Need help diagnosing wiggly steering wheel
03-09-2006, 02:46 PM
#1
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Need help diagnosing wiggly steering wheel
My car is a 1997 Turbo with 42K miles. It has a new PSS9 suspension.
Symptom
When I reach about 55MPH the steering wheel wiggles much like when you have a unbalanced wheel. The wiggling stops at around 60MPH.
Background
I first noticed the problem when I put on my track wheels (BBS REs) which were originally for my previous 996 C2 so they need spacers to fit properly. Specifically, I put 7mm spacers in the front and 25mm adaptors in the back (both front and back have longer H&R studs).
So, at this point, stock wheels were fine, track wheels with no spacers in the front were fine, with 7mm spacers I get the wiggles. I tried another set setup of 7mm spacers and a 5 mm spacer and got the same results.
I had the wheels check for balance twice and they were fine.
However, I noticed that I can feel the wiggle ever so slightly even with the stock wheels and without the spacer; so, there is something going on that is accentuated with the spacers.
I ignored the issue since it was only with the track wheels and spacers.
Well, I recently purchased some nice Kinesis K58s, and unfortunately the wiggle is back with these wheels. I moved the tires from the stock wheels to the K58s.
Also, I've changed track tires on my track wheels (from Pirelli Corsa's to MPSC's). I still get the wiggles with the spacers.
So, at this point, I have the following data:
Slight wiggle with stock wheels and with track wheels with no spacer.
Very noticable wiggle with track wheels and spacer, and with new K58s.
This all indicates to me that the issue is with the car and not the wheels/tires since so many combos cause the wiggle at exactly the same speed.
So, we've tried both a track alignment and a stock alignment. No effect.
Replace the front wheel bearings. No effect.
Replaced the plastic tie rod ends. No effect.
What else can it be?
The only thing that we've thought of is a imbalance in the output shafts.
I'm going to have the K58s balanced on a road force Hunter, but since it happens on other wheel/tire combos, I'm thinking it will be a waste of time and money. I keep thinking the problem is on the car...
Help
Symptom
When I reach about 55MPH the steering wheel wiggles much like when you have a unbalanced wheel. The wiggling stops at around 60MPH.
Background
I first noticed the problem when I put on my track wheels (BBS REs) which were originally for my previous 996 C2 so they need spacers to fit properly. Specifically, I put 7mm spacers in the front and 25mm adaptors in the back (both front and back have longer H&R studs).
So, at this point, stock wheels were fine, track wheels with no spacers in the front were fine, with 7mm spacers I get the wiggles. I tried another set setup of 7mm spacers and a 5 mm spacer and got the same results.
I had the wheels check for balance twice and they were fine.
However, I noticed that I can feel the wiggle ever so slightly even with the stock wheels and without the spacer; so, there is something going on that is accentuated with the spacers.
I ignored the issue since it was only with the track wheels and spacers.
Well, I recently purchased some nice Kinesis K58s, and unfortunately the wiggle is back with these wheels. I moved the tires from the stock wheels to the K58s.
Also, I've changed track tires on my track wheels (from Pirelli Corsa's to MPSC's). I still get the wiggles with the spacers.
So, at this point, I have the following data:
Slight wiggle with stock wheels and with track wheels with no spacer.
Very noticable wiggle with track wheels and spacer, and with new K58s.
This all indicates to me that the issue is with the car and not the wheels/tires since so many combos cause the wiggle at exactly the same speed.
So, we've tried both a track alignment and a stock alignment. No effect.
Replace the front wheel bearings. No effect.
Replaced the plastic tie rod ends. No effect.
What else can it be?
The only thing that we've thought of is a imbalance in the output shafts.
I'm going to have the K58s balanced on a road force Hunter, but since it happens on other wheel/tire combos, I'm thinking it will be a waste of time and money. I keep thinking the problem is on the car...
Help
03-09-2006, 02:56 PM
#2
Burning Brakes
Pete,
A common (and mind-bogglingly simple) cause of that wiggle is crud buildup in your drilled rotors (front especially).
Try shooting your rotors thoroughly with a power washer. (Some have used a drill to clean out each hole individually, but I'm a big fan of the powerwash method.)
A common (and mind-bogglingly simple) cause of that wiggle is crud buildup in your drilled rotors (front especially).
Try shooting your rotors thoroughly with a power washer. (Some have used a drill to clean out each hole individually, but I'm a big fan of the powerwash method.)
03-09-2006, 03:34 PM
#3
Sounds like we have a very similiar issue. Bad vibration in the wheel from 50 - 60. Got progressively worse too. I had everything gone over like you did. 2 sets of wheels, brand new rotors F/R. At the track I had Tony Callas take a look and drive - seems it may be the control arm bushings. They had some noticeable cracks. Havn't been able to get the new parts on yet but I'll let you know. BTW I picked up a set of RS arms from Bob, I think there were only a couple sets left.
03-09-2006, 03:59 PM
#4
Drifting
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I have the same issue. My stock wheels are fine, my left front fikse wobbles. I got new tires, balanced them a gazillion times, to no avail. My tech found some runout on my axel and my tierods were showing some play. I'm upgrading to gt2 EVO uprights and tierods. (Nice rationalization, huh) I'll report back when it's done.
03-09-2006, 03:59 PM
#5
Race Director
No mention of vibration during braking. Hmmmm... I had that problem in my M5 and it was the thrust arm bushinng. It got progressively worse, and more noticable during braking.
Good luck fixing the issue.
CP
Good luck fixing the issue.
CP
03-09-2006, 04:05 PM
#7
Race Car
Originally Posted by pstoppani
My car is a 1997 Turbo with 42K miles. It has a new PSS9 suspension.
Symptom
When I reach about 55MPH the steering wheel wiggles much like when you have a unbalanced wheel. The wiggling stops at around 60MPH.
Background
I first noticed the problem when I put on my track wheels (BBS REs) which were originally for my previous 996 C2 so they need spacers to fit properly. Specifically, I put 7mm spacers in the front and 25mm adaptors in the back (both front and back have longer H&R studs).
So, at this point, stock wheels were fine, track wheels with no spacers in the front were fine, with 7mm spacers I get the wiggles. I tried another set setup of 7mm spacers and a 5 mm spacer and got the same results.
I had the wheels check for balance twice and they were fine.
However, I noticed that I can feel the wiggle ever so slightly even with the stock wheels and without the spacer; so, there is something going on that is accentuated with the spacers.
I ignored the issue since it was only with the track wheels and spacers.
Well, I recently purchased some nice Kinesis K58s, and unfortunately the wiggle is back with these wheels. I moved the tires from the stock wheels to the K58s.
Also, I've changed track tires on my track wheels (from Pirelli Corsa's to MPSC's). I still get the wiggles with the spacers.
So, at this point, I have the following data:
Slight wiggle with stock wheels and with track wheels with no spacer.
Very noticable wiggle with track wheels and spacer, and with new K58s.
This all indicates to me that the issue is with the car and not the wheels/tires since so many combos cause the wiggle at exactly the same speed.
So, we've tried both a track alignment and a stock alignment. No effect.
Replace the front wheel bearings. No effect.
Replaced the plastic tie rod ends. No effect.
What else can it be?
The only thing that we've thought of is a imbalance in the output shafts.
I'm going to have the K58s balanced on a road force Hunter, but since it happens on other wheel/tire combos, I'm thinking it will be a waste of time and money. I keep thinking the problem is on the car...
Help
Symptom
When I reach about 55MPH the steering wheel wiggles much like when you have a unbalanced wheel. The wiggling stops at around 60MPH.
Background
I first noticed the problem when I put on my track wheels (BBS REs) which were originally for my previous 996 C2 so they need spacers to fit properly. Specifically, I put 7mm spacers in the front and 25mm adaptors in the back (both front and back have longer H&R studs).
So, at this point, stock wheels were fine, track wheels with no spacers in the front were fine, with 7mm spacers I get the wiggles. I tried another set setup of 7mm spacers and a 5 mm spacer and got the same results.
I had the wheels check for balance twice and they were fine.
However, I noticed that I can feel the wiggle ever so slightly even with the stock wheels and without the spacer; so, there is something going on that is accentuated with the spacers.
I ignored the issue since it was only with the track wheels and spacers.
Well, I recently purchased some nice Kinesis K58s, and unfortunately the wiggle is back with these wheels. I moved the tires from the stock wheels to the K58s.
Also, I've changed track tires on my track wheels (from Pirelli Corsa's to MPSC's). I still get the wiggles with the spacers.
So, at this point, I have the following data:
Slight wiggle with stock wheels and with track wheels with no spacer.
Very noticable wiggle with track wheels and spacer, and with new K58s.
This all indicates to me that the issue is with the car and not the wheels/tires since so many combos cause the wiggle at exactly the same speed.
So, we've tried both a track alignment and a stock alignment. No effect.
Replace the front wheel bearings. No effect.
Replaced the plastic tie rod ends. No effect.
What else can it be?
The only thing that we've thought of is a imbalance in the output shafts.
I'm going to have the K58s balanced on a road force Hunter, but since it happens on other wheel/tire combos, I'm thinking it will be a waste of time and money. I keep thinking the problem is on the car...
Help
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03-10-2006, 12:00 AM
#9
Drifting
944's are notorious for this and you can balance the wheels until the cows come home to no avail. The cure for that car is to rotate the wheel one lug nut at a time until the shakes go away. I have no idea why this works, but it has cured the wiggles on every Porsche I've owned once you've exhausted the obvious methods (balancing, clean brake rotors, etc.).
