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914World.com _ 914World Garage _ Got a bit of the shakes

Posted by: Mark Henry Jun 23 2003, 04:46 AM

I drove to the Niagara Falls VW show yesterday, good run 5 hrs driving time. Average speed of 80 to 90 mph, at 75mph the steering wheel starts to shake a bit. Not too bad, but I want to fix it sooner than later.

I haven't really looked under the car yet, but I've done the push/pull test on the front wheels and both "feel" like they have loose bearings. I tried to tighten one bearing once before but it wasn't the bearing and I have no bearing noise.

Any thoughts, tips or things to look for before I dive in? Thanks Mark.

P.S. I was the only 914 at the show, I had several 914 rustoration guys drooling all over my Porsche. Good show and a beauty day.

Posted by: Bruce Allert Jun 23 2003, 07:45 AM

Mark, I "had" the same thing right down to the push pull test... same same.
Went to a tire shop (3rd one) and asked them to balance the tires. There was a very knowledgeable asst. mgr. there that knew about static and dynamic balancing. I havn't had a vibration since. He was at the Americas Tire Store. Here's a pic of the balancing. Top is static and bottom is dynamic. a=b.. c is gud!
bruce

Attached image(s)

Posted by: Mark Henry Jun 24 2003, 04:57 PM

Well I have got it figured out.

Anyone want to hazard a guess?
I could make a contest out of it.

As above, I get a front vibration (steering wheel shake) above 75mph, the loose bearings were not the problem and I have adjusted them. Also the steering wheel was a bit cocked to one side, I didn't think that was part of the problem but turns out that it was.

HINTS:
In the ol' hot/cold game Bruce was getting warmer but it still was not the real reason.
Also I have fixed the problem temporarily, but I will still have to fix it proper.

So what do you think the problem was? And what was my temporary fix?
Shut up Bradhole!

Posted by: Bruce Allert Jun 24 2003, 09:46 PM

Did you happen to lose a bolt from a control arm? I scared my self when I looked under the car and one was missing where it attaches to the body. After putting another bolt in the shakes were less but not completely gone. I also had 10 year old tires. They were brand new with lots of tread but still old and "out of round" from sitting so long in storage.
bruce

Posted by: ChrisReale Jun 24 2003, 09:53 PM

I guess that the lug bolts were loose..did I win?

Posted by: Andyrew Jun 25 2003, 12:03 AM

Hmm I know!! Jacks!! You put it on jacks!

Posted by: Mark Henry Jun 25 2003, 04:55 AM

Bruce, you are so warm!
But which answer was the warm one? LOL

Posted by: Drums66 Jun 25 2003, 09:05 AM

a new set of tires can do wonder's

Posted by: madd_dogg_914 Jun 25 2003, 09:08 AM

I think that it is old out of round tires. Yes, that is my final answer. My car sat on old tires for 10 years. As soon as I started driving it, right around 68-72 MPH started to shake violently. The quick fix I came up with was to just drive faster , but I did end up buying new tires a few weeks later. As for your quick fix, I can guess you either have another set of wheels/tires, drove slower, or drove faster!

-Chris

Posted by: rhodyguy Jun 25 2003, 09:19 AM

did you rotate the tires? the front ones always go away first. the rears are usually consistant.

kevin

Posted by: Bleyseng Jun 25 2003, 09:31 AM

Shocks are bad.....Alignment is bad...ball joints are going....loose bolts on A-arms....out or round tires..tires out of balance

Geoff

Posted by: Mark Henry Jun 25 2003, 10:17 AM

Bruce is close enough!

Bruce, you have won a new looking tire with a shifting steel belt!
How would you like it shipped?

Yep they are old/new tires, we drove them all last year and this spring, no problems. I think it was the wife’s radical swerving to miss a deer last month that did in the tire.

I was hoping to get the rest of the year out of these tires and buy wider sticky tires and new rims over next winter. Oh well. I might just replace the one tire till I have the coin for my new wheels.

Posted by: Bruce Allert Jun 25 2003, 10:34 AM

I know how that is! I was hard pressed to accept that my fine looking tires were bad. Even after puting new ones on I still had vibration. Thats where REX at Americas Tire Shop came into the picture.
Right on REX
bruce