steering wheel vibrates

metz · Post by **metz** » Thu Jun 10, 2004 6:52 pm

hiya guys wondered if anyone could help.

basically the car steers to the left slightly when i let go of wheel..i suppose thats just the tracking right?

under heavy braking from speed the steering wheel judders...would that be caused by the tracking or is there summat else at fault?

metz

hardhitter · Post by **hardhitter** » Thu Jun 10, 2004 7:27 pm

Your tracking might be out, best get it checked.

The judder under heavy braking could be due to warped discs or worn anti-roll bar bushes.

metz · Post by **metz** » Thu Jun 10, 2004 7:33 pm

i tried wobbling the front left wheel and im sure there was a slight clunk sound when i did it.
I'll nip to a garage 2morrow for tracking done and ask them to take a look while theyre at it.

Will it be a small (low price) job if disc is warped or anti roll bar bushers are feked?

metz

Tahrey1043 · Post by **Tahrey1043** » Thu Jun 10, 2004 8:47 pm

Sounds a bit like mine at the moment, and soon after i bought it as well. Nothing terminal and pretty easy to sort out. Well, at least... mine was. The pulling was the tracking (the AA service guys had to give the adjuster a steam-clean to unstick it, it was so far gone), and the front discs were a bit warped. Think they probably are now, it started juddering a little - though nowhere near the horrific level it was before - after i caned it a couple weeks back, and it seems to be wearing off again... guess more normal braking is wearing them back into a straight shape, without the intense heat that warped them... thank heaven!

(if you find it happens a lot, you might want vented discs... as i was considering the day after it happened!)

metz · Post by **metz** » Thu Jun 10, 2004 8:51 pm

i was just gunna say ive only got a 1043 so its no pocket rocket but i spotted u have a 1043 too.
under normal breaking the steering wheel is fine but on the way back from fox house in derbyshire i pressed the pedal with some force and the steering wheel nearly vibrated my arms off.

drives ok otherwise but i was a bit concerned summat might drop off at 60mph.

LogIK · Post by **LogIK** » Fri Jun 11, 2004 3:52 pm

Mine used to do that. When braking at high speeds, the steering wheel used to vibrate so much, I could hardly steer the car. I just replaced the pads and rotors (cost me about Â£20

) and the car now brakes perfectly at hight speeds.

It still wobbles at tiny bit sometimes, but thats coz my ARB bushes need replacing and my wheels are unbalanced.

SpikeyG40 · Post by **SpikeyG40** » Fri Jun 11, 2004 4:44 pm

could be the wieghts on ur wheels! thats what we think is y mine does it, at around 50mph it vibrates and stop at just under 60mph, it also does it on the way down from 60mph to 50mph when braking! tis quite vishous!

if i were u i would get ur wheels checked for the correct wieght! tis wot i am going to do sometime!

Tahrey1043 · Post by **Tahrey1043** » Fri Jun 11, 2004 5:38 pm

Yep, that's the sort of thing.... if you find yourself in the middle lane of a dry, deserted motorway with a sort verge... just give it a moderate push at 50-ish, hands off... and look at the hypnotic effect of the steering wheel twisting one way and t'other like a crazy pendulum.
I was sort of glad of it though - at the time i was unsure of my whole brake system and it let me know something was happening when i pushed the pedal!

A quick trip to a local garage (wierd - the Ford dealer turned out cheapest! and the parts are good, strong bite and have really lasted) and 70?? pounds later, some fresh discs and pads, the whole problem vanished.
Yeah I know it's something I could probably have done myself for thirty quid all in, but I'd rather have someone whose job it is day-in day-out deal with such an essential part, rather than boo-boo it up myself and suddenly find myself looking at the back end of an unexpected tailback at 80mph.... press the pedal, hear a clunk, and be alluvasudden relying on just the rear drums for stopping power...

(just remember not to abuse them for the first couple hundred miles after they're installed, otherwise you could glaze the coating before it's all bedded in, and it'll take an age for that to wear away and start working right..................
yep i only have a 1043, it's still the same weight of car to bring down from 70 or 80mph though, if you're leaving the braking til late! thankfully the engine power stops you from going as fast, or building the speed back up as quickly as a GT, but if you're really going hammer and tongs there's scope for overheating and damage. the discs and pads have to get rid of 30 seconds worth of 30kW acceleration in not very much time! the vented discs are just fitted as standard to the more powerful cars as you dont have to work anywhere near as hard to give the brakes a lot of stick. usually in a 1-litre you wont come anywhere close to overheating the discs

)

metz · Post by **metz** » Sat Jun 12, 2004 7:32 pm

looked at weights 2day,

passenger front has 20 (whatever weight it is lol)
driver front 50
driver back 40 (i think)
passenger back 15 (i think)

as i dint write em down like a normal person i can't be 100% on back 2.

also took some photos with digi camera and left the usb lead at my grandads house...DOH!!

metz

GroovyCarrot · Post by **GroovyCarrot** » Sun Jun 13, 2004 1:08 am

Mine used to have a bit of a judder braking from motorway speeds. Replaced the discs (Â£5 each

I love GFS..) and sanded the surface off my pads and it's fine again now

However, I'm slightly wishing I'd got vented discs because they really do heat up if I have a few people in the car and do a distance off the motorway.. I get disturbing brake fade and they start to squeak after a while, although nothing like as bad as they used to..

optima21 · Post by **optima21** » Sun Jun 13, 2004 9:36 am

yeah most cars will pull slightly to the left and its nothing to do with the car, its the camber of the road. Roads arent flat, they in theory have a slightly curved top so that the rain goes into the gutter

Tahrey1043 · Post by **Tahrey1043** » Sun Jun 13, 2004 6:33 pm

Along these lines my steerings been feeling a bit light of late, a bit of a worrying feeling... am i just going mad?

GroovyCarrot · Post by **GroovyCarrot** » Sun Jun 13, 2004 6:56 pm

If it's anything like mine, it'll feel lovely and light when either a load of passengers have just got out, or if your fuel tank is running low.. when you don't have power steering the weight of the steering is so variable that any changes are more likely to be due to the weight of the car than something wrong with the steering. Also, without power steering any steering issues will tend to make it heavier rather than lighter, so I wouldn't worry

Tahrey1043 · Post by **Tahrey1043** » Sun Jun 13, 2004 6:59 pm

I dunno man... its felt like i've got an elephant sitting on the back bumper a couple times this week! When i've got a half full tank of fuel and just a moderate level of crap spread around the interiors (most of it under, beside, or in front of the front seats) that's certainly not usual. I'm just hoping it doesn't mean something's worked loose... or p'raps there's oil gushing out of the engine and onto the sticky ol' steering rack.

Karl_CLCoupe · Post by **Karl_CLCoupe** » Mon Jun 14, 2004 1:43 pm

Tahrey1043 wrote:I dunno man... its felt like i've got an elephant sitting on the back bumper a couple times this week!

Is it possible the problem your experiencing is related to the suspension trouble you've had/have at the moment? If the front suspension is a bit out or bent surely that might have affected your steering?

Just a thought, don't know whether its of any use to you...

Karl.