Okay this has been plauging me for quite a while now. I've had new tires put on and have had them rotated and rebalanced and I still have a low speed wobble. It happens worst at about 25, it seems better in second gear than third. It does it in nuetral Coasting or under power starts to go away around 35 and is non existent at 60+ mph. All, ball joints, tie rods, bearings feel tight. I just replaced the struts and both front CVS. The transmission feels good and tight, I've totally rallied this car and it is sturdy, the all wheel drive works great. What could be causing this problem? I'm stumped.

Low speed wobble?

Is this a physical wobbling of the steering wheel?

Or is it more of an audible rumble?

How about when braking? Warped rotors can cause that.

It feels like i have a tire separating, but they are brand new under 5,000 miles and i just had them rotated and rebalanced. my braking is good i don't get any wobble in the wheel when braking or any time and there is no noise. i think i feel it in the back end more but its hard to tell. untill recently i had been blaming it on the bad struts, but ive replaced them with brand new kybs and its still there. while i had it off all four wheels i checked the driveline, bearings and axles and its all rock solid. Im starting to wonder if i might have center diff damage.

Just to clarify I'm running brand new hankook w405 185-75-R14, I just installed a set of new KYB Excel G struts, and the front axles are new EMPI replacements less than 10000 miles on them. 

Well, it is possible to get a bad tire. Can you have your tire shop check for out of round on the tires?

Have you had an alignment?

swapping front tires with the rear pair should eliminate/confirm a tire or bent rim problem.

 

u-joints and carrier bearing might be worth inspecting.

rotors.

which could be caused by sticky calipers.

i have it on my 97 GT.

new rotors eliminated it,

but over vtime it came back since i didn't fix the sticky caliper.

i didn't know that was the cause.

 

try some hard braking from speed with no hands,

or only light hands on the steering wheel.

Edited September 18, 201510 yr by johnceggleston

I might just go ahead and replace my rotors and do a full brake service just to make sure that's not an issue. I inspected my tires while I had them off doing the struts and let Schwab just rotated and reballanced them so I know its not my rims or tires. My alignment is great I can let go of the steering wheel at 60 and it goes straight as an arrow. I inspected my ujoints/carrier bearing and they were solid. My brakes have been having a low speed squeak lately so it could just be a sticky brake caliper. I have a brand new set of rotors and ceramic pads for the front end I may just put those on and see what happens.

in addition to sticky calipers,

some folks blame cheap china made rotors, cheap steel?,

for warping.

i do not know.

oops.

Edited September 18, 201510 yr by johnceggleston

wheel bearing/hub or axle problem?

 

measure temps at the hubs after a highway run. If one is consistently warmer by - maybe 30-50* or ??? , inspect everything at that corner - even the parking brake shoes inside the rear rotors.

Edited September 18, 201510 yr by 1 Lucky Texan

wheel bearing/hub or axle problem?

 

measure temps at the hubs after a highway run. If one is consistently warmer by - maybe 30-50* or ??? , inspect everything at that corner - even the parking brake shoes inside the rear rotors.

I was thinking that a bearing may be starting to go out, but I think I'll service the brakes first and see what happens. The rear CVS felt tight and boots were intact.

in addition to sticky calipers,

some folks blame cheap china made rotors, cheap steel?,

for warping.

i do not know.

I've actually stopped buying Moog for this very reason, ever since the Moog parts I've been getting have been made in China they just fall apart Very quickly. I'll pay extra for good parts. I actually have been finding OEM Subaru ball joints and tie rod ends on amazon for very comparable prices. I'll probably start buying OEM as much as I can.

I did try hitting the brakes at 60 and I did get vibration in the wheel. I believe my front rotors are where the problem is. I happen to have a set and some ceramic brake pads so I'll put them on today and update when I get it out on the pavement again. I use my brakes so little I've put 15k miles on my car since I bought it and the brakes still look new lol.

Okay I have new rotors on. My brake calipers compressed nicely so I just stuck rotors on. Seems better but I haven't been able to get it on pavement yet so only them will I know

The new front rotors helped about 90% I think the rest can be blamed on the rear rotors so I think I'll go ahead and buy some new ones. Thanks for the help, I can't believe it was something so simple that I overlooked.

remember to ''fix'' the cause of the warped rotors.

 

remember to ''fix'' the cause of the warped rotors.

I'm actually thinking of buying some high carbon alloy rotors, since the cause of the warped rotors is the way I drive .

if you really beat-up the brakes, make sure to run stickier tires, consider StopTech Street Performance pads. They are an affordable upgraded pad with high MOT but they bite when cold and modulate well. They will dust more though. (yeah, you could run Hawk, Carbotech or Ferodo, etc. - but they are even more money)

I love my hankooks the w409 winter i-pike is the only tire I can get that has the cleanout I demand from a tire. They perform well, but they are very soft and wear quickly if I run them too much in the summer on asphalt. I have a brand new set of ceramic brake pads I think I'll install with the new rotors, they are supposedly high performance because they cool quicker.

name brand ceramic pads are all probably on-par with the stock Akebono ceramics.

 

I run Centric PosiQuiet Ceramics on the wife's Outback - no drama or noise and they LAST.

The rotors I were looking at were centric as well, I may just go ahead and order a full set for all the way around.