Steering & Seat vibration ???

[Charlie23]

Hi Guys,

I have been experiencing steering wheel shaking for a few weeks on my 2009 A4 Avant, so thought it would be wheel balancing, got the wheels balance and it seemed to be worse. Following Day had balancing done again on a Hunter laser balancer and again the same or even a little worse again?

When you get to about 64mph right up to 80mph there is a constant shake in the steering wheel and also a vibration in the seat, which can also be felt in the back?

I do have 20" Replica Rotas on 2 months old but it cant be the wheels as since the balancing it seems to be worse more than better?

Done a few searches and found front Top & Bottom Control arm faults on 2008/2009 vehicles would this cause vibration?

I'm trying to find another set of wheels so I can cancel out the wheels and then the next step was change the Control Arms but thought I would ask and see if anyone else has any suggestions or experiences in this?

Any help much appreciated

 

[jdp1962]

Four-wheel alignment?

 

[A4B82.0tfsi-12]

Well since you have 20's on, every tiny subframe/control arm/bushing fault, will be far greater than with 17's. Would be necessary to try a equal size and et set of wheels, to rule out your set.

If you have vibration in both steering wheel and seat, it is a good idea to check out the quality of the whole drive line.

 

[Charlie23]

Had alignment was all spot on.

Drive train as in Driveshaft, Bearings, Gearbox ect ect?

I wouldn't say its a mechanical vibration defo down to the wheels or along tho's lines.

Have to start some investigation.

I'm hoping its the wheels or even the tyres soon see.

 

[A4B82.0tfsi-12]

Could be a delamination of the cord in the tire.

 

[Chilly]

Or it could be the window seal out of alignment......

unbalenced indicator.......

Faulty door lock..........

Where do these people come from??????

Sounds mechanical, isolate it to a particular movement i.e. Steering acceleration / deceleration or on a suspension bump / rebound etc, if possible get all four wheels off the floor and check systematically every component, bushes, bearings etc in the suspension, steering and drive train, then work back towards the drive shafts, gearbox and engine mounts.

Alternatively take it to a good garage, but certainly take some of the suggestions on here with a pinch of salt.

Best of luck

Chilly

 

[Charlie23]

Hahaha It was the RH wiper blade loose all along hahahahaha

Well tonight I just swapped the wheels around back to front, fronts to rears, on doing that I had the car over a pit (work in hgv garage) and checked all busses etc etc all looks good and tight. Will give the at a run later and hopefully see some sort of change to narrow a few items down. I’m still thinking it the wheels or the tyres just strange it wasn’t as bad before.
Soon see hopeful have an update later/tomorrow.

Thanks for the input much appreciated

 

[A4B82.0tfsi-12]

You dis the previous suggestions, and...

He has the vibrations between 64 and 80 mph, so you recommend checking for faults when acceleration/deceleration etc etc.

Taking your advice with a fist of salt...

 

[Charlie23]

Sorry I’m lost here a little with what’s going on??

But I’m great full for all your help and suggestions.

Accelerating and Deceleration seem all fine, it’s seems to be while cruising between 64mph and 80 mph you can feel it. If your at 80 and put the brakes on all Seems good and acceleration is fine until you get to tho’s speeds and it’s a constant wobble. Only way to describe it 100% is wheel balancing out or a slightly buckled wheel tang description is spot on for what I’m geting. Bar the wheels balanced up fine twice on 2 different machine???

 

[Attila_tdi]

Put your hands over your brakes and check if one of them is hot. I have the same issue (read my other threads) as I am having a stuck caliper which is leading to horrible judder from 70mph onwards. My disc is blue from the heat cycles. Could be that?

 

[Charlie23]

Thanks mate will take a look at this

 

[forty3]

Might sound silly but I had 2 replacement tyres, wheel balancing and alignment done to sort out vibration on the motorway.

Turned out to be a buckled alloy which I had repaired. None of the previous garages mentioned it might be a cause of the problem and charged me for stuff that didn't need doing.

Hope you get it sorted as it's incredibly frustrating.

 

[RS5 JON]

Bit of a long shot, but you say you've not long put 20 inch rep's on your car, do they have spigot rings, as most rep's come with a larger centre bore to allow multi fit to various models of cars. Spigot rings are usually required and if not fitted or are the wrong size, this could cause the symptoms you describe.

JG

 

[Dangray]

Thanks mate will take a look at this

Sorry to bring this thread up again, I’m having the same issues, did you ever work it out ? @Charlie23

 

[pelhamsdetailing]

Had this on my car for almost the entire life of owning it, except I had 17s. I also had steering wheel judder under braking on the original set of brake discs. It was a combination of a buckled front wheel and warped brake discs. After no end of wheel balancing, I had the front discs changed to hopefully solve the issue. Ironically, the replacement had a factory defect and was also warped. This was changed under warranty, and that solved braking judder and 95% of the high speed judder. I had become so used to this shaky mess that I was overly sensitive to it, and there was still that 5% shake I was not wealthy enough to tackle. It was very, very subtle though, and could only be felt through the steering wheel at 80MPH+.

Wheel balancing. Brake discs. Upper/lower arms. A bent drive axle would be the worse case scenario. You can pay for the labour and ask a reputable garage to take the front discs off the car and check to see if they're warped. Mine had a dedicated device for that.