Hi guys I'm after some advice.

 

I have vibrations and a shaking steering wheel when I travel between 65+mph, the car is pulling to the left ever so slightly under any driving speed. Under hard acceleration the shaking is very bad, also slight cornering on the motorway and changing lanes.

 

the car has been in the dealers today and they think the problem is the rear wheel alignment. The bolts are seized in the bushes and they can't undo them. As the back is out it is dragging the front out, which has caused my 2 month old front tyres to buldge slightly causing my problems. 

 

All four tyres were changed 2 months, but I've had this problem BEFORE the tyres were changed. 

 

Skoda want to replace the whole arm assembly at £477quid. But they have told me I would need to wait for the tyres to wear down evenly so I would have to wait for the wobble to disappear.

 

wheel weights have been checked three times by different garages and are fine.

 

I am not convinced this is the problem. Any else had this issue? Any ideas?

 

I am going to replace front and back wheels tomorrow and see if the issue goes or stays.

Edited 4 May, 20179 yr by jamer1410

Take to a good wheel aligner and ask for their opinion?  You may have to pay for it, they may also be able to do the suspension arms if they agree they must be done, they should also have some experience of seized bolts, can try penetrating spray for a few days, maybe some heat with care.

Who's good though? A national chain ats or kwikfit or someone else? I'm in the south west near Taunton.

Someone with a reputation and long standing experience and satisfied customers.

 

I would say that mostly excludes the chains so see if you can find an independent tyre dealer and aligner, ask friends who they have used, phone a few and see if they will look at it and gauge confidence in their replies.

 

Who did you use to supply tyres.

 

It is not easy, but when you find a good one, stick with them.  They will likely be a lot cheaper than a Skoda dealer to do arms too if required, as would an independent garage. 

 

We've got similar cars, I don't have that problem, I did have the alignment done when I first bought it 14 months ago.  Tyre wear is pretty even, no vibrations since I changed the brake rotors on all 4 corners (only affected braking).  I have to say though the original suspension could do with a refresh I think, it is a bit skittish on poor road surfaces and can be knocked off line pretty easy on  poor road surfaces but tracks straight and true on good surfaces.

 

Edit; I can't help with specifics for Taunton - I'm in Surrey.

PS. A little less negative camber than spec on the rear reduces scrubbing the inside of the rear tyres.

 

 

Edited 4 May, 20179 yr by TheClient

Hi Jammer try https://www.alignmycar.co.uk/?gclid=CO-SiK3i1tMCFYW4Gwodmz0DOg  for someone in your area who can do a Hunter 4 wheel alignment 

The hunter listings are a decent start.  I don't think you have to use the Hunter rig though. My aligner doesn't. Experience and knowledge, especially if you have a problem that needs solving, rather than just an alignment to specs, will prove valuable...

1 hour ago, TheClient said:

The hunter listings are a decent start.  I don't think you have to use the Hunter rig though. My aligner doesn't. Experience and knowledge, especially if you have a problem that needs solving, rather than just an alignment to specs, will prove valuable...

 

How does he align the rear wheels, yes there is other brands other than hunter but that's the one that has the best rep. I couldn't agree more about experience and knowledge but that's only part of any problem, alignment to specs is the first stage of rectifying the problem. if you can't do that how can you fix it. 

Ok thanks guys. I'll ask about and see what's what. I live in a small town and to be honest I don't trust any garage with alignment around here, there are too people with too many bad reviews. There are a few local independents I trust so I will ask them who they use and gauge it from there. I will probably use a hunter rig if they are meant to be good? The nearest is probably a half hr drive. Just getting so frustrated with it, that so far nobody seems to know what it is. 

 

Do do you guys think it is definitely the tracking? I just can't see how the rear (which looks like it's been seized for a long time) can affect the front so much that the front two tyres are wearing oddly. Even though across all four tyres the treads are within 0.5mm (inner middle and outer of the tyres)

Edited 4 May, 20179 yr by jamer1410

1 hour ago, meta55b said:

 

How does he align the rear wheels, yes there is other brands other than hunter but that's the one that has the best rep. I couldn't agree more about experience and knowledge but that's only part of any problem, alignment to specs is the first stage of rectifying the problem. if you can't do that how can you fix it. 

The thing is Hunter is not the only 4 wheel alignment rig.  There are other 4 wheel alignment rigs in use.  They do the job equally as well.

 

Also, aligning to the exact specifications is not "always" totally what you want when they are proven to have issues a specific car or car that is no longer brand new, like the negative camber on the rear of the Mk2 Octavia and Mk5 golfs, a bit less severe than spec helps with tyre wear. So it is not all about specifications, but experience plays a part beyond just adjusting anything to spec.

 

Then, if it comes to presenting a problem and thinking of solutions, just because you can operate the rig and get settings within spec doesn't guarantee them being able to think of the causes or the solution. That is my opinion and experience anyway!

Edited 4 May, 20179 yr by TheClient

I am suprised they couldnt undo the nuts. Nothing a bit of heat from a torch wouldn't be able to sort out. Once they have been heated and allowed to cool down a few times they usually loosen off and can be removed.

57 minutes ago, jamer1410 said:

Ok thanks guys. I'll ask about and see what's what. I live in a small town and to be honest I don't trust any garage with alignment around here, there are too people with too many bad reviews. There are a few local independents I trust so I will ask them who they use and gauge it from there. I will probably use a hunter rig if they are meant to be good? The nearest is probably a half hr drive. Just getting so frustrated with it, that so far nobody seems to know what it is. 

 

Do do you guys think it is definitely the tracking? I just can't see how the rear (which looks like it's been seized for a long time) can affect the front so much that the front two tyres are wearing oddly. Even though across all four tyres the treads are within 0.5mm (inner middle and outer of the tyres)

As said, personally, I don't think it has to be "hunter" categorically.  Kwik Fit are installing Hunter nationally, would I use them for my wheel alignment over my independent guy without hunter but using another 4 wheel rig?  No. 

 

Definitely ask around and find someone you trust, a recommendation is valuable.

 

It sounds like a tyre problem. But why have they ended up like this in 2 months... How bad was the problem with the old tyres. Did it go away for a short period with the new tyres?   And I guess it could be caused by alignment, but few measurements depend on front / rear relationships. Toe and camber are measured stand alone front edit: AND rear.  If the rear was a long way out it could fight with the front.

 

You need someone with sight of the vehicle, the symptoms, the tyre wear and experience to say with some authority I think. 

Edited 4 May, 20179 yr by TheClient

To be honest I don't know how hard the dealers tried to free it up. Maybe they just tried it with a small breaker bar and that was it? I would imagine it could be undone with penetrating fluid or heat.

 

the old tyres were all down very close to their minimum. The front tyres were slightly bulged but the vibrations/shaking was minimal but noticeable if you get what I mean. Not as bad as what it is now. 

 

Certainly wont be paying skoda to carry out the work, I'll try to find someone else with more specialised knowledge

Just sat having a hunter wheel alignment done and the garage have given me this as the before. The alignment is only a fraction out. Probably not the cause of the issue.

Im going through this exact same issue at the moment, its driving me insane- I only really  noticed it after getting new tyres (top end of budget) so either I have a tyre out of round or a buckled alloy? Like you I have had my wheels balanced at three different places, I still have a slight vibration, probably from the rear. I haven't had my alignment checked (yet) that may be my next port of call but I think its either tyre or wheel related. I'll be watching with interest how you get on.

41 minutes ago, Black vRS Oct said:

Im going through this exact same issue at the moment, its driving me insane- I only really  noticed it after getting new tyres (top end of budget) so either I have a tyre out of round or a buckled alloy? Like you I have had my wheels balanced at three different places, I still have a slight vibration, probably from the rear. I haven't had my alignment checked (yet) that may be my next port of call but I think its either tyre or wheel related. I'll be watching with interest how you get on.

Same as you some time ago. Had new tyres fitted on the front and soon after noticed a vibration at around 70-80mph. Had the front wheels balanced again but still the same. My mechanic then had a close look at the wheels when they were spinning on the balancer and noticed one was not spinning straight and so was a little buckled. He said it was safe, so he put it on the rear where I now can't feel any vibration. Maybe one day I will get a new wheel.  

OP have you checked the inner CV's? Does the vibration ease off if you level the speed out and lift off the gas?

4 hours ago, jamer1410 said:

Just sat having a hunter wheel alignment done and the garage have given me this as the before. The alignment is only a fraction out. Probably not the cause of the issue.

Yes, doesn't look that bad but you have to start somewhere. Did they have any ideas?  Any next steps suggested?

 

Like I said experience is valuable. If they've left the rears at spec near to -1.40 that is pretty harsh on the rear tyres inner edges. Better to go more moderate than spec at the expense of a little on the limit grip.

 

However, I agree that shouldn't be causing you such significant issues in terms of vibrations out of round tyres.

 

1. Do you have the after geometery?

2. Was there any feedback from the alignment engineer in terms of causes of your problem?

3. What tyres are presently installed?

Have you any wheel bearings loose or any play in the wheel when the car is jacked up? Also aren the console bushes persihed?

Going through the same problem myself right now.

 

I have a 2013 105hp 1.2TSI Fabia Monte Carlo Tech this year. After having the warped front brake discs replaced, I noticed it was pulling to the left and giving me a really annoying vibration in the steering wheel at 50mph+.

 

Took it to be investigated and got new console bushes fitted & tracking done after discovering the previous ones had split. It sorted that out briefly and after a month the original symptoms have some back.

I'm probably going backwards in my method, but I've booked it back into where the Fabia was repaired to make sure the bushes are still ok and everything is mechanically sound before focusing on the tyres.

 

I'm guessing the previous owner must've been a elderly lady as she's only changed one tyre at a time (one being a budget brand, two Nexens & one Continental from when the car first rolled off the production line)

I've got the same issue and i think i have narrowed it down to warped brake discs.

I had brembo's fitted about 1.5yrs ago and i notice there was a warp when i took off my winter tyres.  Im just waiting for them to run down a bit more then will replace them.

 

Edited 7 September, 20187 yr by Awesam
adding more information