[abeardo83]

So as per my thread, I've got a nice vibration coming through the steering wheel between 45 and 55mph (both on acceleration, deceleration and braking) that I could do with your help in diagnosing.

+wheels have been re-balanced (one now has 60g of weights on!)
+ tyres checked... no feathering

Next things I was going to check are the control arms and the steering rack bolts (I get a nice clunk when turning the wheels whilst stationery every so often).

Re the control arms... I was thinking of upgrading the arms to M3 arms. Question is, do I have to replace both the upper and lower arms, or can i just replace the lower control arms?

[AWBimmer]

Are your brake pads/discs on their way out?

[abeardo83]

Originally Posted by AWBimmer

Are your brake pads/discs on their way out?

Checked them too - no lip on the discs and pads have plenty of meat left (more than the 7000miles that the wear indicator reckons!!)

[old grey steve]

Originally Posted by abeardo83

So as per my thread, I've got a nice vibration coming through the steering wheel between 45 and 55mph (both on acceleration, deceleration and braking) that I could do with your help in diagnosing.

+wheels have been re-balanced (one now has 60g of weights on!)
+ tyres checked... no feathering

Next things I was going to check are the control arms and the steering rack bolts (I get a nice clunk when turning the wheels whilst stationery every so often).

Re the control arms... I was thinking of upgrading the arms to M3 arms. Question is, do I have to replace both the upper and lower arms, or can i just replace the lower control arms?

Andy one of the first things I noted was the vibration, 60g's of weight is a fair bit I thought as I said to you on the day you may have some front tension strut play evident this would lead to a vibration of sorts but you could have also if you've swapped tyres some issues re feathering too, can be checked on a ramp by spinning the wheels freely and looking for slight tyre distortion or deformation or tread block movement to the eye difficult to describe on here but an easy spot on a ramp.


Vibrations can be a sod to get your head round and usually you have to go through certain things one by one to get to the route cause, tyres are an ideal starting point as you have to ask yourself pre post wheel change were the issues your now experiencing present, if the wheels are 1/2" wider using the same tyres as in their current condition effected how things are now panning out but all you can do is go through the basics and hopefully you'll find the answer to this annoying issue

[abeardo83]

Originally Posted by old grey steve

Andy one of the first things I noted was the vibration, 60g's of weight is a fair bit I thought as I said to you on the day you may have some front tension strut play evident this would lead to a vibration of sorts but you could have also if you've swapped tyres some issues re feathering too, can be checked on a ramp by spinning the wheels freely and looking for slight tyre distortion or deformation or tread block movement to the eye difficult to describe on here but an easy spot on a ramp.


Vibrations can be a sod to get your head round and usually you have to go through certain things one by one to get to the route cause, tyres are an ideal starting point as you have to ask yourself pre post wheel change were the issues your now experiencing present, if the wheels are 1/2" wider using the same tyres as in their current condition effected how things are now panning out but all you can do is go through the basics and hopefully you'll find the answer to this annoying issue

Thanks Steve. I've bought a set of the arms so I'm going to cover all the bases this weekend. I'll have the car in the air anyway, so will check and see if I can see any tyre wobble. If the rack is tight and there are new arms on there, then it MUST be tyres (or a GEO!)

[old grey steve]

Originally Posted by abeardo83

Thanks Steve. I've bought a set of the arms so I'm going to cover all the bases this weekend. I'll have the car in the air anyway, so will check and see if I can see any tyre wobble. If the rack is tight and there are new arms on there, then it MUST be tyres (or a GEO!)

All you can do is look, if the tyres are from the previous wheels swapped over and the rims are wider it doesn't take much to compromise worn rubber but when I drove it I thought I could feel the front arms(though small in play) had movement so its a good place to look and update re M3 arms if possible which you've now got in hand

[abeardo83]

Originally Posted by old grey steve

All you can do is look, if the tyres are from the previous wheels swapped over and the rims are wider it doesn't take much to compromise worn rubber but when I drove it I thought I could feel the front arms(though small in play) had movement so its a good place to look and update re M3 arms if possible which you've now got in hand

That's one of the things I have to take in to account, so it's really good that you've driven it. Because I've only had it for a few months, everything feels normal to me hahaha!

[abeardo83]

Ok so steering rack bolts tightened up. There was room to tighten but not much.
Jesus it's scary working that far under a car - even with ramps and Jack stands!!

[RajB]

Originally Posted by abeardo83

Ok so steering rack bolts tightened up. There was room to tighten but not much.
Jesus it's scary working that far under a car - even with ramps and Jack stands!!

So has that sorted it?

Apart from the normal tyres/balancing etc then sometimes it's bushes/balljoints so the M3 arms are a definitive good move.

[abeardo83]

Originally Posted by RajB

So has that sorted it?

Apart from the normal tyres/balancing etc then sometimes it's bushes/balljoints so the M3 arms are a definitive good move.

It's definitely helped. Still slightly there, but not as much. Am hoping that the new arms will eliminate it completely once they arrive.

....Just need to do a GEO after the arms... this thing is a money pit, hahah!

[RajB]

Originally Posted by abeardo83

It's definitely helped. Still slightly there, but not as much. Am hoping that the new arms will eliminate it completely once they arrive.

....Just need to do a GEO after the arms... this thing is a money pit, hahah!

Yup it is never ending...

Although mostly due to our own doing

[abeardo83]

Right this vibrating is driving me nuts now. Sooner these M3 arms show up, the better.
I'm learning that the car needs a GEO after they've been replaced. I've had a look on the M3 side of the fence for wheel alignment specs but they're quite confusing... 0degs 10' of total toe at the rear?!?

Does anyone have a set of specs that I can give to my tame mechanic? His machine is ancient but spot on in terms of calibration, so there's no database on it to take a set of specs from.