all was well. Well the shake came back recently as the car had set all winter, I drove it about 60 miles and it didn't get any better as I thought the tires were just flat spotted. I had no dash light but I checked the tire pressure (I know check them after sitting during winter months) and they were 7 psi low so I adjusted the pressures and after another drive it has all smoothed out. I think this car is more sensitive to tire balance and pressure due to the mods to stiff-in it up. My 2013 CW 2-door Golf R I bought with 44,000 miles (this is my daily driver) and it now has 47,000 miles and it is all stock and it had a slight shake at speed but it has some real real cheap tires and they are terrible. With this car all it needed was quality tires and a good balance. I don't know if this helps anybody but for my 2 cars it came down to quality rims and tires with correct tire pressures. The PSS tire from the TR R that didn't want to balance had no funny wear or any visual indicators that it had an issue but it was the issue. Hope this might help someone.

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