Car vibrates while driving

[schoi623]

Hello members,

Recently, I noticed my car vibrating/shaking while driving. The handle and the seat vibrate quite noticeably to the point that I think that there's definitely something wrong. It feels very uncomfortable.

Anybody else had similar issue or does anyone know what the issue might be? My warranty is voided due to GIAC stage 2 tune and AWE track exhaust.

Thanks.


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[amz]

exhaust probably won't void your warranty, pulley and tune would though

Does it only come on at certain speeds, like above 80km/h? If so you just need to get your wheels balanced. Most shops do this for like $50 or much less.

[schoi623]

It happens at low speed too


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[eurotic]

Tire or wheel damage maybe? Dragging brake?

[MrFunk]

You either have a bent wheel or a wheel out of balance. If you feel it in the seat then it's probably rear wheel. If it's through the steering wheel then prob front.
That has nothing to do with warranty.
Take it in and have them check your wheels and/or re-balance them. Also a good time to check the tread depth while it's there. Balding tires can cause vibration.
If it's none of the above then next thing to check are your front rotors - they can get warped and cause vibration.

[HearMeSpool]

Sounds like it's a pretty bad shake, is it only from one side? How about a bad wheel barring? Is the shaking going from side to side and feel like your wheel might pop off kind of feeling?

[schoi623]

Kind of hard to describe but seat vibration is very uncomfortable and handle vibrates too. It makes my face vibrate lol..


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[HearMeSpool]

Kind of hard to describe but seat vibration is very uncomfortable and handle vibrates too. It makes my face vibrate lol..


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LOL. Take that sucker in before your face falls off!

[sangaroo]

Sounds pretty awful.

I replaced upper control arms with SPC @ 55k miles. Failing upper control arm bushings made a lot of clicking noise on low speed turns and some vibration.

20k miles later, I battled with vibration on steering wheel. Onset was 74mph on digital odo and it would stop around 85 mph+. My S4 Ended up with new ball joints and lower control arms. Ball joint was the culprit and the lower control arms were replaced because bushings looked worn I did not want to replace them later.

[schoi623]

Sounds pretty awful.

I replaced upper control arms with SPC @ 55k miles. Failing upper control arm bushings made a lot of clicking noise on low speed turns and some vibration.

20k miles later, I battled with vibration on steering wheel. Onset was 74mph on digital odo and it would stop around 85 mph+. My S4 Ended up with new ball joints and lower control arms. Ball joint was the culprit and the lower control arms were replaced because bushings looked worn I did not want to replace them later.

How much did that cost ?


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[Dr GP]

Go to a service center with a Hunter GSP unit. This will diagnose if you have a bent wheel or not . It will also have the ability to compensate for it as well as balance the wheel if it is bentaslong as it is not really bad . Go to Hunter.com and you can search for shops in your area that have the equipment.

[agorich]

only time i ever had this problem was due to rotors. This was in my '03 civic.

regardless if you are deemed out of warranty, the dealer or any shop will be happy to look at it. the last time I took my truck in for a code being thrown, i was about 24k miles out of warranty and they didn't charge me to take it in/clear the code/drive it around a while to see if it came up again.

lol at the face falling off comment. hahaha

EDIT: If you change your wheels out or rotate on a regular basis, you may want to look into a lifetime balancing with Firestone. You can get this done ever 6k miles at no cost other than the initial. I think it is about 180 for our cars as I looked it up not too long ago. I plan on getting this at the 10k mile marker. Just a thought.

[Dazman63]

I'd check over the rims for any physical damage, but I'm sure if you had a pothole you would have felt it.

You could always rotate the LR tire to the LF front to see if the vibration changes. If not then rotate it back and try the same thing on the right side.

Any chance you could have a bad engine mount?

[TexasDfwS4]

I'd be willing to bet the bent wheel syndrome, have you landed in a pothole?

[sangaroo]

How much did that cost ?


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I think it was around 400 for parts and labor.

[ojmcneill]

I'm betting bent wheel. Caught by a pothole lately???
If you have peelers, they are prone to bending with bad hits in potholes.
You can pay a wheel repair place to come to your location generally, and fix it. I'd estimate $100 per wheel.

[AudBoost]

Go to a service center with a Hunter GSP unit. This will diagnose if you have a bent wheel or not . It will also have the ability to compensate for it as well as balance the wheel if it is bentaslong as it is not really bad . Go to Hunter.com and you can search for shops in your area that have the equipment.

I began to have a vibrating issue after rotating my tires over the weekend. The steering wheel vibrated pretty badly in the 50 to 60 MPH range. I took the car to a shop close to my house to have the wheels balanced and the vibration actually felt worse. Took the advise of Dr GP in the above post and found a shop close by that had a Hunter unit and had the wheels road force balanced. No more vibrating and much more comfortable ride.

[Dazman63]

You can't go wrong withe having your tires road forced. Fantastic machines.

[iceman42]

i'd say rear wheel bearing for sure. I have a 2011 S4 and i've had both my fronts changed but they never got the chance to make the car vibrate. if you steer to the left and hear the noise then it's the right, and vise versa, that's how to determine which one is bad, for the front anyway. Feeling vibration in your seat would mean it's in the rear. when I had mine in the dealer they put it on a hoist and had someone run the car up in gear as if cruising and another tech had a stethascope on the bearing cases to check. 98% of the time you won't get any play in the wheels, unless the bearings are about to fall apart. the dealer assured me of this. I'd take it there if you're under warranty or just to a shop that can do the same type of testing and fix. good luck

[Dazman63]

i'd say rear wheel bearing for sure. I have a 2011 S4 and i've had both my fronts changed but they never got the chance to make the car vibrate. if you steer to the left and hear the noise then it's the right, and vise versa, that's how to determine which one is bad, for the front anyway. Feeling vibration in your seat would mean it's in the rear. when I had mine in the dealer they put it on a hoist and had someone run the car up in gear as if cruising and another tech had a stethascope on the bearing cases to check. 98% of the time you won't get any play in the wheels, unless the bearings are about to fall apart. the dealer assured me of this. I'd take it there if you're under warranty or just to a shop that can do the same type of testing and fix. good luck

I could be wrong, but I've never heard of a wheel bearing causing vibration before.

[Thumper3]

I could be wrong, but I've never heard of a wheel bearing causing vibration before.

If it is really bad it can, but the simplest solution is often the best place to start. As many have said, get the wheels checked for damage and balanced.

If it's a wheel bearing causing a vibration so bad it's making your face fall off it's really bad and many, many warning signs have been ignored leading up to the bearing falling apart LOL

[Dazman63]

Any update on the source of the vibration?

[joediesel]

Is it possible to balance a tire on a bent wheel? I have a similar vibration, only from 50 ish to 60 ish mph, thought the tire was out of balance, had them balanced and same issue. Replaced the hubcentric rings and still the issue persists. Is it possible my wheel is bent yet the tires are still balanced? Wheels are coming off next week anyway for the summers...

[MrFunk]

Is it possible to balance a tire on a bent wheel? I have a similar vibration, only from 50 ish to 60 ish mph, thought the tire was out of balance, had them balanced and same issue. Replaced the hubcentric rings and still the issue persists. Is it possible my wheel is bent yet the tires are still balanced? Wheels are coming off next week anyway for the summers...

The shop that balanced the wheel should have easily seen if the wheel was bent (either visually or intuitively) when they were working on it... did they tell you it was bent?
Depending on how much of a bend it can only be corrected it so much... roadforce balancing is your best bet... but - you may consider just replacing that one wheel with a new one or getting the wheel fixed if the vibration continues..
Putting your summer wheels on will be a good test to make sure it's in fact a bent wheel vs something else causing vibration (warped caliper... etc). If you still have the same vibration after you chance your wheels then it's most likely something else (unless both sets of wheels have the same bend/s in the same wheel/s (not likely).

[kcobourn]

The shop that balanced the wheel should have easily seen if the wheel was bent (either visually or intuitively) when they were working on it... did they tell you it was bent?
Depending on how much of a bend it can only be corrected it so much... roadforce balancing is your best bet... but - you may consider just replacing that one wheel with a new one or getting the wheel fixed if the vibration continues..
Putting your summer wheels on will be a good test to make sure it's in fact a bent wheel vs something else causing vibration (warped caliper... etc). If you still have the same vibration after you chance your wheels then it's most likely something else (unless both sets of wheels have the same bend/s in the same wheel/s (not likely).

Roadforce balancing solved 95% of the vibration issues caused by a few bent rims & 8mm spacers up front. It took them two hours & included re-seating the tire on both bent rims ... definitely worth the cost vs. going with 'free' rotate / balancing at Discount Tire ($64 bucks - that's it!).