I am having an issue with my Jetta. At speeds greater than 50 mph there is a shaking in the steering wheel. It is pretty severe. The car tracks straight and does not pull to either direction. My thoughts are that it could be an badly balanced wheel or a bad wheel bearing. Any ideas or info on how to repair these problems would be greatly appreciated.

 

If it was a wheel bearing, it would make noise other than thew shaking. You got your tires from Belle Tire right bro? They have a free balancing and rotation thing if you purchased from them. Try that, if not, it may be your control arm, which I hope it's not.

P.S. Have you heard anything from Austin about the Datsun?

 

Before you do anything else: check the lug bolts and make sure they aren't coming loose.

 

Check to see if your upper strut bearing is still good or one of the struts has gone bad.

 

Do you have aftermarket rims?
if you have non-hubcentric rings your steering wheel will vibrate side to side while you are drivng..
Also if you are vibrating side to side while braking your rotors could be warped..
check those out

 

nope he has no aftermarket parts at all, 100 percent stock.

 

yeah when first noticed it, I pulled over and got the tool from the trunk and checked them!

 

I am hoping it is not a strut or a bearing, those repairs cost some serious money. I will find out on Monday when the tire place is open andhave them check the balance.

 

btw you didnt mention what year Jetta. Recently i picked up an old 1987 Jetta. It has the shakes and thumbing when i first got it. Found the Driver side CV joint boot came loose. which was main cause and the Rear wheel bearing is going out. Replacing both Drive shaft (52.00 new at pepboys) and rear hub and bearing (72.00 also at pepboys). On the MKII which i have the bearings failling are common place. The one problem im having trouble finding is there is something draining the battery and i cant find it. Im down to a few things left and thats the Thermostate for the front fan, AC clutch, or a short/mis-wiring the guy did for the stereo. Ill get to it sooner or later.

 

it's a 2000 Jetta GLI with VR6 n a 6 Speed MT

 

It's actually a 2003! If i paid what I did for this one for a 2000 m.y. I would be a little upset!

 

I have a wee problem with a

1999.5 (A4 body style) TDI Jetta - it gets 50 mpg, has a greasecar Waste Veggie Oil system installed, 5-speed manual trans, stock 195/65R15, is four-seater/four-door, blue with a gray interior, and has a new CD player in it.


The problem is, it's not a Mini! My wife just got her, and now she is eyeballing my Mini... is there anyone out there with an extra Cooper with DSC who wants to trade for a 50 mpg Jetta? Right now we're in Houston, but will be heading back to Fairbanks...

 

All you have to do is write "50MPG" in big *** letters across the windshield and that car will sell in no time.

 

check the balance, strut bearings, or (personal experience with my Jetta) check the tread of the tires for a bubble. I had one in the rear and it caused a shimmy in the wheel. I have heard a bubble on the front is much worse of a vibration. If the lug bolts are loose, it should make a clicking/ticking noise. again, experience from my jetta

 

+1 Or it could be tire seperation...

 

Any word on this one?

My guess it is the strut bushings.
They don't seem to last very long on VWs.
We just had ours replaced, pretty much all of them,
and the shocks, and CV axels.

Drives like a new car now.