Turbojamie

Wondering if this has come up for someone here on the forums before or someone has experience. My previous experience in motor sports is telling me I am chasing a suspension problem not a wheel or tire problem. Just had all 4 wheels balanced to eliminate that potential.

My car has a developed a steering wheel shake that comes and goes, more so at higher speeds than 100 km/h and more so on concrete roads vs pavement. The shake is not that bad but enough to move the wheel maybe 1/4" back and fourth.

But cruising say at 130 km/h it comes and goes with the surface changing on the road. This leads me to believe its either a ball joint, strut or long shot alignment. I might travel 2 - 5 km with no shake then it will be there for 2-5 km then leave again etc...

Anyone had a similar experience?

WalterRohrl

Check the tires out, I had a set of PZero's that exhibited similar behavior, even after balancing. The fronts are out of round, the best way to describe it is as if the circumference is made up of a ton of little 2" flat spots instead of a continuous arch. (like the shape of a Stop sign but with 50 or so sides). Maybe that's not the problem or maybe it is the result of a different issue but that's why balancing did nothing for my tires. Just like your situation it seemed to come and go and was different on different surfaces. For a while I thought maybe my spacers were moving around slightly somehow...Rears were and are fine.

Zenski

I had to get Sumi's rebalance three times, before the shake went away.
Find a different place to do the balancing.

vwillo1

ASK if your wheels are true before you have the road force balance.
Been chasing vibration issues through two sets of wheel and tires ( swapping) with RF balancing.Tire shop RF balanced two sets of bent rims and didn't say anything, just got them the best they could. I finally switched shops, had tires dismounted, spun the rims, none were within Porsche spec. Now I'm going shopping!

alpine003

If you have high miles on the car, it could very well be worn control arm bushings or ball joints/tie rods.

Jack up each wheel and see if there is any play grabbing the 9,3(indicating tie rods). If there is play in tahe 12,6 position, it could be the ball joint/cab's.

If it's only very slight, you may need to use a pry bar to uncover any play as tugging on the tire won't reveal it.

Turbojamie

Thanks Alpine I plan to put it on my hoist on the weekend and check for suspension play.