Hi all I am a new member and have recently purchased a 2005 s type r I am having a few niggles and could do with some advice ! I am experiencing a side to side wobble through the steering wheel at above 50 mph . I have replaced the front discs and pads as there was an advisory on the MOT which the car passed only a month ago . I have also had all four wheels balanced as I thought that was the most obvious solution!

but it hasn't solved the problem I would appreciate any input and thanks in advance for any useful information.
Many thanks
John

 

When you say you had all the wheels and tires re-balanced, do you know how they did it? My experience is you get the best balancing from a spin balance.

 

I just had the wheels balanced at a local tyre shop on a spinning balance machine .
Thanks
John

 

Worn front end bushes would do this as well. Any unusual noises when you detect the wobble?

 

Maybe check the front wheels for being out of round. The tire shop should have done this during the balancing. If the machine had a retractable safety cover, and most do these days, it takes an extra step to look for an out of round condition. This may have been skipped, especially if they normally only do new tires.

It is easy enough to check. Raise each front wheel one at a time, only a fraction of an inch off the ground. Give the tire a spin and see if the gap changes against the ground. Do this on a hard surface for best accuracy. I'm not sure how much variance is too much. Maybe an eighth of an inch is a good limit?

If good, raise the tire a few inches and grab the wheel top and bottom. Give the wheel a good shake and see if you feel any play. Repeat with your hands at the 3:00 and 9:00 positions.

 

+1 on the above. Tire shops often miss bent, or non-concentric wheels when balancing.

 

One more idea:

Swap the front tires with rear. If the steering shake stops, then you know the fault was caused by the tires. If one of the tires was the culprit, you may notice a new vibration from the back, depending on the severity.

After you move the rear tires to the front, check them for being out of round, too, as previously described.

 

Looks like an STR, so staggered wheels - so can't be swapped front/rear.

 

How many miles...worn out steering rack can cause a wobble....shows up worse the faster you go

 

Two simple problems not mentioned yet are a damaged tyre and wrong toe setting. If a tyre has a significant high spot or is internally damaged, you can get a wobble in the steering wheel. If the toe setting is slightly out you might get "nibbling" where each front tyre alternatively tries to run straight causing the oscillation of the steering wheel. In this case, you should also be able to see slight excess wear on the edges of the front tyres.

Flat-spotted tyres can also do this but should even out after 5-10 miles of driving.

Once you have ruled out the simple, cheap stuff, look deeper.

 

Deleted repeat post.

 

There was an issue with the steering racks on cars with vin numbers L86902 to M44997, but as 05MY cars start above that number it should not affect your car, unless someone has used a steering rack from an older car.

Also see the following, but obvioulsy you will not have the WDS Vehicle Vibration Analyzer!!!

http://www.jagrepair.com/images/TSB/...ng%20Wheel.pdf


Mellow