Front wheel vibration

Technical Area Wheels, Tyres & Brakes
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  1. My model of MX-5 is: 2009 3.5
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  2. I’m based near: stockport__
  3. I’m looking for technical help or recommendations on:vibration __
2

Could be various things including.

Wheel balance.
Wheel alignement.
Tyres.
Tyre pressures.
Warped discs.
Wheel bearings.
Suspension components worn.
Steering components worn.
Worn bushes that link/attach items.
Do you have standard wheels/tyres.
Any recent modifications/repairs.

Would need a bit more information to assist really. :slightly_smiling_face:
Low speed?
High speed?
All the time?
Under braking?
Under acceleration?

All the best. :+1:

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3

As above really, more info needed. At what speed, could be as simple as you’ve lost a weight and needs a rebalance.

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4

tyres brand new 107 miles avons, balanced, front and rear alignment done, pressures 29psi allround, newish disks and pads, front nearside caliper pins cleaned before pads fitted, happens at about 65mph and upwards,
still scratching my heal,everything else seems ok !!!
Peter

5

oops should have said scratching my head

6

Hiya, did it do this before you had the work done? If not, i would suggest its a sticky weight that’s come adrift from one of the wheels. Easy to happen, I’ve had it myself. Personally, I’d pop back to whoever did the tyres/balancing etc and get them to check and rebalance the wheels. Good luck.
Barrie

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7

going to get wheels rebalanced tomorrow pm
Peter

8

From experience the out of balance wheels especially fronts do show up at approx 60+mph. Not saying it’s the actual cause but a good starting point now as you mention you’ve had new rubber recently.

9

I’d agree with MickAP, my mk1 used to have the classic mx5 wobble between 65-70mph which both times turned out to be slight balancing issues.

10

Thanks for all that.
New tyres would point to the problem in my opinion too.
As others, “My best Guess” would be wheel balancing not done properly. 9 times out of 10 it gets worse the faster you go.
“Rumbling” tends to be more to do with defective wheel bearings.

11

I’ve just solved a persistant wobble on my everyday Fiesta, turned out to be a slightly worn track rod end (50,000 miles).

12

problem reoccurs when car has stood for several weeks (lockdown), no probs til about 60mph whwn front wheel shakes, this reduces and stops after about 5 miles, could it be sticking caliper caused by rust ? any suggestions welcome
Peter

13

When I had corroded caliper pistons my symptoms where similar to yours, however my vibration started when i got about 6 miles away from home after driving down twisty back roads on my way to work, I can only assume that the brakes heated up after this amount of time.

The corrosion on the pistons was surprisingly light, however it was enough to stop them fully retracting back into the caliper past the seal when foot pressure was released. The vibration was severe too when it happened.

14

I’d be looking at seized calipers first of all.

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15

I had almost the opposite problem on my BeeEmm.
I suddenly started getting an oscillating steering wheel at low speed, which got faster as the car gat faster before smoothing out at medium to high speed.
The tyres were getting thin and were starting to crack and perish.
New tyres cured it

16

Possibly flat spots on the tyres from being parked up for weeks. After a few miles they may regain their shape. Try over inflating the tyres whilst it’s parked (drop back to normal before driving) or you could buy rubber assisters which the tyres sit on and retain their shape. Probably quite expensive though.

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17

Just found them on ebay for £20 a set of four and Machine Mart £13.99 a pair (you need four). Called tyre savers or wheel savers.

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