Hello

I have a 2007 Jaguar X Type diesel and currently experiencing an annoying vibration at speeds between 50-70ish... which is felt through the seats and the steering wheel wobbles/shimmies side to side. I'm sure I've seen the steering wheel shimmy at lower speeds as well. I have replaced the driveshaft's with brand new ones to cure a shaking on acceleration which is now solved however this vibration remains. It has 'sweet' spots when the vibration will get worse but then change speed slightly and it improves. I've done the following so far:

1. New driveshaft's
2. Four new tyres
3. Changed wheels front to back/back to front (even spare wheel has been on)
4. Balanced 5 times - once on car
5. New rear passenger wheel bearing as it was making a noise

I've been told that the front brake discs are quite badly warped and scorched and brake pads need changing, the steering wheels does shimmy more when braking. There is a metallic scraping noise coming from the front wheel(s) when driving but I think this could be brake discs......? My mechanic who does jobs for me is a bit stumped, the symptoms are just the same as balancing/buckled wheels. I've been trawling the internet and even asked on another Jaguar forum but need some more help with this one. When I had the wheels balanced on the car, when they spun the rear wheels the fitters could feel and see the vibrations in the seat. The vibrations may also have been present when the fronts where spun but that wasn't checked. I'm wondering if any of the following could be causing it:

1. Regardless of balancing and checking wheels, could it still be the wheels and tyres, maybe a replacement set?
2. Wheel assembly and bearing (front and/or rear)
3. Brake discs (front and/or back)
4. Caliper sticking
5. Engine mount
6. Engine misfire
7. Tie rod/track rod ends
8. Any other suspension part....

Any help and suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Phil

 

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...ancing-164757/

check out this thread. But you need to deal with your front brakes before you worry about anything else. New rotors could certainly help your problem.

 

Phil, 2 things I would do before going much further. You say the tires have been balanced 5 times, but what about "road force balancing"? This is slightly different than a conventional balancing and is known for taking the wobble out of steering wheels because of how the force balancing works. The other thing that I would ask is what is the "runout" on the rims. This is a measurement that can be taken to measure how much a rim may be bent. Normally you should see under say 0.010" of rim movement from side to side. If you are getting up near say 0.050", you can start seeing the tire tread move side to side just with the naked eye. At 0.050" of wobble, that will definitely cause a wobble in the steering wheel. If you have both rims bent on the same side of the car (from say where you hit a curb rounding a corner), rotating the tires front to rear will not cause the wobble to go away (may make it change).

The other thing that I would check is to get the wheel where you can spin it (say on the balancing machine or with both front wheels off of the ground) and watch the tire from the side. What you are looking for is the tread of the tire to be going up and down as you look at it. That can also cause your wobble. Contrary to old wisdom, tires are not made exactly round. They are actually off by a little bit on most tires. Kinda like a rim is not exactly round either. The trick is to match up the high spot of the rim with the low spot of the tire (this is what the force balancer can do) and this will cause the tread to roll exactly round.

Start here and see what you end up with. I know it sounds like you are running in circles, but the X-TYpe is known for having rim/tire issues and a wobble in the steering wheel. There is even a TSB (204?) that talks about how to properly balance a tire for the car.

 

Hello


I've just recently noticed that the steering wheels shimmies at very low speed too so I'm wondering it is a tyre problem....



I have brought new Brembo pads and discs for the front and I'm getting them fitted next week.


I have been in contact with a couple of places that do the Road Force balancer. However my only concern is, if the RF balancer does fix the problem, the next time I get new tyres fitted and balanced the problem may come back. The nearest place with an RF balancer is quite a trek!


Thanks
Phil

 

Phil, as I mentioned before, get the front end of your car up in the air and then put it in neutral. This will allow you to spin the front tires. At this point, watch the tire closely. You will see the tread wobble if it is a tire that needs road force balancing. It may wobble side to side (this would indicate a bent rim most likely) or it may wobble up and down (indicating that a road force balance is required). This will atleast get you 1 step closer to getting to the root of your problem.

 

Phil, I had this problem with a Camry. No amount of wheel balancing helped. A garage that specializes in mag wheel repairs found that two wheels were slightly oval and slightly buckled. The cost to straighten the rims was minor and that was the end of that. How the wheels came to be buckled in the first place remains a mystery.