V50 General : Vibration @60-70mph

[AlexM]

Having recently bought a 55 plate V50 2.0D (59000) I have noticed a vibration through the steering wheel, pedals and floor when doing between 60-70mph. I have driven 2 V50's my dad has owned and did not notice it on either of them. I have taken it to have the wheel's balanced and aligned. Although they said it was slightly out on the camber overall it wasn't too bad, yet the vibration still persists.

Also it has the electricly adjusted drivers seat and there is an annoying creaking/knocking sound when cornering i.e when the weight shifts from side to side, and i'm not exceeding any weight limits either :-).

Would greatly appreciate any help/advice from anyone who has had any similar problems.

Thanks,

Alex

[adamjones2000]

its normally either wheel balancing, buckled wheels, worn top mounts. Have you hit any bad potholes recently. Take the car back to the garage that you had the balancing done and say its not right

[Welton]

Mines got a very slight vibration at 65mph and it does indeed have a slight buckle on the inner rim (on the back) which no amount of weights could balance-out.

The remedy for me is to buy a new wheel but with the state of the roads at the moment I've held off and the vibration is very very slight really (and I don't stay at 65mph for long .....

[t5_monkey]

I've got a mystery vibration on mine too - even on brand new alloys, although a front to back wheel swap helped a lot.

Are you on 18" wheels? you seem to 'feel' a lot more with those, if you've run on 17's before. I've had 2 engineers drive it and say there's nothing particularly wrong with it and it's prob the low profile tyres and hard sidewalled sporty rubber I'm running.

I'm thinking of taking my alloys to a specialist to see if they can give me some info on it.

[Jonnieb2009]

Do you notice it more when braking - warped discs?

[t5_monkey]

Originally Posted by Jonnieb2009

Do you notice it more when braking - warped discs?

Yeah notice it when braking, but it is present at other times and on certain road services.

Was fine before I got some work at Drivers in Glasgow - fell out with the guy because he's an idiot and it's been present since then.

Maybe he took it out and intentionally braked hard etc... to do that... I dunno though - changed my alloys at the same time so could be something to do with that - wouldn't want to accuse anyone without proof.

When i break harder it seems fine again - is that something you get with warped discs?

[Jonnieb2009]

run your finger across the discs and see if they are smooth. Also check to see if there is much of a lip at the edge, I worn down discs.

[sportpack]

Have you checked the rear tyres?

My V50 2.0D knocks out the rears with about 2.5mm left by making diagonal flatspots accross them.

Vibraation feels exactly as you have described. First time it happened Sturgess Volvo couldn't find the issue so randomly replaced my N/S driveshaft at £300!!!! Never used them since.

I do around 60k a year so my tyre checks are quite frequent. Hence my move to the upstep size Avon ZV5's.

My Tyre supplier says that he sees this a lot on our cars plus Jag Xtypes, Focus's and others with this suspension set up.

Hope this helps

[Welton]

The S40 was criticised when it was released for transfering vibrations through the steering coloum and chassis and I can say that mine's the same. I've never had a car that feels good on some roads but horrible on others. This type of vibration tends to be at lower speeds though.

I wonder if the OP's vibration is to do with dirty hub faces? my alloys had to be smacked off with a mallet as they'd fused themselves to the hubs - if you don't clean that up the the wheel wouldn't sit perfectly flush on the hub and vibrate/wobble????

[AlexM]

Originally Posted by Jonnieb2009

Do you notice it more when braking - warped discs?

Thanks for the reply. No, is exactly the same braking, accelerating or coasting. This is why I first went and got the wheels balanced and the tracking done (+ 2 new front tyres as they were worn). But none of this solved it.

Originally Posted by Jonnieb2009

run your finger across the discs and see if they are smooth. Also check to see if there is much of a lip at the edge, I worn down discs.

Thanks for your reply. I have noticed a bit of a lip on the front disk's. This could well be the cause but slightly reluctant to change them as there's still alot left on them and the vibration is constant @ 60-70 wether braking, accelerating or coasting. However if nothing else becomes apparent will probably change them.

Originally Posted by sportpack

Have you checked the rear tyres?

My V50 2.0D knocks out the rears with about 2.5mm left by making diagonal flatspots accross them.

Vibraation feels exactly as you have described. First time it happened Sturgess Volvo couldn't find the issue so randomly replaced my N/S driveshaft at £300!!!! Never used them since.

I do around 60k a year so my tyre checks are quite frequent. Hence my move to the upstep size Avon ZV5's.

My Tyre supplier says that he sees this a lot on our cars plus Jag Xtypes, Focus's and others with this suspension set up.

Hope this helps

Thanks for the reply, had a good look round the rear tyres but they seem to be in good nick. However if I can't track this down think I will follow your advice and upgrade the tyres when they are worn. (All 4 are maxiss at the min). Front 2 where replaced when I got the tracking done so I'm pretty sure their not a fault as it's exactly the same vibration before and after they were fitted.