GTI steering wheel wobble / vibration

[dbackbmx3]

I'm having the same issue that I had on my previous Mkv car. Around 55-80mph the steering wheel will wobble back and forth at about a quarter of an inch very quickly. It's an identical shake to my last Mkv. I had the wheels balanced and checked for bends and the car aligned. Didn't help. Went to various shops spent too much on balancing. One shop showed me that one of my tires was slightly out of round. So I bought 4 new tires and had them road forced shop said everything was great. Hopped on the freeway and the same wobble was still there. Car is at 52k miles and I've been battling this problem for about 5k miles now. I've had the entire car checked. One tech told me that the axels could have gone bad so it is going in under warranty to get new axels on Tuesday, then going back in for an alignment. My last Mkv had the same issue around the same mileage and I spent so much on trying to figure it out I eventually got sick of it and traded it in on this GTI. My girl friend just bought an 09 Jetta and it seems to be having early signs of the same vibration. I'm starting to think its an issue with the generation. My mk3 with 200k miles drives smoother than this thing. Anyone have these issues or have any insight. I love the car but me driving on the freeway so often really kills the enjoyment.

[dbackbmx3]

Just realized I posted in the mkvi section. Sorry. But if any advice would be great

[ilyaamex]

I have the same issue only around 69-80 mph. So far balancing wheels didn't help. Subscribing to this thread

[wasim12]

Don't know if my issue is the same as yours, but my steering does vibrate (not violently) once I exceed ~104 mph.

Could just be road imperfections because of high speed..?

[Smrtypants44]

My mom's Z4 does this too...

[Blaylock1988]

Seems like it could be something in the electronic steering assist. It is supposed to be able to send feedback to the driver under special circumstances, maybe there is some sort of error in the system. Have you tried having it diagnosed by the VW dealership?

[Uponone19]

Hey guys a couple things real quick it could be. Bad wheel bearing, or more likely a bad belt in one of the low profile tires. I have had to replace two of the stock pirelli all seasons due to pothole strikes in the 25k miles that are on my GTI. The metal bands inside the tire can actually deform permanently with a hard enough hit. Initially the last bad tire was on the back producing an annoying noise at the speeds you describe, but wasn't felt in the steering wheel till the dealership rotated my tires.

[Blaylock1988]

Hey guys a couple things real quick it could be. Bad wheel bearing, or more likely a bad belt in one of the low profile tires. I have had to replace two of the stock pirelli all seasons due to pothole strikes in the 25k miles that are on my GTI. The metal bands inside the tire can actually deform permanently with a hard enough hit. Initially the last bad tire was on the back producing an annoying noise at the speeds you describe, but wasn't felt in the steering wheel till the dealership rotated my tires.

OP said he bought all new tires and still had the same problem so it probably wasn't that.

[dbackbmx3]

Just got it back from Vw they said the car is solid and looks brand new. I do believe this because the tech is a personal friend. He tried to road force them and it didn't help anything. His recommendation was try new wheels. I've spent so much money on this issue 19's suck to buy tires for.

[dbackbmx3]

Oh btw I just replaced all tires 200 miles ago because I was told one tire looked out of round. Didn't change a thing.

[vladdyb]

rotors?

[evosky]

i have wobble around the same range too, about 65-80 and am on new wheels/tires that were mounted and balanced by TireRack. pretty sure this has been covered before, it seems to be an inherent feature of our cars

[mhackett]

I wouldn't say it's inherent in this car (mine doesn't do it), but it can be inherent in wheels and especially tires.

I would try swapping one side front to back at a time to see if you can detect any change in the feel of the vibration, to try to narrow down if it's a particular tire+wheel or something further in.

[Blaylock1988]

Oh you have 19s? Maybe its your rims, not your tires. Do you have another set of wheels you can put on to try it? (stock Detroits?)

[ThreadBomber]

What wheels are they?

If they are aftermarket, are you using hub rings?

[dbackbmx3]

Ok got a bit of an update. My buddy had some extra Benz wheels sitting around. Upon mounting them I noticed the hub rings for the Benz wheels are way more of a tight fit. Went for a drive and there is little to no vibration what so ever. Even though one shop told my the hub rings for my tsw 19's we're the correct size I'm thinking they are slightly smaller therefore the wheel is not 100% hub centric and causing my vibration.

[Blaylock1988]

Ok got a bit of an update. My buddy had some extra Benz wheels sitting around. Upon mounting them I noticed the hub rings for the Benz wheels are way more of a tight fit. Went for a drive and there is little to no vibration what so ever. Even though one shop told my the hub rings for my tsw 19's we're the correct size I'm thinking they are slightly smaller therefore the wheel is not 100% hub centric and causing my vibration.

Sweet, it sounds like you've found the source of your problems.

[Froshizzl]

I've had this happin twice now, does the wobble get worse under power? Mine were both a slightly bent rim.

[ThreadBomber]

Ok got a bit of an update. My buddy had some extra Benz wheels sitting around. Upon mounting them I noticed the hub rings for the Benz wheels are way more of a tight fit. Went for a drive and there is little to no vibration what so ever. Even though one shop told my the hub rings for my tsw 19's we're the correct size I'm thinking they are slightly smaller therefore the wheel is not 100% hub centric and causing my vibration.

I still can't believe people that calls themselves shops or tuners of whatever can't figure this stuff out. You can balance it 4000 times and it's not going to help if the hub rings are not there, or not correct.

[dbackbmx3]

Well I may have spoke too soon. Under heavy load the steering wheel starts to wobble and won't stop unless I lower the speed to 50mph. Had the wheels balanced and the "worn" tires replaced. Still no good. Ive spent close to $1000 on tires trying to solve this. The car is going to hit the dealer soon and they are going to try motor mounts next