15 replies to this topic

[mr_bridger]

Hey all, Im after a bit of help if poss please!, I have the 'wobble from hell' on the steering wheel whilst doing between 65 and 75mph on our Clubby estate. right in the motorway driving band!
this has been there a while, but has just got worse since changing my wheels round. SO i instantly thought its the wheels/tyres. i took the complete set off my SPI and fitted them (these are known to be smooth as anything on the SPI) and guess what, its still there, maybe not quite as bad, but still very noticable.

Any ideas what else could it be? i even statred checking wheels and disks for runout, but all seem ok

Car is pretty much standard suspension wise, but has 8.4" disc setup, and Gmax Dampers. Discs are pretty new, as are rear drums, steering rack is 3 years old, dampers the same.

I had this on my RSP S, and never resolved it before the tinworm put it into "hibernation". but on that i swapped / tried new adjustable tie bars, set the same length, Swapping tie bar bushes, Swapping all 4 ball joints, Swapping lower arm bushes, Changing upper arm pin and bearing, Swapping wheels and tyres, Replace knuckle joints, Wheel alignment
Wheel balancing (lost count on the amount of times), new disks and pads, to name but a few! so now i have 2 cars that do the same, id like to try and nail this one once and for all!

Anyone any thoughts?

Cheers

Ross.

[Jackman]

Warn steering column bushes?

[jgch]

I have exactly the same problem on my 2000 Sportspack, I have not been able to fix it and my car has only 2,000 miles from new

[MRA]

Try a castor gauge on your front end...... also check the tightness ie. rock in the wheel bearings and top arm bearings, although the latter is clutching at straws............ also how much toe out do you have ?

[mr_bridger]

Thnaks for suggestions guys,

Column bushes are not bad, all bearings and balljoints seem ok, re-greased all of them too, just had toe sorted at southam MMC, about 1mm toe out i think.

as for castor, not particularly easy to check at home??

Cheers
Ross.

[Saxo-Fiesta-Mini]

is it not mean to be 2mm toe in thats what mr auto data told me thats how mines set

[mr_bridger]

toe out at the front, toe in at the back, well that what the guys at SMMC say. always been set like that, and didnt wobble in the beginning.

Edited by mr_bridger, 15 April 2009 - 05:37 AM.

[MRA]

is it not mean to be 2mm toe in thats what mr auto data told me thats how mines set

Oh dear you should have toe out at the front on a front wheel driven car, there are some exceptions to the norm, and Classic Mini is NOT one of them.

Its due to the drive shaft rotation and suspension geometry........ as you turn the mini driveshaft the tendency is to straighten the wheels, therefore in theory as your power increases so should your toe out.....

Rear wheel drive cars will have toe in as they are being pushed which also has a tendency to "straighten" the wheels.........

Its a compromise which if you fit full spherical bearing Tie bars and lower arms you can set them near on neutral and alot of the issues go away

[MRA]

toe out at the front, toe in at the back, well that what the guys at SMMC say. always been set like that, and didnt wobble in the beginning.

When you had your wheels balanced was it any better ?

I suspect that the initial setting of their machine may be too high...... They work by having an initial setting which can be set anywhere between o and 200 grammes. This means that when you see zero on the machine it could be anywhere between o and 200 grammes out of balance this is to allow for rapid tyre fitting.

I doubt if you'll find anyone in a tyre shop who will admit to this and even less who will even know it !

[mr_bridger]

Just had a brand new pair of Yokos put on the front, along with rebalancing... wobble still there.

Edited by mr_bridger, 16 April 2009 - 07:03 PM.

[mr_bridger]

well checked all again, had one top BJ with a tiny tiny bit of play, replaced that, and notice i tiny bit off inner wing touching subframe (thats how *rec of the tum* its getting) fixed that too, MOT today, and passed with flying colours!! still wobbled on way home.....

going to replace front rubber cones in morning.... see what that does...

[widerim_pickup]

Get your driveshafts checked, could be slightly bent, throwing rotating assembly out of balance.

[MRA]

Get your driveshafts checked, could be slightly bent, throwing rotating assembly out of balance.

This is definately the case especially if someone has removed the rebound rubbers, the little "L" shaped bush that sits just below the top arm.... as this lets the drivshaft hit the lower part of the driveshaft hole when fully jacked up off the ground.....

Also did you clock the discs up when you fitted them, best to keep below 0.006" side to side runout.... however a lot of the cheaper discs also runout in a circular (concentricity) motion.........

[MRA]

Oops I didn't mean to presume that you had cheap discs

[mr_bridger]

Well, didn’t manage the suspension cones, not enough time to remove the top arms, but I did a few more measurements, and found that the cental hub on one side is 3mm off centre! See pic. Now these weren’t cheap, I purposely bought these, they were a bit dearer, but Pagid is usually a make you could trust?? Do you think this would be enough to cause it?

Now I need to find some quality discs, that are fully machined, as these ones were cast in the centre.