What can make my car shake/wobble

[chrjen]

I have got a strange problem with my 1997 v70. When i reach 60 mph. the car starts shaking/wobbling. It feels like it is coming from the rear - but im not 100% sure. at 58 mph. it is noticeably in the steering wheel as well - but disappers at exactly 63 mph. the shaking from the rear goes on how ever....

I have some idears - but could someone please tell me the symptoms of the following:

"Dead" shocks ???
Bushes in the rear ?

NB! The car was MoT'ed 2 days ago and they found nothing. I actually told the if they could check the wishbones for wear, but the concluded there was nothing.

It drives me totally mad - the joy of driving her is cone....at the moment!

[matt black t5 saloon]

sounds to me that your wheels may need balencing mate

[Happygilmore78]

Have a look at this thread, could be a few things...

http://www.vpcuk.org/forums/showthread.php?t=22378

[cameron]

Wheel Balancing or Maybe a Buckled Wheel or out of shape Tyre

[Porcine_Aviator]

I would say it's wheel balance, take her into a local tyre fitting company and ask them to balance the wheels.

[FatLadZ]

check to make sure all your wheel bolts are tight

[5seaterT5x2]

I have got a strange problem with my 1997 v70. When i reach 60 mph. the car starts shaking/wobbling. It feels like it is coming from the rear - but im not 100% sure. at 58 mph. it is noticeably in the steering wheel as well - but disappers at exactly 63 mph. the shaking from the rear goes on how ever....

I have some idears - but could someone please tell me the symptoms of the following:

"Dead" shocks ???
Bushes in the rear ?

NB! The car was MoT'ed 2 days ago and they found nothing. I actually told the if they could check the wishbones for wear, but the concluded there was nothing.

It drives me totally mad - the joy of driving her is cone....at the moment!

wheel balancing would be my bet

[Cubes]

I had the same problem so I went to get my wheels balanced. Turns out I had a duff track-rod end.

[AlanG]

It's a hornet's nest mate. Same with any car with a fault such as this. Every suggestion above could cause this and I know how it takes the fun out of it. Process of elimination,I'm afraid. Keep us posted.

[volvoturboman]

Exactly as Alan just said, because heres another one to add to that list. I also have a V70 1997 and it was doing something similar. It was the tie bar, needed replaced and wasn't too expensive. Are you getting any excessive tyre wear?

[AlanG]

In my time as a mechanic I had a lot of this,mainly caused by people kerbing their cars or just the result of our poorly maintained dirt tracks. The most surprising one from memory was a Ford Sapphire with a bent rear hub.

[britten_mark]

How old are your tyres? I had loads of tread left on my Toyos on my old T5, but the sidewalls were knackered, cue vibration and noise.

[AlanG]

Yep.......they also have a tendancy to twist with age. Tyres are always first to check with symptoms like these.

[LeeT5]

....A big bowl of jelly!

[Flatout Phil]

If you really like a job, you could move the front wheels to the back and vice versa to see if the source of vibration changes. If you are geting wheels balanged make sure it is a garage who don't use hammer-on weights to the outer edges of your cherished alloys! Find somewhere usng stick on weights.
Bloody annoying problem though - and if it is coming from the rear (and I have had this problem) it is a trying one to resolve - all those possiblities from worn bushes, tired Nivomats, wheel bearings etc. Oddly, I had a speed sensitive vibration issue that was resolved with new brake discs at rear - everyone told me that this would never cause a vibe problem, but it certainly resolved it. But I am inclined to agree with Mark and Alan that tyres, especially the slim jobbies on the higher performance 850's do absorb a lot of punishment - they are not particularly 'big' for such a heavy car. I am sometimes tempted to forsake the tight handling and go for the old 15" rims on my 850 GLE whichgave a much more damped ride. Good luck - it is such a frustrating problem and the prospect of loitering around KwikFit whilst some spotty oik fondles your motor just plain miserable.

[phil_woods]

Well I had a very similar problem on my v70. At any speed the steering wheel would move the faster I went the faster it got. So I thought I would move wheels front to back. Its worked, I can feel the vibration now in the rear so to me that just confirms that its either a duff tyre (came with part worns grrr) or the wheels need balancing. I will put my money on it being a buckled wheel though to be honest because they are trashed. getting new ones soon so I dont really care!

[LeeT5]

I have got a strange problem with my 1997 v70. When i reach 60 mph. the car starts shaking/wobbling. It feels like it is coming from the rear - but im not 100% sure. at 58 mph. it is noticeably in the steering wheel as well - but disappers at exactly 63 mph. the shaking from the rear goes on how ever....

I have some idears - but could someone please tell me the symptoms of the following:

"Dead" shocks ???
Bushes in the rear ?

NB! The car was MoT'ed 2 days ago and they found nothing. I actually told the if they could check the wishbones for wear, but the concluded there was nothing.

It drives me totally mad - the joy of driving her is cone....at the moment!

Everyone is right about this...it is a mine field but you have to start somewhere. The first thing to NOT do is take your car to Kwikfit, unless you want to throw money away and never fix your problem. Trust me!!

Find a tyre/exhaust specialist like ELITE. Ensure your tyres are correctly inflated, use a digital tyre inflator not a 'guess the guage pressure' type. (BP garages use digital type). Then go to the tyre place and get them to remove each wheel and rebalance. They should remove all the weights and start from fresh. Also make sure they check for a buckle in the alloy. While the car is in the air (not on a jack) ask the garage if you can just check your bearings are ok. Most will oblige. this is a great opportunity to check the rotation to make sure your calipers are not binding. If they are, i guarantee they will cause horendous vibration at anything over 40mph. if you grip the outer edge of the tyre at the 09:15 position and wiggle, you should not get any 'play', if you do then your steering track rod ends are ££££ed. About £126 inc fitting + vat. If you wiggle 12:30 position then this check your wheel bearings. Again, no play. Wheel bearings are about £255 inc fitting + vat.

Once the wheels are on the car and all is ok then you can rule out (at this stage; Wheel bearings front & rear, steering track rods (commonly known as drumsticks), Tyres and wheels. All that is left are the expensive stuff ie driveshafts, Propshafts (AWD only), worn shocks and knackered wishbone bushes. TBH the wishbone bushes only affect the car when braking heavily as they will cause the car to wander and give slight vibration through the steering and brake pedal. Unbalanced wheels will seriously shag your shocks, so make sure you balance your wheels yearly regardless of mileage. I do mine every service or 10k. Also, while your there (at the garage) you may aswell get them to check your wheel alignment. This will cause some slight vibration but mostly just knacker your tyres and cause steering issues.

9/10 times it's always your balancing thou. Hope the above helps.