Hi all,

 

I've had my 2013 Fabia Monte Carlo 1.6tdi for a good year now... since getting it (with about 65k miles on the clock), the steering wheel has tended to wobble (sometimes more, sometimes less) between about 50 and 75mph.. Not consistently, some days barely at all, and other days quite a bit more.

 

I have new tyres and have had them balanced several times (at two decent garages) hoping to solve the issue, but no luck. Are the 17 inch alloys (205/45 r17) - factory fit - often this much of a pain? 

 

With winter tyres (on 15 inch steelies) the vibration is much less, but still have something sometimes...

 

I also had the tracking done which made no difference (it was only very marginally out).

 

Grateful for any tips!

 

 

Bought a used Fabia MK3 2 months old with 1500 miles on the clock ex demo, after about 5 months running we had this issue with steering vibrating around 60-70mph as you said tried tracking tyres and even tried 2 different wheels and tyres off another model same size but  still vibrating, after many returns to the dealers they decided to change the front discs calipers and carriers this did sort the vibration out and now runs smooth but could not find out which one of these items was the fault.

The only other thing i noticed before they changed the brakes was if travelling on a straight road and then braking quite hard to say approach a roundabout there was a funny noise while braking like the noise of a wheel bearing starting to fail but would stop if you braked harder or eased off the brake, was not the ABS i was going to check disc throw out but as car was so new thought they should sort this out hope you can sort it all the best

If they look like this they're standard wheels.

I think 205/40 R17 is the standard size, but people have run 205/45 and 215/40 before.

Funny, I noticed my car had a bit of a shake in the steering wheel on the old tyres I was running up till yesterday. Tiny bit of vibration at around 80-90mph cruising, especially on the motorway. Only with them tyres though. Not had it at that speed for long enough to notice it since.

Tyres I had were toledo tl1000. Hated having them on the front, glad to see them off the car.

10 hours ago, DieselMonte said:

If they look like this they're standard wheels.

Exactly, its those wheels. I thought maybe it could be my tyres but I changed them last year (all 4) and it only made a minor difference. Maybe it's worth spending the money on some contis (have Maxxis something or another atm), but I'm not convinced this is the issue in my case, given the steering wheel also wobbles a bit when the winter tyres are fitted

16 hours ago, Murdockman said:

Bought a used Fabia MK3 2 months old with 1500 miles on the clock ex demo, after about 5 months running we had this issue with steering vibrating around 60-70mph as you said tried tracking tyres and even tried 2 different wheels and tyres off another model same size but  still vibrating, after many returns to the dealers they decided to change the front discs calipers and carriers this did sort the vibration out and now runs smooth but could not find out which one of these items was the fault.

The only other thing i noticed before they changed the brakes was if travelling on a straight road and then braking quite hard to say approach a roundabout there was a funny noise while braking like the noise of a wheel bearing starting to fail but would stop if you braked harder or eased off the brake, was not the ABS i was going to check disc throw out but as car was so new thought they should sort this out hope you can sort it all the best

I was thinking it could be the brake calipers - on the front they're rusty as hell. also when releasing my foot from the brake pedal, the pedal returns ever so slightly more slowly than my foot goes up (maybe the calipers are sticking/guide pins are in a poor state).. Will check that out, thanks!

37 minutes ago, aw1909 said:

Exactly, its those wheels. I thought maybe it could be my tyres but I changed them last year (all 4) and it only made a minor difference. Maybe it's worth spending the money on some contis (have Maxxis something or another atm), but I'm not convinced this is the issue in my case, given the steering wheel also wobbles a bit when the winter tyres are fitted

Maxxis tyres are usually decent enough. 

I can see discs "maybe" affecting the wobble, but calipers and carriers are stationary parts so should not cause this type of issue.

 

Sticking calipers etc would cause a wobble under braking, not just cruising along.

 

It is likely to be a rotating part which causes the wobble, tyre balancing is the first shout as you have done, after that then could be a process of elimination, but discs "could" be the culprit, but so could a worn suspension bush as well.

If a caliper is rusty, it may not close/open nicely, when the brakes are pressed. Any issue with discs will then be greatly exaggerated!

you would think if a caliper is stuck enough to cause a disc which is maybe warped to affect / wobble the steering, then there would also be a lot of heat generated due to the "bind".