2013 Sportwagen TDI shaking at 70mph

Just picked up my wife a candy white 2013 TDI JSW with 53K on the clock - it came with stock 17” wheels all in good shape. It drives fine but develops a notable shake at 70mph in sixth gear and the shake stays as you continue north in speed. you can really feel it all over and it’s visibly notable in the steering wheel. The dealer re-checked alignment before I took delivery and they said it’s fine maybe just a flat spot on a tire or two. I’ve driven flat spotted tires before but never noticed they only get bad at 70mph. Usually when a tire is out of round you start to feel it around 50-60mph for sure. I read a recent thread where a guy said his JSW shook at 70mph, and somebody said he needed some hubcentric rings or something? He was running aftermarket wheels though and I’m bone stock (as far as I know, and it’s a CPO vehicle so they should’ve inspected, right?). Any thoughts??

Chocolate and vanilla:




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have you tried to coast @ 70mph in neutral to rule out any drivetrain issues?

My Passat has the same issue, it was worse with OEM conti’s so I replaced them for Pirelli P7’s and it helped somewhat but the shake is there at 70-80 mph. So I am thinking the rim may be slightly bent.


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I had a slight vibration between 70-80 mph. Balance was fine. One front wheel had a very slight ding on the inside. Rather than have it straightened I was able to get a replacement wheel. The 17" Goal wheels have been discontinued. Several dealers had sets online but my dealer located a single that came from Canada.

Nice pair! I like the brown one, but gather its the white one you're having issues with. I have a somewhat similar issue. Mine was more of a vibration than a shake and the car pulls right when accelerating. I went through the alignments and re-balancing but the issues persisted. An indie-shop drove the car and diagnosed it as an issue with the axle(s). Its CPO, but I haven't taken it to VW because the issue is somewhat subtle and I wasn't sure if they'd agree or give me the run around (and charge me for diagnostic fees).

With your issue I think the bent rim idea sounds possible. Best way to chase it would probably to swap wheels front to back. Or even car to car if you really want to rule out wheels/tires as the issue!

Ghostrider said:

I had a slight vibration between 70-80 mph. Balance was fine. One front wheel had a very slight ding on the inside. Rather than have it straightened I was able to get a replacement wheel. The 17" Goal wheels have been discontinued. Several dealers had sets online but my dealer located a single that came from Canada.

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Same issue and cure for my 10 jsw. New rim took the shake right out.

Place the wheel and tire on a balancer, the issue will be obvious at that point.

Bad tire, bad wheel, or severe balance off.

My 2011 cupped a set of good years so bad it was a real drag to drive, only exhibited at speed, rotate the tires and see if the syptom changes, if so make sure rims are not bent and get new tires.


If the symptoms do not change you may have a failing cv joint, I did have a drivers side axle go, but it shook under power.


Now I run Michelin only, no complaints.

Thanks folks! Very helpful advice and a few things I didn’t think of too. I emailed the salesman at the dealership at like 9:30pm and proposed that I bring my 16” biolines with winter tires in, have them mount them, and then let me drive around and see if the shudder continues.

*****Salesman emails me back almost immediately and says he’ll get with service in the AM. Hot damn, that was an unexpectedly healthy dose of good customer service. I’ll follow up tomorrow, fingers crossed it’s just a tire/wheel!


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I’m interested in what you find since I have a similar mild vibration issue that becomes apparent when the speedometer needle is pointing around 80 mph or higher. I also bent a Bioline a few years ago and had it straightened, which I suspect to be the cause.

If you move new tires to the old wheels you might inflict old damage on new rubber.

I'd rotate the tires before going to the stealer, and if the problem persists, have a reputable shop check the balance. They'll let you know how your tires/wheels/balance stacks up to the norm before migrating new rubber to old wheels. Much easier to make a decision that way.

Do you drive on gravel roads? That could account for an imbalance, which could possibly lead to the conditions you describe.

Very good suggestion - thank you! So the car came with 17” portos and I have a set of 16” biolines with winter tires that I bought from a friend. Now could the biolines with winters be bent, bad, cupped, etc.? Sure, but I don’t know yet. I think I’ll have them switched and just pray, but there’s a very real chance it won’t solve the problem if the biolines aren’t perfect either. But it might solve all problems quick and easy and get the winters on at the same time - hoping for good luck!




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FWIW, I run across bent wheels on A5/A6/NCS cars all the time here. They must be pretty easy to bend.

Again, this is all guesswork. You need to have them mounted on a balancer, and actually WATCH them spin, too see if they are out of round. Road Force Variance balancers will also place a number on how far out of whack they are, but a visual inspection will at least give you an indication.

You can balance something that is out of round, and have it come up all zeros, but it is still out of round, and it'll still shake.

Welp, had them switch the 17” contis for 16” X-Ice and car is smooth as silk to 90mph, didn’t go any faster because too much traffic. Thanks folks and I’ll report back once I actually find the particular culprit as well.

Here’s a pick with the 17” loaded up - have two car seats in as well at all times in both - these things haul!




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