Vibration in steering at certain speeds

[Yousuf Khan]

On my 2000 OBW, I have recently started getting a slight vibration in
the steering wheel when I'm travelling within a certain speed range,
like between 90 kph (55mph) and 110 kph (70 mph). Above or below that,
and the vibration disappears.

I checked the tire pressures, and found that there was a 5 psi
difference between the two front tires, so I pumped them up as close as
possible. That seems to have reduced the vibration even more, but it's
still slightly there.

I had an old Volkswagen years ago, which exhibited these traits at one
time, and I found out that it was steering joint that was deteriorating
and certain speed caused a harmonic in that arm causing the vibration. I
hope I'm not seeing the same thing here with the Outback.

Yousuf Khan

 

[kaboom]

On my 2000 OBW, I have recently started getting a slight vibration in
the steering wheel when I'm travelling within a certain speed range,
like between 90 kph (55mph) and 110 kph (70 mph). Above or below that,
and the vibration disappears.

**When was the last time you had the tires balanced?

kaboomie

 

[Carl 1 Lucky Texan]

**When was the last time you had the tires balanced?

kaboomie

Plus - how old/worn are they?
It certainly couldn't hurt to have the steering/suspension inspected -
but everytime I have had cars do what you describe - it was tread
seperation or an unevenly worn tire(sometimes due to bad toe adjustment).


Carl

 

[Todd H.]

On my 2000 OBW, I have recently started getting a slight vibration in
the steering wheel when I'm travelling within a certain speed range,
like between 90 kph (55mph) and 110 kph (70 mph). Above or below that,
and the vibration disappears.

I checked the tire pressures, and found that there was a 5 psi
difference between the two front tires, so I pumped them up as close
as possible. That seems to have reduced the vibration even more, but
it's still slightly there.

I had an old Volkswagen years ago, which exhibited these traits at one
time, and I found out that it was steering joint that was
deteriorating and certain speed caused a harmonic in that arm causing
the vibration. I hope I'm not seeing the same thing here with the
Outback.

Rotate your tires front to back. Does it change appreciably? That
helps narrow down between a possible linkage loosness vs the
probability you have one or more of the following:

o out of balance tires
o tire with a broken belt
o out of round tire

Best Regards,

 

[YKhan]

**When was the last time you had the tires balanced?

Actually pretty recently. I had one tire which had a slow leak, so I
took it in and they told me that it was irreparable, so I bought a new
one which, which they rebalanced. They then did a tire rotation, which
brought the new tire into the front. The same vibration occurred
before the rotation and even after the rotation.

 

[YKhan]

Plus - how old/worn are they?
It certainly couldn't hurt to have the steering/suspension inspected -
but everytime I have had cars do what you describe - it was tread
seperation or an unevenly worn tire(sometimes due to bad toe adjustment).

Still lots of tread left on them.

Yousuf Khan

 

[YKhan]

Rotate your tires front to back. Does it change appreciably? That
helps narrow down between a possible linkage loosness vs the
probability you have one or more of the following:

o out of balance tires
o tire with a broken belt
o out of round tire

Yeah, the tires were rotated (and one tire was even replaced), but the
vibration is still there.

Yousuf Khan

 

[kaboom]

Actually pretty recently. I had one tire which had a slow leak, so I
took it in and they told me that it was irreparable, so I bought a new
one which, which they rebalanced. They then did a tire rotation, which
brought the new tire into the front. The same vibration occurred
before the rotation and even after the rotation.

**What's the mileage on the old tires? If you are feeling the
vibration in the steering wheel, I'd say it is a front-end problem. If
you were feeling the vibration in your bee-hind I'd say it was a
rear-end problem. Perhaps there's a bit of weirdism with the new tire
mixed in with the old? I don't know, but I'd rather have it be a tire
balancing problem (or maybe the new tire is funky!) than a developing
suspension or drive-train problem, that's for sure

kaboomie

 

[Todd H.]

Yeah, the tires were rotated (and one tire was even replaced), but the
vibration is still there.

It's possible more than one tire is out of balance though.

Have they been balanced? That'd be the next thing to do before
looking into suspension related issues.

FYI, How many miles on the tires? If you replaced only one tire
without doing the others you did so against subaru's recommendations
on keeping your AWD system happy.

 

[.._..]

Also note, tires and wheels are balanced in part with a lead weight that is
clipped to the rim.

In some circomstances, this weight can come off (unbalancing the wheel).

Check for marks between the tire and the rim (on the rim) where something
might have been clipped. (Look on the inside and outside of the wheels, and
look at other wheels to see what they look like.)

It could be a simple matter of just needing to be re-balanced.

 

[YKhan]

It's possible more than one tire is out of balance though.

Have they been balanced? That'd be the next thing to do before
looking into suspension related issues.

Other than the new one, the others have not been rebalanced. However,
the problem still occurred before *and* after the tires were rotated,
i.e. the rear tires were swapped with the front.

FYI, How many miles on the tires? If you replaced only one tire
without doing the others you did so against subaru's recommendations
on keeping your AWD system happy.

I don't know how many miles on the tire, maybe two years old. The
tires still have a lot of tread left on them (all of the major blocks
of grooves are still there, and just a few of the little sipes are
worn out on the outside). And about six months ago, the suspension was
readjusted for toe, camber, caster, etc. at the dealership. The dealer
replaced a rear suspension arm at the time, but saw no problems at the
front.

As far as keeping the AWD happy, mine is the manual transmission
system rather than the automatic, which I think is a bit more
flexible.

Yousuf Khan

 

[YKhan]

**What's the mileage on the old tires? If you are feeling the
vibration in the steering wheel, I'd say it is a front-end problem. If
you were feeling the vibration in your bee-hind I'd say it was a
rear-end problem. Perhaps there's a bit of weirdism with the new tire
mixed in with the old? I don't know, but I'd rather have it be a tire
balancing problem (or maybe the new tire is funky!) than a developing
suspension or drive-train problem, that's for sure

Not sure about the mileage, but I think they are about 2 years old.

The vibration is only felt in the steering wheel.

Yousuf Khan

 

[S.Lewis]

Other than the new one, the others have not been rebalanced. However,
the problem still occurred before *and* after the tires were rotated,
i.e. the rear tires were swapped with the front.


I don't know how many miles on the tire, maybe two years old. The
tires still have a lot of tread left on them (all of the major blocks
of grooves are still there, and just a few of the little sipes are
worn out on the outside). And about six months ago, the suspension was
readjusted for toe, camber, caster, etc. at the dealership. The dealer
replaced a rear suspension arm at the time, but saw no problems at the
front.

As far as keeping the AWD happy, mine is the manual transmission
system rather than the automatic, which I think is a bit more
flexible.

Yousuf Khan

Re-balance all the tires. Alignment if that doesn't work.

Bet it's the tires.

 

[Carl 1 Lucky Texan]

Not sure about the mileage, but I think they are about 2 years old.

The vibration is only felt in the steering wheel.

Yousuf Khan

Did someone 'tag' the curb without telling you? mayabe a rim is bent.
Though you'd like to think the tire installer would notice, they may not
have. Some of the machinery has a safety cover and the wheel is not
completely visible.

I dunno

Carl

 

[fotoman]

what kind of rotation was done...only front to back is allowed , from
what I am told...unidirectional tires ,4WD etc...
that might be your problem?
Rod

 

[Yousuf Khan]

Did someone 'tag' the curb without telling you? mayabe a rim is bent.
Though you'd like to think the tire installer would notice, they may not
have. Some of the machinery has a safety cover and the wheel is not
completely visible.

It turned out to be the wheel balance, after all.

Yousuf Khan

 

[Yousuf Khan]

Re-balance all the tires. Alignment if that doesn't work.

Bet it's the tires.

Yup, it was.

Yousuf Khan

 

[Todd H.]

It turned out to be the wheel balance, after all.

Yousuf Khan

Cool. Glad it was that simple.

 

[kaboom]

It turned out to be the wheel balance, after all.

**Phew! Excellent

kaboomie