Yummybud924

I know I shouldn't be breaking the speed limits (already got a bunch fo tickets), but the other day I was driving home from school on the freeway and there was no traffic at all on the feeway and I had a long stretch of road ahead so I decided to see how fast I could go in 5th gear. I wasn't going to fast, I got up to like 140km/h and the car felt pretty bouncy and light at this point and the front wheels didn't really feel stable, and the steering wheel was shaking.

I thought this is pretty lame for "porsche". I slowed down didn't really feel safe going much faster than that. And I also noticed teh speedomer is way off.

my gps showed 140km/h and my dash showedlike 155 -160km/h.

anyways what could be the cause of this? I know my car has been in som kind fo accident before.

I have new toyo proxes on the car and I got a 4 wheel allignment done at a porsche shop.

could it be shocks / struts, they probably need replacing at higher speeds on teh freeway the car also starts to feel "bouncy"

or maybe some of the weighsts on my wheels have fallen off? I noticed the tire shop has stuck the weights on my wheels on the outside fo the fuchs wheels rather the inside.

what else could cause this steering wheel wobble?

black944inMO

weights could cause this. So could a bad tire or one that wasn't balanced correctly. You said you have new tires, so that's most likely not the issue, but it is a possibility.

Yummybud924

could be balancing issue though. I'll get them balanced again. weights do fall off...

I can't think of anything else that would cause the front wheels to wobble at higher speed. I know I probably need new shocks and struts as they are most likley orginal and the car has 250,000 kms on it.

other than that it could be due to a previous collision.

at lower speeds like 100-120 km/h it's completely stable, then when I get it to 130-140 it starts to wobble.

alordofchaos

FWIW, my old 924 was very stable at 130-ish MPH (or so I heard )

The driver was looking more at the tach and the road than the speedo (tach was around 5,700 or so in 4th gear). Car was lowered with an aftermarket install of a KKK turbo.

Dunno what's causing your wobble, though - around 90MPH? front end floating up at all?

black944inMO

Is it a bounce or just the steering wheel moving back and forth? Or is the steering wheel shaking?

bounce - shocks/struts
wheel moving back & forth - could be tie rod
wheel shaking - could just be a wheel is unbalanced

Yummybud924

well the steering wheel shakes from side to side. feels like I can't hold the steering wheeel straight without it shaking.

and yes there is a some bounce at higher speeds on the freeway but it could be roads I guess but I will evenetually get my shocks / struts changed.

does the 85.5 model have strut inserts? or do you have to buy a whole new strut assembly?

also what are some decent shocks? I'm not going to be racing it or anything just daily driving needs so I don't want to spend a crazy amount.

kybs seem like a good price but not sure if they are crap, did a search some people here think they don't last long.

I'll get my wheels rebalanced too I guess see if that fixes the shake.

bad_monkey

Mine's got a bit of a wobble at the moment, from side to side, caused by one of the rims being out-of-round. I hit a raised iron duct in the road (welcome to New Zealand!) and that put it out. It's not noticeable until 85kph, and then the vibration evens out nicely at 110kph - comes back a little after that...

On a very quiet, very straight, very flat country road, I've seen 250kph flat out. That was stable, but obviously still more than a little scary. It's more stable than any other car I've driven at that speed (except a 996 ) ...

As I don't normally do much motorway driving I'm waiting to have worn out these tires and then I'll go back to the cookie cutters which are lighter anyhow...

I'd suggest you take the car to get the wheels balanced, but if they tell you a rim is bent, take them to wheel specialist - they'll roll 'em straight again and it will cost you less...

Lizard944

Wheel bearings may be too loose. I just went through this after getting new tires. Thought the tires weren't balanced right, but I checked the bearings while I had the front end up doing other work and they were loose. Grab the wheel at 6 & 12 o'clock positions and rock it. Any clunking and they're loose.
The factory tightening description (can move the bearing thrust washer around by putting finger pressure on a screwdriver), isn't tight enough IMO. I set mine as described in the workshop manual, then tighten the locking clamp an additional 1/8 turn. You should still be able to move the washer around with a screwdriver, but only by using the hub for leverage. After adjusting, spin the hub and make sure it still spins freely. Completely cured my steering wheel "wobble."

--Lizard

Rich Sandor

Both my cars are dead stable and smooth at 220+kph.

If your steering wheel is shaking, you've got a pooched rack or loose BJ's or badly unbalanced wheels - or a combination of all of the above.

-Rich

84_944guy

Yeah something is definitely wrong iv gotten mine up to 147 no wobble just hugged the road with bad shocks to.

bad_monkey

Yup - actually, I just removed the wheels and spacers, checked the steering etc (all good) and carefully re-assembled - no more wobble. Now I'm puzzled, but happy...

Luis de Prat

This sounds like several things but having lived in the pothole capital of the Caribbean (Puerto Rico) for 5 years I've learned that side to side movement of the steering wheel is usually both a lack of wheel balance and loose tie rod assemblies -right where they attach to the steering rack.

Jack the front end of your car up and tug on the wheels with both hands. Side to side freeplay would indicate bad tie rod assemblies needing to be replaced. Top to bottom freeplay would indicate loose or worn wheel bearings and possibly a worn ball joint.

The bounce is probably shock related, but I'd check the control arm bushings before replacing the shocks. Good luck!

Spidey944

Loose nut behind the wheel?? J/k.

Yummybud924

thanks for the replies, this is interestig.

I may have to get it checked out by my porsche shop later on.

one thing I did was replace the rotors/ pads, and when replacing the front rotors the wheel bearings had to come out and when I tightened that locking nut I followed clarks garage and made it tight enough that you could just move the washer with a screwdriver applying lots of pressure.

one thing I did notice is if I use full force on the wheel and shake it I do hear a little clunk and like it's a tiny bit loose?

also my sway bar bushings are shot.

other thing is I replaced one control arm with one from rennbay because the ball joint was super loose the other control arm I did not replace as it didn't have play when I pulled on it. I then got a 4 wheel allignment done.

right now I have schoool but when I'm off in april I'll look into all this and try and get it all fixed up.


so tie-rods may also have to be replaced? I just replaced one tie rod end as the threads on it were screwed up when I removed it when doing my oil pan gasket.

Luis de Prat

Most likely the assembly joints are worn. This isn't tie rod ends, but the whole assemblies. They go bad at the joints where they screw onto the steering rack.

Sway bar bushings should have no effect on the steering wheel. Believe me, you will LOVE your car after you get all this sorted out and it feels fresh and tossable again.