Vibration at 70MPH?

Citroenmad · Post by **Citroenmad** » 20 Aug 2010, 07:59

There is an ATS in the town, so i might just take mine there to get them all rebalanced.

Mine isnt too bad and only at a certain speed, but its annoying. Front wheels are perfect but the rears can be felt through the seat slighty.

GB · Post by GB » 23 Aug 2010, 16:46

Had the same problem with my c5 - steering wheel vibration between 70 and 80 mph, plus some noticeable vibration at the rear. Yes, it was due to incorrect wheel balance, and had it fixed last month during our 2300 miles round trip to Poland at a local (and tiny) Citroen dealership there.

Paid £35 (160PLN) for it, expensive but they did a superb job - no vibration at all up to 115MPH.

The previous wheel balance was done by eTyres when I got a new set of Michelins about 25K miles ago, and was never perfect - there was always some vibration at 70-80mph.

Apparently there is a whole Citroen procedure for wheel balancing, and they use only centre-less balancing machines. Firstly they checked the tyre pressure (had it at 42psi for high speed autobahn cruising), then used a whole bottle of alloy wheel cleaner to clean them (wheels were immaculate for balancing), then checked tyres for their condition and took out all crap from tyre grooves, obviously took the old weights off and then used adhesive weights. All up it took 1hr and 20 minutes.

GB

Post by **myglaren** » 23 Aug 2010, 18:55

That's some dedication! Not many places interested in doing such a thorough job, not that expensive considering the time invested in it, and a positive result is always worth that little bit extra.
One up for the Poles.

falling-out-with-my-car · Post by **falling-out-with-my-car** » 23 Aug 2010, 19:16

still its a Bl88dy long way to go to get your wheels balenced properly!!!

Old-Guy · Post by **Old-Guy** » 24 Aug 2010, 14:26

With steel wheels (in general), it's always worth getting the fitter to check that the wheels are true (my spare is about 4mm out) - all it takes is for someone to have clouted a kerb in the past.

If you've got a vibration problem, before getting the wheels balanced:
- check the tyres are free of tread distortion and bulges in the side walls,
- pick any well-jammed stones etc out of the treads,
- clean the wheels inside and out (you'll be amazed at how much dirt accumulates inside the rims),
- clean the the mating surfaces of the hubs and wheels and wipe with WD40,
- check there's no play in the wheel bearings,
- inflate tyres to the correct pressure,
- than take for a test drive.

Then get the offending wheels re-balanced by someone who has the equipment (for centre-less wheels if necessary) and will take the time to do the job properly. It isn't rocket science, wheel balancing machines have to be designed to be easy to use - even I can use one and get my wheels spot on (it just takes me a bit longer!)

It's worth bearing in mind that balancing machines only spin wheels to a very low speed, and a slight imbalance (or even a particular road surface) will often induce a harmonic vibration in the suspension or body at a particular speed - why does it always seems to be around 70?

Guy

oxtailsoup · Post by **oxtailsoup** » 25 Aug 2010, 13:37

Just a quick update, would have been earlier but haven't had internet access for the last week.

The vibration has now gone after rear wheels were balanced at 7 euros each.

Thanks for all the replies and advice.