SoCal997_Carrera

Hello,
my 2006 Carrera 4 has a strong vibration in the steering wheel at speeds 60-70 (it varies I guess on type of roads) but goes away at speeds above and below that range.
Alignment was done. It has 7 mm H&R Spacers in the front. No noises from the front, sometimes a clunk when going through a pot hole/ damaged road while turning hard.
Is this an indicator for a worn lower control arms?
Thank you

911Gr8tness

It’s likely the balance of the tires or the spacers. I had a vibration until i got the spacers shimmed tight to hub and wheel both 7mm and 14mm.

sbbarnett

I had similar symptoms on my 2005 C2S and changed the Track Rods. Problem resolved. YMMV

Kuhl997.2!

Loose the front spacers and your shimmy will most likely disappear.

bronz

tie rods

SoCal997_Carrera

I got the same set up
7mm front, 14 mm rear
I would hoped that the H&R spacers would be balanced for that price
The shimmy started way after installing them though.
I will start with the balancing of the tires
Thanks

SoCal997_Carrera

Do you mean the Tie Rods?
How much was that?
Thanks

Skwerl

Had the same thing immediately after installing spacers. Ditched them for new wheels with the deeper offset and the problem went away.

sbbarnett

Tie rods and track rods are the same thing. Porsche calls them track rods in the PET

the Porsche ones are around $160 for the pair, but they are made by TRW and you can find the TRW ones for around half that

i installed them myself after watching a couple videos and it took less than 1/2 hour per side once the car was in the air

then $150 for an alignment.

SoCal997_Carrera

Update:
got the front tires balanced (one had a slight bend) and the shimmy got better but still comes back, depending on the road surface I think.
Next step is to remove the spacer in the front (before I have to spend the big money for control arm or tie rod...)

yvesvidal

Most likely the spacers in the front. I got rid of mine. No more shimmy and vibrations.

Yves

TheBruce

I have spacers and no shimmy. The only time I had a shimmy was when my front wheel threw a weight (twice). First time I was coming home from the tire store so it was immediately noticeable. Second time it was very subtle and I didnt even notice it until my indy got in the car and told me.

As for the "clunk" on low speed bumps, that typically happens when your front strut mount(s) fails. Thats pretty common at 60-80k miles. That may also produce some shimmy but not sure.

Steph1

1st thing to do was to remove the spacers, even before an alignment. You had no vibes, you put spacers on and now have vibes... nothing an alignment can fix.

Do your 7mm spacers have the hubcentric lip???? If not, don't look any further.

SoCal997_Carrera

Had the front wheels balanced and Spacers removed - unfortunately still shaky steering wheels above 62 mph (up to 75mph), not much a difference than before. Well, most the time it is shaky, shimmy (about 95%)
Now I have to find a trustworthy shop for recommendation since it is becoming an $$$ issue ?

G.I.G.

I went through a similar situation the first few months of ownership of my C2S, so I understand your frustration. I started a thread and documented my problem, troubleshooting steps, and ultimately the solution.

Could This Bent Wheel be Causing Steering Wheel Vibration

Don't overlook the bent wheel. Our cars are very susceptible to vibrations caused by a bent wheel due to A) how light they are in the front and B) the lack of sidewall with our low-profile tires to compensate for a bent lip on a wheel. Even if your shop can get them to roadforce balance, you could still have something out of round (most likely the wheel, but possibly the tire). Even the best balancing job can't always compensate for a bent wheel.

Do you have any way of swapping wheels with a known good set? That will help you determine if it is the wheel/tire or something else. Start with the fronts, then the rears if you don't notice an improvement by swapping the fronts only. I would start there before you start throwing a lot of money at parts that may or may not resolve your steering wheel vibration. If there are any Rennlisters in your area that are willing to help, or a shop that has a good set of wheels/tires, do some swapping back and forth and take it for a drive.

What ultimately cured my steering wheel vibration was a slight adjustment to my steering rack, which was tightened to remove some of the slack between the rack and pinion gear. There was a noticeable improvement driving back from my Indy after they did that. The other thing was the wheels. I replaced my entire set (even after straightening the fronts) because I was never convinced it couldn't be the wheels, even the rears. Between that steering rack adjustment and the new wheels, my car drives fantastic now.

Best of luck and keep us posted.