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View Full Version : Question about suspension / steering

zkay
06-28-2012, 08:54 PM
Hello

I have a weird issue going on. When I reverse out of a parking space or other stop, there is a strange 'wobble' coming from the front two wheels. It feels almost as if the car is losing it's footing. It doesn't happen all the time, only on occasion, and only when I'm slowly reversing out of a spot.

I have read online that this can be attributed to any number of things, including bad wheel bearings, bad alignment, and other suspension problems.

I was just curious if anyone else has had similar issues, or if anyone had any ideas or suggestions in regards to my situation.

Thanks,
-zkay
zkay
07-08-2012, 04:14 PM
Anybody? I should also mention that my car is fairly new (17k miles) and had an alignment pretty recently at 12k miles, I believe (will double check). I don't drive it rough, although I did cross some train tracks pretty recently hard enough that the TRAC/stability control started going off and beeping.
anomoly40
07-08-2012, 06:15 PM
Have you checked to make sure they tightened all the bolts when they did your alignment? Why an alignment so soon? You hit something?
zkay
07-08-2012, 10:04 PM
Have you checked to make sure they tightened all the bolts when they did your alignment? Why an alignment so soon? You hit something?

I bought this car new at 12k miles and I thought they had realigned the tires for some reason. Now that I'm looking through the paperwork though, I realize they didn't realign the tires, just refilled them with nitrogen.

I didn't check the bolts, I will do that and check back in.
anomoly40
07-08-2012, 11:03 PM
I believe the next check would be to jack up each side of the front of the car and try to wiggle the rim. Grab each side of the tire and pull one side and push the other. Similar to this video. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5khjK0y6PIw)

Also check to see if your lugnuts are tight.
zkay
07-11-2012, 11:11 PM
I believe the next check would be to jack up each side of the front of the car and try to wiggle the rim. Grab each side of the tire and pull one side and push the other. Similar to this video. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5khjK0y6PIw)

Also check to see if your lugnuts are tight.

Lugs were tight, as of yesterday. I didn't have to tighten them at all. My wife and I went for a drive today and it didn't do it at all - - and I was going way overboard testing it and trying to make it do it; locking the wheel totally out one way or the other and going really slow.

Just weird. I will check to see if either rim wiggles in the next few days and report back.

Thank you for your help!

-zkay
CoryM
07-11-2012, 11:34 PM
How much of a wobble is it? Does the steering wheel move with the wobble? Where do you feel the wobble? Seat, feet, steering wheel etc.
zkay
07-12-2012, 09:02 AM
How much of a wobble is it? Does the steering wheel move with the wobble? Where do you feel the wobble? Seat, feet, steering wheel etc.

When the wobble occurs, I can feel it at my feet. It doesn't happen in the steering wheel or the seat. It can range anywhere from severe to not wobbling at all.

But, not being able to reproduce it at all yesterday has me stumped.
Betrivent
07-12-2012, 09:59 AM
Manual or automatic?
zkay
07-15-2012, 12:29 PM
Manual or automatic?

Automatic. Yesterday I had to stop at the post office here in town and in order to go about my day I had to make a u-turn with the wheel locked out all the way to the left from a dead stop. It didn't do the wobble.

It also didn't do it at any other point in my day, at any of my other stops.

At this point, I'm just going to call the problem a ghost until it starts occurring with some kind of regularity.

Thanks for the help, guys. I do appreciate it.

-zkay