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steering wheel vibration

A

andy

New CEG'er
Joined
Sep 1, 2002
Messages
25
I've been through many shakes, vibrations, groans, moans with my 'tour, but this one is pretty new. At low speeds, say 25 MPH, I can feel a slight vibration at the steering wheel pulling left and right. It's there whether I'm accelerating or coasting. Not much is felt at higher speeds, no heavy tire/wheel vibration either. If I turn the wheel left a bit, like 30 degrees, it gets worse, which is to say the amplitude gets bigger (frequency seems to stay the same). I asked a mechanic friend if it could be the halfshaft, he say it's possible but that should be more noticeable under acceleration. I asked another mechanic and he said it's more likely the rotor or bearing rather than halfshaft. I don't feel any pull or heavy pulsations during braking, but I do notice when almost stopped, I can feel uneven deceleration.

I just replaced the bearing on the driver side few months ago because there was a groaning noise that got worse when I turned right, but the noise did not go away after new bearing. I think the vibration was present then, but it just got worse after sitting for a month not driven. May be related or coincidence. It sat for 6 weeks when I was out of town, but I've been driving it 80 miles per day for the past week and has made no difference. Any ideas?
 
Do the o'clock test.

O'clock test

Jack up the car one side. Place on jack stand.

Grasp wheel at 12 and 6 o'clock and push in and out. Any movement, most probably suspect wheel bearing.

9 and 3 o'clock - tie-rod/ball joint.

Lower the car and do the same for the other side.
 
Tires are pretty close to needing replacement. Almost down to the wear bars. Wear is even, though.

I should clarify my description of the problem. There is vibration coming through the floor/seats, but that's not new. The steering wheel wobble is new on top of existing vibrations. Plus the wobble isn't really wobble, it's more like inconsistent torque. That is to say driving down the road the steering wheel doesn't move back and forth by itself, at least not noticeably. But if I hold it at any angle, I can feel torque build up and down. Most noticeable at low speeds. At high speeds I'm not fighting the wheel at all.

@tony, I certainly can and should do the o'clock test in the near future, but I've been through bearing and ball joint problems and these symptoms don't seem to fit. With bearings there's always groaning on the loaded side. I've changed the bearing on that side and the goraning was still there immediately after the change. With tie-rod/ball joint, I don't have a wander or dead band problem.

All of our 'tours are getting old. Too bad it's a dying breed. At this point I'm only tackling driveability and safety issues and ignoring the "cosmetic" issues like suspension creaks and squeaks or CEL. I'm trying to assess whether this is a big safety/driveability problem or a gettin' old problem...definitely not normal behavior, but if I can go 20k miles on it...well, you know, probably get a new car by then. That's what I keep saying, but she keeps on tickin'
 
They usually do a free cursory inspection when they change tires. Yes, do change the tires first and go from there.
 
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