[Tamarind]

Hello experts,

I recently did a

1. Wheel balancing
2. Wheel Alignment and
3. Tire rotation

from a new shop nearby. Its been almost a week and after each day passed by my feeling of something is not right is getting stronger. So came here to get your advice

Below is the sheet given by the shop where i treated the wheels



Symptoms:

1. I can feel the steering shaking when in my hands, especially around the speeds of 30 to 40 (below and above which it is not that prominent)

2. When i tap my brakes to a certain level and hold the level in the same place, i can feel the shake in the steering and also the car is not constantly slowing down. I observe that it gets the bite for a second then the bite is gone and then the bite is there... Imagine sitting in a chair and moving your body front and back slowly but constantly

3. The lug nuts in the front wheels are terribly hot even for a short distance drive. I must say i have not gauged the temperature earlier with which i can compare now. But just a gut level feel

I want to go back to the shop tomorrow and tell him these but before doing that wanted to get expert opinions here on how to proceed...

PS: The car is a Hyundai Santro Xing. Recently (few months) serviced in the company workshop and has new brake pads..

[rajeev k]

First check the tightening of the wheel nuts for slackness.

How is the condition of the tires? Perhaps the tire rotation has played foul here due to varying condition of individual ones. Revert to earlier positioning and see.

[paragsachania]

Wobbling at 30-40 can mean any of the following:

• Uneven wear on the tires
  
• Weaker Steering system - Ball Joints etc

I highly suspect the tires here unless you have replaced them recently. To isolate, just replace 2 tires in front from that of another car and drive and you will immediately be able to assess this.

[Tamarind]

Originally Posted by rajeev k

First check the tightening of the wheel nuts for slackness.

How is the condition of the tires? Perhaps the tire rotation has played foul here due to varying condition of individual ones. Revert to earlier positioning and see.

Tires were changed before few thousand KM's and looks good
From the chart that he has given, The alignment has been done good ?

[Ajay]

Tamarind,

Did you check the wear on the brake discs?
Uneven wear of the discs might also be a cause for the steering vibrations.

[sukiwa]

Originally Posted by Tamarind

I recently did Wheel Alignment from a new shop nearby.
PS: The car is a Hyundai Santro Xing.

Please change the shop & get alignment done elsewhere.
Report says Hyundai Sonata (2001-till) whereas your vehicle is Santro Xing. Either shopkeeper made a mistake or his system/software isn't updated and most likely not re-calibrated.

Santro Xing doesn't have adjustment other than front toe, so if measurements were taken correctly, work has been done as intended. For other issues, solutions have been already suggested by others.

[vinit.merchant]

Originally Posted by Tamarind

PS: The car is a Hyundai Santro Xing.

Once, before going in for any other remedies, check the rims for a bend.
Chances are one of the rims is bent on the inside and that is what is causing the wobble.

[GTO]

100%, it's the wheel balancing that's not been done correctly. Please get that fixed by a superior shop.

Also check the lug nuts. Good chance that they've gone loose.

Originally Posted by Ajay

Uneven wear of the discs might also be a cause for the steering vibrations.

If the wobble happened only when the brake pedal was pressed, yes, that would be bad pads / disc. Here, it's happening even without applying the brakes.

[rajeev k]

Originally Posted by Tamarind

Tires were changed before few thousand KM's and looks good
From the chart that he has given, The alignment has been done good ?

More than the alignment, balance the wheels yet again.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by GTO

100%, it's the wheel balancing that's not been done correctly. Please get that fixed by a superior shop.

But then can the wobble pass onto the steering at speeds as less as 30-40 KMPH even with badly balanced wheels? I guess no.

The closest I can relate this symptom are the tires but then I realised from subsequent responses that tires are almost new so we rule out uneven wear that soon.

Second suspect here will be the steering components itself - Ball Joints, Tie Roads, Knuckle etc.

From what I have normally noticed, balancing issues can be experienced more around 90-110 KMPH band than anything below that.

At idle speeds in 3rd or 4th gear, Tamarind can release his hands from the steering and feel that wheel move left-right-left as he moves the car forward. If so, its got to be the tires for me.

The fact that the tires were also rotated during alignment and balancing could have also resulted in this and he can swap the rear tires back with the front again and check.

[rajeev k]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

But then can the wobble pass onto the steering at speeds as less as 30-40 KMPH even with badly balanced wheels? I guess no.

It can happen if the critical speed of any wheel falls in the region of the speed which corresponds to 30-40 KMPH.

[ObsessedByFIAT]

Long back I too faced a similar issue with my Palio. Below are the things I did to drill down to the root cause:

1. Check tyre pressure at two or three different places. Branded tyre shops like the MRFs, Bridgestone etc. are the places to go.
2. Change front two tyres with the rear ones.
3. Check if the wheels are tightened correctly. 1, 3, 2, 4 is the correct way of tightening the wheels.
4. Get the wheel balancing checked again at a reputed and trusted shop. A new shop might still be experimenting with your car!

I used to get a wobble from the rear left wheel and it was fixed after the weights on that wheel were corrected.

[vigsom]

Originally Posted by Tamarind

Symptoms:

1. I can feel the steering shaking when in my hands, especially around the speeds of 30 to 40 (below and above which it is not that prominent)

2. When i tap my brakes to a certain level and hold the level in the same place, i can feel the shake in the steering and also the car is not constantly slowing down. I observe that it gets the bite for a second then the bite is gone and then the bite is there

3. The lug nuts in the front wheels are terribly hot even for a short distance drive.

I had exactly the same observations some 3 months back with my GV and the cause was a jammed right wheel brake piston.

After you drive for a while , feel the temperature at the center of the left and the right wheel rims.

You are sure to find a difference.If you do , the wheel that is hotter needs to be attacked.