Diagnose my Viabration

[someguy360]

Hi Guys.

Over the past few months my VS has had a slight shudder/shake while driving between 50-70km/h (not really enough to notice unless I am focusing on it but annoying none the less being a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to my car)


Things i have done:
* Uni Joints & Center Bearing
* Engine Mounts
* Trans Mounts
* Wheels re-aligned and balanced

Only other thing I can think of is a slight miss?

Any other ideas or things to check.

thanks

[Jxw]

cv joint? did you check this when you did the uni's? no nasty damage to the tailshaft? not dented or possibly need balancing?
Whole car shaking/shuddering? pedals? steering wheel?

[FstStig]

Check your front Castor rod, Z bar and Swaybar linkage bushes... My bet will be on one of them.

[Fenix_Longbow]

It could also be warped rotors...

[Jonah 101]

get your wheels balenced.

[RX25SE]

cv joint? did you check this when you did the uni's?

Im thinking this.

It may need re-greasing. Mark the position of the front and rear shaft but dont disassemble the joint itself as they are a nightmare to get back together.

[someguy360]

It could also be warped rotors...

I was thinking of this earlier, the rotors have felt like they are slightly pulsating when I have been braking so the rotors could be sticking in the calipers as I drive.

I can feel the pulse through the steering wheel and floor pan.

Its only so small that I really have to be paying attention to notice it.

where is the CV joint?, I only know about the bearing and uni's

[FstStig]

CV Joints are at the rear of the Car, coming off the Diff. Providing it is IRS they will have CV boots and Shaft, if it is a Live Axel, it will be a Axel inside the diff.
Wrapped rotors are really only noticeable when applying the brake and feeling a big shudder.... I'm still thinking front of the Vehicle.

[ONEJZX90]

I had this problem on my Vr after having everything balanced and then replacing bushes, rotors etc. took the car to a mate that finger balanced the rims and its disappeared

[Jxw]

no the cv joint i was referring to is in front of the center bearing (the round joint that moves/articulates) in the tail shaft, if you can feel it in the floor pan i'd be looking at the tail shaft, not sure on price but maybe get it balanced?

I doubt it'll be the irs if you can feel it in the steering.

As RX25SE said don't pull it apart completely and have the ball bearings free, it is indeed a nightmare to put them back together unless you've done it before.

If you pull the tail shaft out again, hold the back section (in a vice with softjaws and only enough to hold it, don't crush it, works best) and see if you can rotate the front section clockwise & anti clockwise, there should be no rotational play, did you move it around when it was off the tailshaft when you did the center bearing and make sure it felt smooth and had no binding?

As said warped rotors are generally felt when braking not so much just driving. they won't stick to the calipers as such, if they were warped they'd just push the brake pads apart more untill they were clear. Guessing when they did the wheel alignment they would've noticed if any bushes were worn that bad to cause an issue also as it would've made it hard to align properly.

[someguy360]

Thanks for the advice guys.

Just for the record the car is live axle not IRS

I have also replaced the upper control arms as the bushes were shot.

I will go over the front of the car but it had all new bushes right round on the front end around 5 months ago but will double check anyway.

The only thing on the front that hasn't been replaced is the drivers side Tie rod end......I replaced the passenger side around 3 months ago but didn't do the drivers side....I have jacked the car up and the wheel doesn't seem to have any play so don't think its that but still a possibility i guess.

[Decicrate]

Did you check your propeller shaft phasing?

[Jonah 101]

my first car had a bulge in one of the tyres, it could be felt at lower speeds but wasnt noticable after 80-100k

[the_boozer]

I'm probably sending you down the garden path here as this is 2nd hand info, the other day a mate of mine come around and borrowed a coil pack he said on the way over it was missing around the 70k mark and he was wondering if the back windows where gunna fall out of his vs.

[someguy360]

I am thinking more and more to plugs/leads.

I have done a search for and heaps say that around the 60km/h range they got a slight shudder like mine and it was bad plugs and leads causing a slight miss.

Picked up some new plugs today, will test them tomorrow and will then move on to leads and see how I go

[sleepyjean]

Check your tyres for a slight bulge in the side walls

[Darcon666]

The problem is rotational in nature so anything that rotates is the issue:- F Tyres-->F Rims-->F Stub axel-->F Disc-->Engine-->Clutch/Gearbox-->Tailshaft-->Diff-->CV's-->R Stub axel-->R Disc-->R Rims-->R Tyres.


+1 for the rear CV's... my VX clubby had this 8-10 months ago and I could also feel it through the steering as well... Removed the ones on my track car and put them into my clubby, problem gooone.

Good Luck with it...

[someguy360]

Ok so slight development

Replaced plugs and leads as they were due for it anyway. (also borrowed some coil packs to rule them out)


Then only today I noticed the problem occurs when the car is rolling at 60 in neutral aswel as drive....so it can't be engine related.

Any other ideas, all front end bushes are new (within the last few months)

The only thing I can think of left on the front end is the slightly warped rotors as the I get this shudder at 60 but i can feel it get alot worse as I am slowing down so thinking it something braking related, maybe something sticking or not moving properly while I am driving and getting worse when braking? or something else front end related?

[Wombles]

Hows the bushes? They can shudder under brakes. (Sway bar and castor.)
Hows the tie rods?

[FstStig]

Stuffed bearings in your struts can cause vibration. Might be worth having them looked at. Probably be a pretty good guess if they have been there since factory.

[someguy360]

Stuffed bearings in your struts can cause vibration. Might be worth having them looked at. Probably be a pretty good guess if they have been there since factory.

Strut tops/bearings are only a month old, struts themselves are old and worn though (date stamped 1997 haha) but yeah the top end of them have both been replaced when I did the springs

All front end bushes are new and pretty tight....one tie rod end has been replaced, one hasn't....neither have any play


Another symptom of the problem is the gear shifter shakes up and down, regardless of wheather the car is in gear or neutral aslong as I am rolling it does it

[FstStig]

How's your gearbox mount looking?

[someguy360]

Gearbox mount is fine, replaced them when I put the new trans in a couple of months back (the shake has been pre-existing to this so it ruled out anything to do with the trans)

[FstStig]

OK Lets move to the rear of the car for a moment. How are the:

Rear lower trailing arms
Rear Sway bar bushes
Rear Sway bar linkage bushes?

[Jonah 101]

I know drive shafts are balanced, when you reco them its important to put them back together the same way they came apart. If you don't I have heard of them vibrating.

So does it look like the Uv joints have been done in the past?