I am getting a vibration starting about 50 mph. I can feel it under load but also when not on load. When I accelerate I can feel it, but then I can let off and it is still there, I also shift into neutral and it is still there. Up hill, down hill, flat surface. I have searched the forums and have found numerous posts on lowered cars having this issue, but not with stock suspension cars. I looked at the tires and there is no evidence of cupping and the strip of wheel weight tape is still attached to the wheels. Any ideas?

 

Did you do anything with the tires recently?

 

No I just purchased the vehicle 3 weeks ago. It has done it from day 1.

 

Tires probably need to be rebalanced or it could need a front end alignment.

 

get your tires rotated and balanced.

 

Thanks! Should I not be concerned about CV issues because it does it on and off load, neutral, etc? I have an appointment with my dealership for Friday. If they find out that it is alignment, or tire balance issues, will that be taken care of under warranty? Or should I save myself 2.5 hours of driving to the dealership and have the wheels and tires looked at locally? Thanks again!

 

balance is NOT covered under warranty, unless its your Tires warranty, which you didnt purchase. go to a local shop, should cost about 15 bucks.

if it continues After that, make the drive

 

Cool, thanks for the advice.

 

Get road force balance if you are rebalancing the tires.

I just got mine at discount tire and they have been quite good. Hope you have one near you.

 

Ok, took my car to have the tire balance checked (road force). The tech said they were all out, 2 of them by a lot (2+ oz). Had them rebalanced by the roadforce machine. $80 later I still have the vibration.

 

Is it better, worse or the same?

 

If balancing didn't fix it, might want to check the control arm bushings, tie rod ends,
and ball joints next. Some play there can cause a front end shudder at speed.

 

agreed, start checking all your bushings, ect.

also, do you have aftermarket wheels?

 

Do check the suspension for looseness.

But I have had to sometimes do multiple balances and road force as sometimes shops are not too skilled at this. Also, you should be somewhat gentle with the car after road force so you do not change the tire orientation with the rim since there is lots of lube at the bead area.

 

Feels the same to me...stock wheels...I asked the owner who was going to work on my car and he said the tech working on it is the best in his shop as using the road force machine. Who knows if that is the truth or not. I am going to try and take it to the dealership tomorrow to have them check the axles, wheel bearings, and check the suspension components. Thank you everyone for your advice.

 

Have you had any updates from the dealership on this? I've noticed my 03 R50 is doing something similar and seems to have started after i replaced my clutch.

In my case i notice it big time when accelerating in 3/4/5th gear right around 3K RPMS. If i'm above 3k it's ok, if i'm in 1/2nd gear don't really notice it.

 

I had the same issue with my stock RE050as. Got them re-balanced on a roadforce machine, same issue. Switched them to a set of 16" bridgespokes and blizzak WS70s (non-runflat) for the winter and the issue went away entirely. I'm sure runflats don't suck in general, but I'll be ditching mine anyways when summer tire time comes back.

--Matt

 

Have your rims tested to see if any are out of round. It can happen very easily with low profile tires not protecting the rims from road hazzards. A wheel can be balanced and still have some wobble. I'm getting a rim straightened early next week.

 

My wheels are true, and the wheels/tires have only like 2200 miles on them. Maybe they're defective?

--Matt

 

If they're balanced, true and don't have a 2 lb chunk of chewey gum stuck to them it's gotta be mechanical then like bushings or something. Good luck getting it sorted.

 

Could be a bad tire too. You can balance a bad tire until you are blue in the face and it will continue to vibrate. There is such thing as a new bad tire too so do not let that cloud your judgement.

Does it shimmy? Rotate the back wheels to the front and see if there is a change. Usually if it is out of balance in front it will shimmy, and if it's the rear, it will only vibrate.

 

Have you tried simply unbolting and bolting back on (properly) all 4 wheels? I've had a number of "issues" with shops not knowing how to properly deal with lug bolts (or maybe just lugs in general), and have had wobbles because they put the first lug bolt on tight, then the rest...leaving the mount slightly off center. It was especially bad on my 4-bolt VWs, not as much of an issue with those with 5 lugs for whatever reason.

--Matt

 

+1 to this ^^

... and - - - use a torque wrench to tighten the bolts to the proper torque. I had an Acura years ago that had wheel/tire vibration problems, I ultimately loosened the lug nuts and torqued them back on to the proper torque with a torque wrench. Vibration gone. I have found that many cars with alloy wheels are sensitive to wheel bolt/nut torque, some more than others.

Always try the easy/cheap stuff first!

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