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Steering Wheel Vibration help

12K views 4 replies 4 participants last post by  Mugga Rich  
#1 ·
So I just bought a 2002 mini. Love it. Use it for my 90 mile commute to work. However, I have a steering wheel shake that comes and goes when I drive 65+. I haven't taken it to be inspected yet because i wanted some feedback from seasoned vets like yourselves. I just had the rims and tires replaced, and they were both after-market but the vibration remains. Anyone else have this issue?

Any help/advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Mugga Rich
 
#2 ·
A shake at highway speed that comes and goes is often related to tire/wheel balance.
I know you just had the rims and tires replaced, but it's possible one of the old ones
and one of the new ones are both unbalanced. Since you mention the rims are aftermarket,
do they have the correct 56.1 mm centerbore or centering rings? Other possibilities
include warped brake rotor (shouldn't be noticeable if not breaking), or some play in
the front control arm bushings (very common problem with stock bushings, won't happen
for a long, long time with powerflex bushings), tie rod ends, outer ball joints or inner ball joints.
Upper strut mounts often crack and split, but unlikely to give these symptoms alone.

I'd bet on tire/wheel balance or worn FCA bushings first.