Steering Wheel Wobble

[Barry G]

In the October issue of the TR Action Magazine Mike Watson-Smith writes in the Wedge Team Registrars  Reports of 'The 50 MPH Wobble'

The inference is that this is a common problem.

I have the same issue and like Mike I have new Tyres, new Balance,New Shocks, rebuilt Struts, All good bushes, no play in the rack.

my wobble/shake is between 50 - 55.

Various Mechanics have looked at the car and can find none of the usual suspects.

Has anyone else had this problem and possibly resolved it?

 

 

[stuart]

4 minutes ago, Barry G said:

In the October issue of the TR Action Magazine Mike Watson-Smith writes in the Wedge Team Registrars  Reports of 'The 50 MPH Wobble'

The inference is that this is a common problem.

I have the same issue and like Mike I have new Tyres, new Balance,New Shocks, rebuilt Struts, All good bushes, no play in the rack.

my wobble/shake is between 50 - 55.

Various Mechanics have looked at the car and can find none of the usual suspects.

Has anyone else had this problem and possibly resolved it?

 

 

Front hubs need balancing.

Stuart.

[Barry G]

Stuart,

thanks for your reply. 
is this something you have experience and success with?

 

 

[stuart]

Just now, Barry G said:

Stuart,

thanks for your reply. 
is this something you have experience and success with?

 

 

Came across it with a Sprint engined car locally, and the only thing that hadnt been balanced umpteen times was front hubs. Took a bit of setting them up to get them balanced but it did make a difference in the end.

Stuart.

[HowardB]

The traditional soloution was to balance the steel wheels on the car, but the necessary equipment is not easily available. However I discovered that swapping to MGF alloy wheels solves the problem.

 

Edited October 26, 2022 by HowardB

[stuart]

17 minutes ago, HowardB said:

The traditional soloution was to balance the steel wheels on the car, but the necessary equipment is not easily available. However I discovered that swapping to MGF alloy wheels solves the problem.

 

The one we had trouble with already had Minilites fitted so it was definitely the hubs.

Stuart.

[BusheyTrader]

And what equipment is required to balance the front hubs?

[HowardB]

Having looked it up on Wikidepia the original wheel balancing system was the Merrill Wheel-Balancing System which was the world's first electronic dynamic wheel-balancing system. It was invented in 1945.

Before Merrill's invention, all wheel-balancing for automobiles, trucks, etc., required removal of the wheel from the vehicle. Most required some form of static balancing without wheel rotation, which was slow and error-prone.

Merrill's invention balanced wheels while still mounted to the vehicle, by spinning them at high speed and electronically analyzing the vibrations to trigger a stroboscope. Technicians could then determine where balancing weights should be added.

From the TR7 standpoint this type of system balances both the wheel & the hub at the same time. Almost all modern systems only balance the wheel & not the hub which is where the issue comes with our cars. 

[RobH]

When I started motoring, this sort of on-the-car machine was always used.  The angled drum low down at the front drove the wheel and the technician sat on the seat behind to work it. 

However,  that system had the drawback that you couldn't swap the wheels around without re-balancing them. 

[stuart]

16 hours ago, BusheyTrader said:

And what equipment is required to balance the front hubs?

I used a company that balance engine parts so I dont know.

Stuart.

[BusheyTrader]

That sounds like a discussion with a local transmission or engine recon shop with balancing equipment I guess.  Removing the hubs is easy enough

Ive not seen one of those on the car wheel balancing machines before, looks a bit like K-9 from Dr Who.  

[stuart]

18 hours ago, BusheyTrader said:

That sounds like a discussion with a local transmission or engine recon shop with balancing equipment I guess.  Removing the hubs is easy enough

Ive not seen one of those on the car wheel balancing machines before, looks a bit like K-9 from Dr Who.  

Those machines disappeared probably about 40 yrs ago

Stuart.

[John Morrison]

Used the On the cat balancer many times never failed to fix an issue 

went out of fashion with the incoming popularity of FWD

John

[Barry G]

Stuart,

We’re the Hubs removed from the car and balanced as a separate unit?

What about the Disks?

I guess that if the wheels were on the car, then the entire turning mass is balanced. Hubs, Disks, Wheels.

 

 

[stuart]

16 hours ago, Barry G said:

Stuart,

We’re the Hubs removed from the car and balanced as a separate unit?

What about the Disks?

I guess that if the wheels were on the car, then the entire turning mass is balanced. Hubs, Disks, Wheels.

 

 

Yes they were and the discs were then matched to them just in case.

Stuart.