Xantia has the wobbles!

lhm_leak · Post by **lhm_leak** » 13 Feb 2004, 01:17

A few posts ago, I said I expected my Xantia TD to go for a while longer without any major dramas. The rotten thing must be reading this forum, and it's decided to throw a wobbly. Literally.[:(!]
When driving there is a strong lateral vibration throughout the car. It's worst at low speed but present all the time. When driving at 10mph or less, I can actually see the car moving from side to side, and if I release the steering wheel, the rim will move about 2 inches in each direction as the car moves forward - the rate and amplitude of movement depends on speed - slow=worse. Oh, and it's developed a strong pull to the left.
I'm pretty sure it isn't something simple like wheel balance - I've had that before, and I'd know it again. Outwardly the car looks fine, all wheels straight and firmly fixed, tyre pressures OK.
Can anyone shed any light on this?
Stu.

Homer · Post by **Homer** » 13 Feb 2004, 01:37

Sounds like a bust CV joint. Though when it happened to me it got worse with speed (a lot worse).

Dave Burns · Post by **Dave Burns** » 13 Feb 2004, 01:50

Check your tyres for duck eggs.
Dave

David W · Post by **David W** » 13 Feb 2004, 03:36

I'd go for tyre/s as first thought as well. A classic for this is a previously unused spare bought into use after years of being clamped in the cradle. The tyre can fail internally with the most dramatic wobble fed to the steering.
Often they will look fine unless jacked up and spun against a fixed pointer.
David

AndersDK · Post by **AndersDK** » 13 Feb 2004, 03:58

Had exactly this strange problem y's ago on my CX.
It was the RHS good old branded Michelin tyre - failed & traced as pr DJW's suggestion.
The weird thing is you can't make your mind believe a tyre failure makes such dramatic influence to steering. But my CX literally also felt like it could not decide whether going right/left at slo speed - and that was the only reason it kept wobbling straight ahead.
Was vibrating severe at speeds - had a certain speed where it almost disappeared.
It was a classic duck egg as DaveBurns writes [:)]

David W · Post by **David W** » 13 Feb 2004, 14:27

I first experienced this on a DS I bought about 25yrs ago. It had those correct "DS type" Michelins and the tread patterns looked OK. As soon as I collected it from the garage I knew something was badly wrong. At 30mph in town the bonnet would move from side to side. I was prepared for a mechanical disaster but a quick check found a tyre with severe tread distortion. Close examination showed some of the steel cords had broken and the ends were poking out from the tread.
Pair of new front tyres and it was transformed.
David

lhm_leak · Post by **lhm_leak** » 14 Feb 2004, 03:23

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">The weird thing is you can't make your mind believe a tyre failure makes such dramatic influence to steering. But my CX literally also felt like it could not decide whether going right/left at slo speed - and that was the only reason it kept wobbling straight ahead.
Was vibrating severe at speeds - had a certain speed where it almost disappeared.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
This pretty much sums up the symptoms I'm getting. I'm going to have a *very* close look at the tyres when it gets light. Might also try swapping them in turn with the spare to nail the culprit.
Thanks for the replies, folks. I'll let you know what happens!
Stu.