Steering wheel vibration @ 95-105 kph

[MINT96SS]

This is doing my head in. Here goes:

Rims are perfectly round.

Tyres have a little bit of runout (Bridgestone Adrenalin RE001) but minimal. Changed from B530s with no difference.

Balanced using back-cone method, down to 1 gram.

Tierods, balljoints, wheel bearings - no movement at all, and I checked this both with the weight on and off the wheels. Spin front wheels, no noises, nothing.

Can't feel play in centre bearing, nor anywhere else in driveshaft.

Car brakes dead straight, no pedal vibration, so rotors should be true.

Car drives arrow-straight otherwise.

I'm REALLY running out of ideas.

Any suggestions?????

1996 VS S2 SS.

Cheers

[admir87]

that is really weird,
my cousin has an EL falcon, and it does the Exact same, only a slight vibration through the steering wheel at 110-115km only, and if you go under that or over that, it goes completely away

would like to get some insight aswell

[neet_wagon]

Sounds like you've covered everything it could be..
Is the vibration ONLY throught he steering wheel? Or through the whole car?

[MINT96SS]

I can sometimes feel a vibration through the floor on my side as well, especially if I gun it.

Under/over these speeds it's fine.

[neet_wagon]

Auto or manual?
I'm thinking Balance (flywheel/flex-plate/harmonic-balancer), or torque-converter here....

[James39]

Worn engine mounts?

[MINT96SS]

It's an auto.

[westbad]

have you tried a complete different set of wheels?

[Brett_jjj]

Vibrating steering wheel could be worn rack ends or a worn rack or other steering components.Also the engine mounts ,gearbox/trans mount,and rear upper and lower arm bushes, once worn out put the tailshaft out of whack and causes vibrations.These engine mounts collapse,they dont have to be broken to be stuffed.My engine sat about an inch higher in the engine bay once the engine mounts were replaced.Mine was vibrating bad around 90-110 kmh,and by replacing the engine mounts,the trans mount,the centre bearing,universal joints and the rear bushes it runs perfect now with no vibration at all at any speed.

[neet_wagon]

If it was the engine mounts, wouldn't it be noticable at most, if not all engine speeds?

[WPN-42L]

Sometimes at high speed the tires aren't exactly round. This has happened to me once before. Are you sure its through the steering wheel? can you feel it through the seat? If its through the seat its one of the rear tires. If its through the steering wheel its one of the front tires. Do you have any stockies or other wheels at home with tires? Change one wheel at a time and take it for a HWY run. Keep doing this until you find out which tire it is, then replace it, process of elimination.

[hako]

Just get the front wheels balanced on the car - this will also balance the brake disc, wheel nuts, trim etc....everything that rotates.

[redvs2]

is it more prominant when the car is underload... say going up an incline at that speed... also have you tried that speed in 3rd instead of 4th. My brother's mother in law's prado did this in 4th at 70. but in 3rd it was fine. if its fine in 3rd at 95-105 i'd get the auto looked at

[MINT96SS]

Thanks for the responses guys.

The auto was serviced 7k ago. It's done 107k now, so it's not a high mileage car especially for a '96.

I bought it in June 09, previous owner had it from Nov 01, and used it to tow a boat in summer.

The vibration is not more prominent under load. At times (not often) it can behave perfectly up to and over 105, but it can kick in when I decelerate back to 105-95, then once under 95 it's gone.

I've also selected neutral when the wheel starts to shake, makes no difference.

I'm happy to spend the money to get whatever needs replacing replaced, but I don't want to spend a fortune replacing parts that never needed it trying to find the source.

[moff_man]

Balanced using back-cone method, down to 1 gram.

can you explain the black cone method? is it a type of ballancer?

the only true way of ballancing tyers on rims is to put them on a ballancer. other than that there must be a defect in the tires

[MINT96SS]

You slide the cone on the shaft of the balancer first, then place and secure the tyre/rim assembly.

[James39]

It's an auto.

So? it would still cause a vibration....

[hako]

Found this:
For those of you who are very sensitive about vibrations and your shop can't seem to get that last bit of vibration out, check to see if you have locking wheel lugs. Some locking lugs are as much as 1.5 ounces heavier than the other lug nuts which translates to about 1/2 ounce at the wheel rim. Try putting a 1/2 ounce weight opposite the locking lug and see if it helps.

Also

"Finish" wheel balancing machines are often referred to as on-vehicle balancers. Finish balancers are useful for checking the accuracy of the wheel mounting on the vehicle. Finish balancers can be used to prevent small mounting errors creating vibration which will cause ride disturbance. On-vehicle wheel balancing machines balance on the static plane only, therefore cannot prevent vibration caused by dynamic imbalance

[markholland]

HI
Take your car to any Bob Jane Tyres shop and get them to do a Pro base Bronze balance. They are the best to get the tyre and rim running true.

[Asmodai78]

[QUOTE=hako;1486344]Found this:
For those of you who are very sensitive about vibrations and your shop can't seem to get that last bit of vibration out, check to see if you have locking wheel lugs. Some locking lugs are as much as 1.5 ounces heavier than the other lug nuts which translates to about 1/2 ounce at the wheel rim. Try putting a 1/2 ounce weight opposite the locking lug and see if it helps.

some air of truth about this, i run the VS GTS tri spoke rims and for a long time i was getting a vibration through out the whole car at about 80 to 110 and it was driving me crazy to the point where i was not enjoying driving the car around, anyway my grandfather (retired mech) said to put the lock nuts on the oppersite side of the tyre valve, so i did and presto no more vibration, it was getting to the point where i was sure it was the rims being out of round and warped and i had them tested a few times with the same result.

[MINT96SS]

I'm in NZ, so no Bob Jane. No locknuts, either. The stock nuts are torqued to 115Nm.

[slepar]

this happenend to me ages ago in my old vh sle, i got the rotors machined and put a brand new set of pads on it and it went away, could be worth a try?

[jamiepasslow]

Just get the front wheels balanced on the car - this will also balance the brake disc, wheel nuts, trim etc....everything that rotates.

This is the best course of action from the sounds if it. The machine can spin up much faster than the off-car balancers and will get the dynamic balance of the whole wheel assembly. Also chek that the tyre pressures are OK and the tyre wear is not irregular.

[MINT96SS]

I'm considering slotted rotors and adjustable Konis for it anyway, and my link rods are clunking too.

But the 110k service is due first, so I'll get the front end THOROUGHLY looked over, including the rack, just in case I've missed something.

Driving home tonight it actually behaved pretty well, so go figure?????

[BlackVXGTS]

Rule of thumb. Vibration under 80kph - front wheels/balance/front end. Vibration over 80kph - rear wheels/balance. Doesn't seem logical but that was the problem with my VS Calais.