After having one of my alloy wheels refurbished recently i had the tyre re-fitted and balanced but afterwoods i was getting a vibration through the steering wheel between 60 and 70 so i took it back and they re balanced it. However i am still getting a vibration at 60-70, mainly when accelerating, the vibration seems to vary from road to road too.

When i got home tonight i thought i would put my steel spare on and see how that goes on my way to work in the morning, if it is ok then i assume that either the alloy wheel/ tyre is at fault and may possibly try it on the rear. Now when i took the alloy off i had a look around at the suspension components just in case anything obvious was a miss or faulty and i noticed that the rear wishbone rubber bush/mount was sort of perished a bit. Now should this be the case on a 2.5 yr old car with 23k on the clock? Could this cause me any type of problems that i would notice whilst driving the car? I have noticed that when i push this side of the car down there is a slight creaking noise too.

I would really appreciate some input or suggestions on this.

Although worn bushes can make strange noises, i wouldn't have thought they would always be at the same speed. Sounds more like wheel vibration as you suggest. Try it on the rear like you also have suggested.

Well when you had the wheel refurbished was it because it was scuffed or had it hit a curb hard? wonder if it could be buckled or tyre damaged? i think it would be less obvious if fitted to the rear of the car and if your suspension bushes are perished then you will get movement through the steering wheel,when my bushes where knackered i could feel it especially under braking to a holt cos when you released the brake pedal you could feel the steering wheel jolt,i replaced mine with powerflex ones which aren't the best fitment but there sturdy

Well when you had the wheel refurbished was it because it was scuffed or had it hit a curb hard? wonder if it could be buckled or tyre damaged? i think it would be less obvious if fitted to the rear of the car and if your suspension bushes are perished then you will get movement through the steering wheel,when my bushes where knackered i could feel it especially under braking to a holt cos when you released the brake pedal you could feel the steering wheel jolt,i replaced mine with powerflex ones which aren't the best fitment but there sturdy

The wheel was scuffed from scrapping it along a kerb. The thing is i was driving around with it in this state til the weather got better before getting it refurbed and it was ok. It has only been since the tyre was removed and then re fitted.

My car is still under warranty and i may take it to the dealers and pointout the perished bushes.

Well if you on scuffed the wheel then it shouldn't be buckled and as its under warranty then get them to replace the bushes,must be fairly common as mine did it and my mates bushes perished within a couple of years

Not unusual to see perished bushes on suspension components...i see loads when MOT testing, only fail if they have excessive movement.....I think your problem is down to wheel balancing, they should be balanced by "back coning" the wheel....Its a pity your not local or i could have "finger plated":rolleyes: it. Just ask DaveU,Q,Vrs-si to name but a few, i dont think they have had a problem when i`ve balanced them:rolleyes:

Phil

Not unusual to see perished bushes on suspension components...i see loads when MOT testing' date=' only fail if they have excessive movement.....I think your problem is down to wheel balancing, they should be balanced by "back coning" the wheel....Its a pity your not local or i could have "finger plated":rolleyes: it. Just ask DaveU,Q,Vrs-si to name but a few, i dont think they have had a problem when i`ve balanced them:rolleyes:

Phil[/quote']

finger plating?????

whats that all about then? :confused: :confused:

maybe i could phone around some of my local tyre fitting places and ask if they can do that for me?

I intend to check out the rest of the suspension bushes as far as i can and then take the car to the dealers while it still has some warranty left.

The wheel balancer puts a plate againts the wheel and does it up then balances the wheel to compensate for your cars hub.

Go do it I had terrible vibrations like you describe and loads of balances failed to fix it, but a fingerplate balance has sorted it good. Find a place that can do this for you and get it done.

The wheel balancer puts a plate againts the wheel and does it up then balances the wheel to compensate for your cars hub.

Go do it I had terrible vibrations like you describe and loads of balances failed to fix it' date=' but a fingerplate balance has sorted it good. Find a place that can do this for you and get it done.[/quote']

is this done on the car then???

No.......... the wheel is balanced with an expanding cone behind it, then a 5 fingered stud plate is put on replicating the wheel bolts, wheel should be balanced "alu 2" or if you want "alu 1" the last one uses stick on zinc weights instead of knock on...

HTH

Phil

so if i was to call around the tyre fitters in my area do i just ask if they do "finger plate balancing" ????

How much is it by the way?

I currently have stick on weights on all my wheels by the way.

so if i was to call around the tyre fitters in my area do i just ask if they do "finger plate balancing" ????

Just find a "Pirelli Performance centre".... unfortunately not everyone is up to their standards, we are one of 50 branches who have it in the UK....5 of them are Merityre branches:thumbup:

www.merityre.co.uk

Phil

protyre are too.

Basically a decent tyre place will only do fingerplate and it will cost no more than a balance elsewhere.

IIRC it was about £8-10 per wheel when I had it done.

Right then here's an update

Got my wheels finger plate balanced by a local tyre place.

Not made any difference.

I have tried two new tyres on the front in case the tyres where faulty and it is still vibrating through steering wheel usually happens anywhere between 50 and 70 but it does not happen every time i accelerate through that window of speeds:confused:

Can i jst check with someone that the finger plate balance is a device that is fitted to the balancing machine with studs sticking out of it that is supposed to replicate your hub on the car??? this is what the guy used.

Like i have said i have been elsewhere today and had two new tyres fitted but it is still not right.

What i would lke to know is this, is there a part of the suspension that could cause this type of vibration??

I am specifically thinking of things like the ARB drop links or something like the strut top bearing maybe???????

One other thing i am considering is trying some other wheels on the car. Just need someone to loan me some for an hour.

Any suggestions would be very welcom as i am really fed up now :orb_sad:

Not much help to you , Rob but I had a similar vibration on the Octavia that ProTyre failed to solve. One trip the see Phil (piv34uk) and all was sorted.

He also note dmy split suspension bushes on the MOT. I think they're nearly all knackered and the drop links creak liek hell - but I have no vibration.

Someone here had a simialr recurring vibration about 6 months ago on an Octavia - try trawling through an advanced search and see what you can find. I think most people in that thread said it would be a wheel not suspension.

Bought a couple of new tyres on Saturday but still no better

Anyway after trying various combinations i have now got the wheels with two new tyres on, on the back of the car. These wheels have got about 20-25g of weights each.

I have therefore got my older tyres on the front. One of these wheels has got about 100g of weights on it though :eek: and the other has about 25g i think. Now i have been for a good drive tonight and have no vibrations at all. So what can i assume from that??????

I have also noticed that when fitting the wheels to the hub they don't seem to fit very flush ie you can sort of rock them slightly before they are tightened up as if either the hub or the wheel is not machined dead flat or has a high spot.

I am going to have each wheel off again when i get time and try and check the mating faces of the wheel and hub for any signs of damage or imperfections.

Are these the replica wheels your struggling with?

Have to got the spiggot rings for them?

Are these the replica wheels your struggling with?

Have to got the spiggot rings for them?

yes they are replica wheels.

What spigot rings?????:confused: :confused:

Didn't need spigot rings in the end as the wheels where the right sizefor the hub.

However they did seem to not sit on the hub without a bit of play.

I have since got myself a set of vRS alloys and guess what???????????????

No more vibration or wheel balancing problems. The vRS wheels just feel better when you put them on the hub than the old replica wheels.

Now i wonder if i can shift my old RS4 replica's on Ebay;)

Thanks to everyone for all the advice/help

It was me, i had no end of problem with the same.

Protyre fixed it, 35g and 5g out. Shame the main dealers and other tyre fitters had missed it.

Glad you found the problem and fixed it, cause it's god damn annoying

Lots of people were saying that it was just balancing but it clearly was not.

The fit of the wheels on the hub was just not as accurate as the vRS ones that i now have and i can only assume that that was the problem.