Steering wheel vibration at 110 km's plus

FXDL

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 27, 2009
Location
Barrie Ontario Canada
TDI
2015 Jetta TDI with DSG
All four wheels rebalanced and four wheel alignment done at vw dealer. Vibration was at 110 plus and now twice at bad at 110 plus and now at 100 km's too. So with all what dealer done they just made it worse even. Holy crap is not any fun to drive now at 100 k's plus.
 
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Tdijarhead

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Nov 10, 2013
Location
Lawrenceville PA
TDI
2003 TDI Jetta Daughters Car, 2001 TDI Beetle, Wife’s car, 2005 Golf TDI Mine, all 5 spds
You've got a bad tire. Friend of mine bought 4 new ones and had a vibration at 70 mph, tire shop rebalanced them 3 times, they finally found a defect in one of the new tires. Or in inner axle cv joint. I'd sooner think the tire though.
 

FXDL

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 27, 2009
Location
Barrie Ontario Canada
TDI
2015 Jetta TDI with DSG
Funny thing is the car going at 110 km's vibrated and up. Now after balancing all four wheesl and doing a 4 wheel alignment it now vibrates even worse at the 110 k an hour and now it does it at 100 k's per hr. Where as it did not vibrate at 100. The car now has some 49000 k's on it. The car had 41800 5 weeks ago when I got it as there was no brand new 2015's that I could find when turning in my dirty 2010 back in so I took the 15 with the 41 k's on it. One left tire was replaced the first time I went in a week ago and the second time in all 4 balanced and 4 wheel alignment done. What gets me is it worse after. Maybe they need to look at changing the other 3 tires as maybe they have steel belt in one or more of the tires that has shifted? The mechanic suggestef that the cv axles could be at fault. They do what you would think would correct the problem but instead their efforts have made it much worse instead. No fun at all driving with the steering wheel shaking back and forth now at 100 k's and faster. Makes no sense it got worse.
 
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Tdijarhead

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Nov 10, 2013
Location
Lawrenceville PA
TDI
2003 TDI Jetta Daughters Car, 2001 TDI Beetle, Wife’s car, 2005 Golf TDI Mine, all 5 spds
Those cars have set for over a year and despite what they might say, the tires are probably flat spotted.
 

FXDL

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 27, 2009
Location
Barrie Ontario Canada
TDI
2015 Jetta TDI with DSG
My had not sat for a year, as it had some 41000 k's on it. The tires could be the problem just the same as I don't much think the stock tires vw uses are the best choice. They only use and sell them because they are made in Germany????
Come time for new tires I will use made in North America, US or Canada and that goes for winter tires too.
 
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FXDL

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 27, 2009
Location
Barrie Ontario Canada
TDI
2015 Jetta TDI with DSG
Now that i drive some more I get the vibration in the steering wheel at 80 km's even so what the hell is going on? Has vw another piece of crap?
 
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Tdijarhead

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Nov 10, 2013
Location
Lawrenceville PA
TDI
2003 TDI Jetta Daughters Car, 2001 TDI Beetle, Wife’s car, 2005 Golf TDI Mine, all 5 spds
New tires. If you just bought this vehicle take it back to the dealer and tell them to put brand new tires on it. If this was a turn in maybe someone put their crap tires on it before they turned it in.
 

FXDL

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 27, 2009
Location
Barrie Ontario Canada
TDI
2015 Jetta TDI with DSG
It was a dealer car. It was one of 3 cars they had as demo's. I am going back up Thursday evening for them to look at again and this time they better pull a rabbit out of their hat and fix this time. Goes to show you how good they really aren't. Will suggest they put 4 wheels that they know are good from a car that runs smooth on mine and test. If corrected then theirs the problem. If so replace all of the tires and at the same time check the mag wheels for run out.
 

FXDL

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 27, 2009
Location
Barrie Ontario Canada
TDI
2015 Jetta TDI with DSG
I have four wheels with summer tires so maybe I get off my ass and try them out. Maybe just moving the front wheels to the back and rear to the front and see what gives.
 
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Itsmillertime88

Active member
Joined
Jun 20, 2017
Location
MI
TDI
2015 Jetta
If the tires have been balanced that many times the only last thing you could try is a road force balance if they haven't already. Usually that is a last resort to see if they will balance out but if that doesn't work then the tires are too far gone and need to be replaced
 

FXDL

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 27, 2009
Location
Barrie Ontario Canada
TDI
2015 Jetta TDI with DSG
Dealer was going to send me for the road force but at 200 bucks and 2 weeks waiting list, they just installed the other 3 new tires as the other one was installed a week before. The 3 tires where as they thought would not be corrected by the road force.
 

Jetta_Pilot

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Apr 14, 2005
Location
West Hill, Ont.
TDI
2015 Passat Highline TDI Candy White (SEL Premium) long gone 2002 Jetta TDI
If you bought the car with 49k on the clock, someone who had driven it before you got it may have hit a curb or a big hole in the road at some speed.

I would have them check both front axles as they will also cause the vibration you are experiencing.
 

dandywriter

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 18, 2007
Location
Ottawa (Kanata), Canada, eh?
TDI
2014 Golf Wagon 6M
Have you re-torqued the lug bolts to 88 ft/lbs? Loose one will cause vibration. Also, do any of the hubs get hot? If yes, check for a defective caliper. This also can cause a speed-related vibration.
 

Andyinchville1

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 7, 2016
Location
Virginia
TDI
2003 Jetta TDI wagon, 5 sp, 226K miles
HI,

I had a similar vibration issue (at about 70 MPH) and blamed it on tire balance but when I took the car in for our annual state inspection, my car (2003 jetta) needed rear control arm bushings to pass inspection and it was recommended to have an alignment after the bushing replacement.

I got the car back and drove it for work and no steering wheel shake at 70+ mph....

I don't know if it was the alignment or the rear control arm bushings but it made a difference for me ...maybe it can for you too.

I had put up with steering wheel shake for a long time since I was always busy and the tires seemed to wear ok...

Andrew
 

FXDL

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 27, 2009
Location
Barrie Ontario Canada
TDI
2015 Jetta TDI with DSG
The dealer did a 4 wheel alignment and 4 new tires and I still have steering wheel shake but over 110 km's. The steering wheel should not shake at any speed what so ever. Maybe one or more of the mag wheels that came stock on it are some what out of round. They did say the right rear was so a no brainier, one of the front also?? They need replacing if that is what it takes also. They need to correct it at what ever their cost. Will call again today and if need be, will talk with the owner of the dealer if service dept gives me the run around.
 

FXDL

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 27, 2009
Location
Barrie Ontario Canada
TDI
2015 Jetta TDI with DSG
Well the dealer said on my own as they can not test the car over the legal speed limit or ride in a Car that goes over the speed limit. I asked them to put on a whole other set of tires and mag wheels same size as on mine to test and the part owner of the dealer said no as they don't want to pay a mechanic to do that. They wimped out of fixing my car. The dealer is Orillia VW in Orillia. They plain don't want to correct my problem. I think I will call VW Canada and make a complaint on the fact they want me to drive a car that is possibly dangerous. It does the vibration at speeds above 100 km's an hour. If one drives here on the 400 highway in the fast lane you better run as the others in that lane or you piss off a lot of people.
 
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FXDL

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 27, 2009
Location
Barrie Ontario Canada
TDI
2015 Jetta TDI with DSG
It appears to me the Orillia VW dealer is not a dealer to use in the future.
Now when they first balanced all four wheels and did a four wheel alignment and it moved the vibration up in speed and made it worse that just maybe their alignment machine is out of alignment itself. Maybe their unit needs calibrating.
 

FXDL

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 27, 2009
Location
Barrie Ontario Canada
TDI
2015 Jetta TDI with DSG
Does anyone know VW Canada phone number so i can call them and complain? When looking it up on site it shows everything except it.
 

FXDL

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 27, 2009
Location
Barrie Ontario Canada
TDI
2015 Jetta TDI with DSG
Well I called VW Canada and put a complaint in. We see what happens. I am sure the dealer won't be too happy about it.
 

turo79

New member
Joined
Sep 25, 2017
Location
san antonio texas
TDI
2014 Jetta MKVI Premium
I had recently purchased a set of new tires for my jetta and for a month I had a terrible vibration. I had it aligned and balanced numerous times before discovering that 2 of the new tires had broken belts. Once replaced it runs smooth!!
 

FXDL

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 27, 2009
Location
Barrie Ontario Canada
TDI
2015 Jetta TDI with DSG
Called VW Canada in Ajax. All they are good for is wasting my time. They said nothing they can do if dealer doesn't want to do anything as they can't force or order them to do anything. It wants to vibrate at speeds over the posted highway speed and a mechanic is not allowed to test drive or ride in a vehicle over posted speeds. VW is a useless. Useless is not the word i would like to use, buy cant say what I really would like to. The Orillia dealer and VW Canada in Ajax in my opinion are for sure a waste of time.
 

FXDL

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 27, 2009
Location
Barrie Ontario Canada
TDI
2015 Jetta TDI with DSG
Well as it turns out I installed 4 used OEM mag wheels with used all season tires on the mags. I drove the car and and the steering wheel ran smooth as glass, no vibration at all. So the used Continental tires that came on the car with some 20,000 km;s on them were at fault and the four brand new 205-55-16 Continental tires were even worse then the crappy tires that came on the car. The dealer at the end of all of it stated you are on your own, meaning too bad for me. The Dealer is Orillia VW and up to the end were not to bad, but a lot of good that is as they couldn't find the problem or rather they refused to do anything any more for the problem.
Orillia VW and the head office in Ajax are both a waste of time, in my opinion.
 
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oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
Take it from someone who has mounted and balanced more tires than I can remember: you can *balance* something perfectly, but if it is not round, it will shake no matter what.

This is why when I spin the wheel/tire combo on the balancer, in addition to watching the numbers, I LOOK at the assembly as it spins. If it wobbles, that is an issue. Cheap tires, tires that sat for a long time, old tires, anything made by Goodyear, are all going to be suspect and thus need extra scrutiny. But I have had bad tires from just about every manufacturer, even Michelin (although that is pretty rare). Sometimes a slightly bent wheel is the cause too. If there is ever any question about a wheel being true, I spin it up WITHOUT the tire mounted and watch the rim closely for a wobble.

Road force variance balancers are even better, because they do something "regular" balancers do not do. They actually load the tire on to a roller and measure the force as the tire rolls. They can detect things that even the naked eye cannot. Also, most of those machines have two stage balancing ability, where they can spin the tire at a higher speed to verify balance.

Related story: my brand new Sprinter's OEM Kumho tires were so bad the van was virtually undriveable. It had a jerk in the steering wheel starting around 10 MPH, and by 40 it was shaking the whole van. I could have sworn it had a bent wheel. Nope, 3 of the 4 crappy Korean tires were shaped like ostrich eggs.

New set of Continental Vanco tires and it is fine.
 

FXDL

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 27, 2009
Location
Barrie Ontario Canada
TDI
2015 Jetta TDI with DSG
I wouldn't use Continental tires ever again as two sets were useless. The brand new ones, the inner and outer tread blocks have cupped big time so all four are garbage now and were when brand new. The used all season were a cheap brand and on my car worked great compared to the more expensive Continental.
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
Yes, Continental-General can be hit or miss for sure. But on some applications, there is not much choice. And on a select few, Continental is the ONLY choice.

Fortunately, the Vanco tires are decent enough, even if they are a bit noisy.

I prefer Michelin.
 

Windex

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Apr 1, 2006
Location
Cambridge
TDI
05 B5V 01E FRF
Interesting - I am on my second set of Conti pro-contact tires on the Passat, and no issues - they balance with minimal weights and no wobbles up through all the speeds I drive.

I do bribe the tire guy doing the balance with coffee and a request to calibrate the balancer each time.
 

FXDL

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 27, 2009
Location
Barrie Ontario Canada
TDI
2015 Jetta TDI with DSG
Well if not bad tires then 4 bad stock OEM rims. I agree if the rim is bad but all four. I will check come time before putting the 4 summer rims back on, with a dial indicator as that will tell better then my eye?
I took the cheap all season tires off my winter OEM mags and had 4 cheap winter tires installed and the tires are made in Korea and they run nice and smooth and with our first snow storm they performed great. For what it would cost for a brand name tire I could get 6 of the cheap I had put on Wednesday. As far I am concerned, the big names cost you more then they are worth. Road force balancing I don't think would have helped the crap VW had on and then replaced with. I have never bought a brand name snow tire yet. I drive some 110 KM's a year, so it doesn't make scene to me, to run some over priced winter tire that is not going to last any longer or perform any better then cheaper snow tires. If one likes giving their money away then their choice. Each their own
 
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