Wheel vibration felt through steering wheel

Hi guys For the past few days I have had a vibration through the steering wheel when driving at "higher" speeds, doesn't happen at low or motorway speeds but up about 90 you can start to feel it. Car had a full service not too long ago, nothing reported then, and it was fine until last week, although I rarely get up to any kind of speed and the roads are so bad I may have put vibrations down to the road surface, but now I know it is something more. Just had the pads changed all round, discs look fine so have eliminated the brakes, thought it could be the wheel balancing (if a weight has come loose) or possible worse like a wheel bearing Any idea if wheel bearings are covered under OPC warranty? If not then any recommendations of somewhere in Essex / NE London to take the car to have it checked out? Anyone had a bearing replaced, got an idea of the cost? Car is for sale, but i want to sell it on with a clean conscience! Cheers.

You'd probably hear it if it was a wheel bearing. My money is on wheel balance - it might have thrown a balance weight.

I've got that at the moment too, and it feels very similar to something I had last year that turned out to be a combination of a slow puncture and a knackered track rod end... Fixed it for a while, but I'm wondering if the same thing is happening the other side (wish I'd had both done at the same time now!) Have checked tyre pressures and had wheels re-balanced (they were a fair bit out, but didn't make that much difference). HTH

Balancing is usually felt at around 50 mph, but the track rod end only really became an issue at much higher speeds with me... Hardly noticed it on our crappy roads and with scameras everywhere, but a recent high speed trip to Brussels really highlighted it - barely driveable above 130 (kph of course :wink: )

Wheel balance problems. If you feel it in your arse it's the rear wheels, if you feel it in the wheel, it's the fronts. If it is wheel balance it will occur at varied speeds but always the same speeds. It will kick in at some point (this varies based on the weight lost and position) and then when you go faster it should go again. It should then reappear at a faster speed. Wheel alignment being out can also cause vibration. If your toe is out too far it can cause a binding and releasing phenomenon where the wheels track in together (too much toe in) then let go, straighten up then toe in together again.....This is felt worse or happens when steering arms are worn as it allows the movement..... It's a pain in the bum trying to find these problems.... Good luck. Start with the simplest which is wheel balance, get an alignment from there and get someone to check specifically tie rod ends and your suspension arms too..... Cheers,

I would put my money on wheel balance, any one taking bets? Had rear bearing replaced on 993TT which cost £320 if thats any help - parts cost £56.00

I'd check the lower suspension arm bushes. Your symptom was similar to what I experienced before it was diagnosed as split bushes on the front lower arms. The vibration was not apparent at lower speeds - it is at higher speeds when there is sufficient load to cause the joint to move within the split bush. The movement then throws the wheel out of toe and alignment causing the vibration at higher speed.

Cheers for all the replies guys, with regard to the vibration, it is in the steering wheel, so am looking at something up front. Vibration starts about 90, I tried to speed up and see if it stopped, but it continued, getting worse up to 100-105, by which point I backed off as the vibration was quite bad and I didn't want to go any faster with the vibration in case it was something more serious, it may be that I didn't get far enough past the speed that creates the resonant frequency for it to die down? I will take the car down to a tyre place and get both front wheels rebalanced. Car was on a low loader when it went into the dealer to have the alarm fixed so possible that they strapped it down and misldged a weight. I did look at the front wheels, no obvious sign that a weight had been thrown off, there was resedue of where old weights had been stuck on, but I think these are from a previous set of tyres as it doesn't look like it has happened in the past few hundred miles, there is too much dirt etc. My main question is that if it isn't the balancing do I take it to Porsche to diganose and risk paying through the nose to find out it is something not covered by warranty, or take it to a dealer to pay slightly less and find out it is something covered by warranty! Any ideas which of the above items are warranty? Wheel bearing? Suspension arm bushes? Trach rod end?

steering wheel vibration Been there, felt that. lol. on my o2 996tt, i went through grief to figure it out. At a porsche repair place, they only used a regular (cheaper) wheel balancing machine, and thus is the reason i didn't figure it out the first time. At the regular large PORSCHE dealer, i finally went, where they have the more exp. balancing machine, and what did they find... 3 of my 4 rims bent. sounds crazy, but that is exactly what it was. Got them fixed myself at a custom place, and now all is perfect . (when i went to the second porsche place), I was prepared to have a 4 wheel alignment done, but they were "on the ball", and diagnosed the issue before wasting money on an alighment. (sure sounds weird that the first place could actually DO a wheel balancing job on what were bent rims. but that was the case. ) i guess they can bend easier than most realize. lessonlearned. (make sure when gettin your wheels balanced, to ensure this is't the issue,) ensure they are using a balancing machine that can also measure any minute bends in the rim at the same time. Can save ya a pile of headache in troubleshooting the vibration issue in the steering. (btw, also noticed one of my side mirrors vibrating more than the other as well durring the problem) good luck Canuk from Canada

My money is also on either a dented rim or lost/incorrect weight, both will cause the out of balance that you are are experiencing. The out of balance is directly proportional to the square of the angular velocity of your wheel (F=ma=mrohmega squared if my physics memory serves me well). The significance here is that the out of balance manifests itself as vibration, and increses drammatically as the angular velocity increases (ohmega squared). This is why you don't experience it at low speeds. Let us know what you find! Ray

If it is an imbalance, I'm surprised it is not more noticeable at lower speeds than 90 mph... My money is still on track rod end - just on the basis of that fixing it on my car when I had almost identical symptoms

Another issue that can cause steering wheel wobble is a flat spotted tyre(s). Doesnt sound like this is your problem, but thought I would add it to the thread as it is a possibility. Bent rims can also be a pain. A very good refurb place (Lepsons) can diagnose and sometimes repair.

Both wheels were off to change the pads at the weekend, no flat spots (or visible weights missing). Talking to JZM about having the car in to check the balancing / wheels and diagnose the problem. Need to speak to Porsche to find out what is and isn't covered by warranty though.

I had the same issues develop themself over the past few months. Had the car booked in at Hartech, Bolton for a 48K service and turned out to be track rod ends and wheel alignment. All is sorted and the car drives sweeeeet..... :thumbs: Martin

So, possible things (if it is not the wheel balancing) are: Wheel bearing? Suspension arm bushes? Trach rod end? Anyone had any of these done under warranty or know if they are / are not covered? Cheers