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wobbly steering..?

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Davemission

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Location
S. Wales
Car
6th gen 1.8 Sport
Hiya fellas- my 1.8 sport has recently started to 'wobble' at low speeds! It was barely perceptible at first ( a few weeks ago), but it's getting more and more annoying. I'm ***uming that a ball-joint/bush has started to fail. Anyone know the likeliest culprit?
Cheers guys
 
Jon_G said:
Are you absolutely sure it isn't a tyre? It could be a bulge forming.
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Hi I have just had this issue with my Mercedes a class. I convinced myself it was the suspension components but I just put the spare wheel on to one side at a time and hey presto the wobble was gone on the first one I tried. Worth a try first. :)
 
I had that problem at 70mph on my sport. I checked the tyre pressures and found the fronts were under 30mbar.
I'd check them first. And yes, I check my pressures every week now.
 
I had a bulge that caused mine to pull to the side. You could always swap tyres front to rear to eliminate them and have a look at your ball joints whilst the wheels are off.
 
thanks for your replies guys- I can't see any obvious bulges in either of my front tyres- so I'm going to get the wheels off and check the condition of ball joints / drop links etc. I checked my tyre pressures over the weekend and they were ok. Why do these things happen in the middle of the Winter??
Joys of motoring I suppose......
 
Maybe you have lost a wheel balance weight? Try looking for a clean patch!
 
Pete1958 said:
Maybe you have lost a wheel balance weight? Try looking for a clean patch!
Click to expand...
The wheel that I had a problem with had no weights at all on it. :)
 
kerbed a wheel recently? jack it up and hands at 3 and 9 and shake to see if any play.. then try 12 and 6 and push and pull... if any play/clunks etc report back
 
Things to check:
* Tyres for Distortion
* Lower Ball joints
* Control arm Bushes
* Track/Tie rod ends
* Upper Wishbone Ball joint
* Check for even Brake pad wear
* Check Disc for Distortion
* Check Caliper isnt sticking
* Check that the Slider pins on the caliper spring back fine :)
If your getting any humming then check your wheel bearings too
 
Jack the car up and check for movement on the joints. Grab the wheel at 12 and 6, wobble, 9 and 3 and wobble. There should be no movement. Could be lower ball joint - if it is this you want to get it replaced quickly - if it fails whilst driving, can be very dangerous.
 
Simorf and Saj have are spot on - to eliminate the ball joints you've got to check for movement in the wheel by giving it a good tug and trying to 'twist' the face. I had a dodgy ball joint on my BB4 Prelude - the boot was fine but if you grabbed the wheel at the top you could pull it in and out.

Also, as Saj says a ball joint failure could be very dangerous. I towed my other Prelude down the drive a few months back and had forgotten to do up the lower ball joint... The hub on that side of the car popped out the lower control arm and jammed into the back of the wheel arch with the wheel at about 45 degrees to the car. The driveshaft was ripped out the intermediate shaft and chewed up the rollers on the inner CV joint. And the front sub frame hit into the driveway. This was bad enough at driveway speed - doesn't bear thinking about at main road speed!!

But back to your problem - hopefully it's just a matter of new tyres or a wheel balance! But do check your ball joints for play mate.
 
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