Front end shudder.....STILL!!!

[ldtopham]

I will find out for sure as I drive down to Stoneleigh. I have the same symptoms as Chris. So far I've checked tyre pressures, had the tracking checked both front and rear (GD suspension set up) and also had the front wheels re-balanced. As I don't know what to look for when seeing wheels balanced I was very reluctant to let anyone do them. Avon did them originally but a friend who works for Jag ran them up in his lunch break and found one to be a definate 30g's out. I hope the wobble has gone as mine was around 65-75mph too. Bang in the middle of motorway cruise. I took the wheels loose so haven't had chance to try them. If it still wobbles then I'll get the backs done too.

[janandchris]

Originally Posted by KevinW

does the shaking occurr on smooth roads or bumpy ones?

On the flat.....but a bumpy surface makes it worse....

Just got back from a chilly evening spin though the lanes, and the handling is........well, lets just say it keeps you awake!!

I'm sure somthing must be set-up wrong on the front, which would be no suprise as the car was mainly put together by Pilgrim themselves.

[TINKA]

Had my front wheels balanced by 3 different places before the 4th got it right. They balanced the wheels on a bike setting and were perfect after that. HTH

[DELAGE]

If you can find a knowledgeable Kev in the tyre depot that can operate a machine balancing the wheels on the car give that a try.

[janandchris]

Originally Posted by DELAGE

If you can find a knowledgeable Kev in the tyre depot that can operate a machine balancing the wheels on the car give that a try.

I have been thinking that too......As i had the same problem with my triumph spitfire. But after having the wheels balanced on the car it was perfect.


The problem is finding anyone who still does it!

[JonnyT]

It might be a long shot but you may just find on google a description of how to balance tyres while they are on the car without a machine. Many moons ago my grandfather (who was in the trade since 1918 and thus didn't have / believe in many modern machines) did it to an old ford that my father owned with similar problems. Basically (as far as I recall) it involves jacking the car up evenly so that the wheel is perfectly upright and then carefully allowing the wheel to fall to its heaviest point. Then add weight in the opposite side until it doesn't do it. Might not be easy to add the weight but may assist in checking if it is right (because of course it balances all rotating parts rather than just the rim and tyre) before spending large sums of money on other fixes.

Jon

[TonyD]

In my experience a tyre that "refuses" to balance despite repeated efforts by various fitters is probably "out of round".

I had this problem on a brand new Astra and couldnt get the wheels balanced, the shaking was so bad that it used to vibrate the cassettes out of the tape deck.

It was a company car so I took it to four or five tyre places, had the wheels balanced on the car, off the car, tracking checked, geometry checked etc. It was only when the last tyre place put the wheel on the balancer and set up a straight edge across the tyre width and started the balancing machine up again that you could see the tyre was egg shaped. Checked all four tyres and each one was out of round, a bad batch from the factory was the excuse.

Got all four tyres replaced and the vibration completely disappeared.

Check all your tyres for roundness and lack of flat spots. Even keeping the car standing for a few months can cause tyres to get flat spots. There is however a procedure you can follow that will refresh the tyres memory that it should be round in this situation , a google will no doubt find it.

Hth

Cheers,

Tony

[KevinW]

not exactly relevant, but since I lowered the ride height at the front, high speed handling has improved quite a lot, well very good up to 90ish (on private estates), feels much more planted.

[ldtopham]

As above this doesn't really help you but x1 front wheel being out of balance by 30g was the culprit of my wobble. Hope you get it sorted soon.

[Purple AK]

Originally Posted by ldtopham

As above this doesn't really help you but x1 front wheel being out of balance by 30g was the culprit of my wobble. Hope you get it sorted soon.

Glad your sorted Lee