Steering Wheel Vibration

[Crimson]

Hey guys,

I'm getting slight vibration from my steering wheel at highway speeds, most notably in the 120km/h range. I went as high as 140km/h to see if the vibration would get worse and it did get a little more aggressive.

Now, here's the thing, I noticed this happening with my winter wheels and I thought it might go away when I put my summer wheels on but it's still there. It was a lot worse in the winter though.

So I'm not entirely sure what it is as I have a feeling it's not the wheels since it's vibrating on both my summer and winter wheels.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

[Wild Weasel]

First thing I think of when it comes to vibrations like that is wheel balancing. Wouldn't be unheard of for both your summer and winter wheels to have been out of balance. It's the easiest thing to eliminate first.

[rallyboy]

What happens to the vibration when you brake? Do you feel anything on light braking? heavy?
If it is not you wheels it may be a warped caliper. Check wheel balance first as that tends to be more speed sensitive (you feel it at certain speeds due to harmonics), a brake rotor less so.

[Crimson]

I haven't paid enough attention the braking portion of it. I'll try that on my way home tonight. Are you talking braking at highway speeds or just normal road traffic braking in the 40-70km/h zone?

You mentioned calipers...I did paint my calipers a few weeks ago and I had my winter's still on back then. I highly doubt I did anything to them in the process of painting them but I'll keep that in mind if I take it in to get my wheels balanced.

I did research this issue and I found a lot of people mentioning wheel balance, alignment, hub-centric issues, loose lug nuts, motor mounts, etc.

I'm trying to use the process of elimination and determine which problem it is.

I'm pretty sure that I didn't have this vibration last summer (running the same setup as I currently am) and it showed up during winter.

- crimson

[Korren]

Until you mentioned that it's happened under both sets of tires I'd suggest checking your bolts. I noticed on my Jeep that between 50-60 I'd have a bit of vibration, turns out, at least as far as the mechanic was willing to divulge, that the bolts were loose on one of the tires causing a slight vibration until it got to a speed where the weight of the tire kept it in position due to rotational forces.

[Houndskull]

how long have u had ur car how many clicks? in my case it was a warped rotor on my front driver side. is there any squeaking? i had the exact same problem i had it balanced both wheels and suspension coz i just had my car lowered when it happend. so yeah check ur rotors

[WeatherB]

When you removed your wheels, how exactly did you re-install them?

Did you use a torque wrench? Maybe one of the bolts are over/under tightened and is causing a slight warp of the rim.

[Ex-Rolla]

Get your wheels balanced and go from there... If you check your bolts and they're tight, the only other cause of the vibration would be a balance issue.

I know you may think it's odd that it's happening on both sets, but because your winters are steel, it could be that one wheel from that set is slightly bent and one from your summers are out of balance.. vise versa... ya never know...

[Crimson]

how long have u had ur car how many clicks? in my case it was a warped rotor on my front driver side. is there any squeaking? i had the exact same problem i had it balanced both wheels and suspension coz i just had my car lowered when it happend. so yeah check ur rotors

My car has 14,000 KM on it at the moment. There is no squeaking. I'm taking it in on tuesday to get it checked out. I really hope it's a balancing issue and not a rotor/wheel warp issue.

I did not use a torque wrench when I put my summer wheels on..just plain 'ole elbow grease. I just made sure they were all pretty evenly tight. But we'll see what Mazda has to say.

- crimson

[Ex-Rolla]

My car has 14,000 KM on it at the moment. There is no squeaking. I'm taking it in on tuesday to get it checked out. I really hope it's a balancing issue and not a rotor/wheel warp issue.

I did not use a torque wrench when I put my summer wheels on..just plain 'ole elbow grease. I just made sure they were all pretty evenly tight. But we'll see what Mazda has to say.

- crimson

keep us posted

[Grok]

Any word on what the cause of this was? I'm experiencing the same thing.

I recently got new tires, and I just had new brake pads put on. The Rotors were machined a bit as well when the brakes were done. Could that be a cause?

[Soyabean]

I get vibration from braking. I know its my rotors being warped.... I know its dangerous but im paranoid at taking my car to mechanics who might scratch up my rims.... Im getting crazy vibrations now when i brake so its bad. Perhaps i shall get it machined one day.... I drive slow now to make up for the vibration when braking but i still need to get it fixed

anyone know how much it costs to get rotors machined?

[mazdas3sporte]

keep us updated i have same issue but it doesent seem to be as bad as urs