Wheel balancing problem.

[Burnerman]

John, you say that the vehicle has been fitted with new discs ?. If the hubs were not thoroughly cleaned before the discs were fitted, this can cause your vibration. The fault is almost certainly an imbalance in the hubs etc. You need to have the wheels balanced on the vehicle. There must be someone who can do this surely ??.

Certainly the discs were fitted very recently (mechanic owner) and I have to say there's absolutely no sign of judder or imbalance there.......at 45 MPH, hands off, the steering wheel is juddering away merrily - brakes on and there's no difference at all
Still a bit confused!
John

 

[Burnerman]

You seem to have covered everything I can think of, particularly flats on tyres from standing.

Only other thing that comes to mind, is suspension. Are both sides the same?
i.e. has a spring been replaced with the wrong one on one side. If the suspension on one side responds differently to the one on the other side, they might go into competion in their reaction rates over a particular surface.

I had a pretty good look underneath and everything looked kosher - mind you, anything could have occurred in the past.
If my spare tyre routine doesn't work, I guess its a balance on the vehicle task - but I don't think this is appreciated by 4WD stuff. First time I've ever owned one...!
John

 

[kilovolt]

John I would put car up on axle stands and check whilst in gear,look for even tyre surfaces etc.If all ok you may need to shim out the king pins,available from main dealer

 

[JohnD]

you have described it as a tyre balancing problem, but if it is a 4x4 it might be for example the drive shafts. A bit of adventurous driving on rough ground can cause a lot of damage, and the Jimny is not as sturdy as a land rover. Might be worth jacking the front up and seeing how well it runs with the wheels off.

 

[birkee]

The drive shafts sound interesting......

Can I ask whether the vibration is constant, or is it occasional?
If occasional, perhaps two sides of drive shafts get out of sync, and vibrate in conflict.
i.e. two slightly bent driveshafts, that when in sync, the vibration is unoticeable, but when one has turned slightly more than the other, vibrate in opposition.
Or, when in opposition they cancel each other out, but when synchronised....???
Another clue might be, does the vibration occur driving at a constant speed, under acceleration, or when braking?
Try driving for a little at constant speed, with the vibration occurring.....does it disappear? Or does it stay vibrating? If it disappears, it's probably a drive train problem.

 

[Burnerman]

Thanks again for your comments, gentlemen - they are much appreciated!
I don't want to over exagerate things here - the car doesn't vibrate as such - or at least not particularly. There are one or two trim buzzes but they only coincide with engine RPM rather than vehicle speed.
If I accellerate calmly - which is all the Jimny can do anyway - when I reach 45 MPH the steering wheel rocks to and fro. Just a few degrees though but definitely annoying! A tighter grip on the wheel obviously helps. Its like this until I get to 50 (most of a day later ) and then everything's calm again.
If I drive through this speed, the wheel wobble is hardly noticable, which is what I am tending to do. If I maintain 'wobble speed' nothing changes. The car doesn't wander or pull to one side and the wobble frequency is the same.
If I could reach 90 MPH (twice 45) I would expect the wobble to come back but I don't reckon it would ever get there!
The king pins (taper roller bearings) were done for the MOT last December before I bought the car. It was given an advisory for these but the seller did them.
There is a Suzuki dealer near me - maybe I should mention it to them.
John

 

[ray99]

Spoke to a Suzuki techy today who came into my work for some BMW parts and it is a common problem you will never cure 100%. Do a google on Suzuki Jimny steering wobble and you will have hours of reading on the issue.

 

[Burnerman]

I have a feeling that you may be right at the end of the day, so thanks very much for that - I'll be doing my own experimenting in a week or so.
John

 

[jetex]

John, you say that the vehicle has been fitted with new discs ?. If the hubs were not thoroughly cleaned before the discs were fitted, this can cause your vibration. The fault is almost certainly an imbalance in the hubs etc. You need to have the wheels balanced on the vehicle. There must be someone who can do this surely ??.

Certainly the discs were fitted very recently (mechanic owner) and I have to say there's absolutely no sign of judder or imbalance there.......at 45 MPH, hands off, the steering wheel is juddering away merrily - brakes on and there's no difference at all
Still a bit confused!
John

Sorry John, I thought the discs were fitted before you bought the car, and I was just offering an opinion. I would expext nothing less than quality workmanship if the discs were fitted by yourself.

 

[Burnerman]

Hi Jetex and good evening!
The discs on this car were fitted by the previous owner - a (VW) mechanic by trade. Looking at them, they are evenly shiny all over so I expect new pads were fitted at the same time. I have no reason to suspect any problem here - apart from the fact that the must have spent most of its life just standing around!
Personally when I fit new discs I clean the hub back to bright metal with emery cloth then apply a thin layer of Coppaslip, but I've no idea if this was done here.
Anyway - as you suggest, the only way to truly iron out the wheel imbalance issue is to have them balanced on the car, and I'm looking into this.
Curiously enough, Mrs. B was driving the thing this weekend, and I asked her how the car was going. 'Perfect' was the reply
I suppose if you want a perfect vehicle, then buy a new one! Can't argue with that
Once I finish this accursed bathroom I'll give it some undivided attention
John

 

[Peter.N.]

Buying a new one is no guarantee John - check 'Honest John's' forum

 

[Burnerman]

One thing is for sure, Peter - if you buy one of these things it isn't exactly a venture into luxury motoring......
In the snow its really incredible - it will pull away when you can hardly keep your own balance. In the dry, its a good idea to make an appointment with your dentist as your fillings are certain to be shaken loose. Despite all of this, its quite a cute machine, apart from it is frequently overtaken by garden snails on accelleration!
John

 

[Peter.N.]

Most modern cars seem to have a dreadful ride John, that's why I like the XM's so much, I am only using the 406 in the interests of economy.

Peter

 

[Burnerman]

Certainly the XMs, BX's et all had the most marvellous suspension and brakes of all time - I couldn't agree more.
I think most 'suspension' problems these days are due to these low profile tyres we seem to have to use
John

 

[Peter.N.]

I agree - that's why I don't use them