Tahoesilvers4

I have posted in the past about the problem I'm having with my 2004 2.7 ar.


I have intermittent steering wheel shake issues. There seems to be no rhyme or reason as to when this happens. I have gone back-and-forth thinking that it is environmental meaning the road surface. Or something with the car. However, The problem is so intermittent it's impossible to diagnose.

People have suggested bearings, axles, bent a arms etc. I have had it to different shops and nobody can see or find anything wrong with any of the mentioned items. And it's been to two dealers and a tire place I should mention, so if anything, the dealers would be more than happy to have me pay for any repair they seem remotely possible. I have had a new set of tires put on that I needed anyway and now have my winter tires on.

In all cases the steering wheel shake may not present itself and then out of nowhere on the same stretch of road it may happen for several minutes or a couple of days. Normally only at speeds above 50. For a while I was convinced it was only happening on several stretches of road except that the past several days on the same stretches of road there has been zero issues

I was set to take my car into a dealer to have a road force balance done however since making the appointment the car has run flawlessly for a week.

It's not just a small amount of steering will shake it is a full on jiggle that makes your hands bounce on the steering wheel.

Anyone have any other suggestions of what to check out? I'm losing my mind when it happens it completely kills every ounce of enjoyment of this car it drives like a piece of crap when this is happening. So much so that making turns on the highway and back country roads when this happens does not feel secure.

Thanks for reading and thanks in advance for any input.

G0to60

What have you replaced in the past that may be related to this? Besides the tires that you mentioned. Did the tire shop mention any abnormal wheel movement when they balanced the wheels? I know that my tire shop failed to mention that three of the four wheels on my wife's car were bent and just slapped more weights on them to try and counter it. I was kind of annoyed with that.

jamesm0913

Make the appointment again for the Road Force balancing. Insist on having the most experienced tech do the balancing and make sure that he/she knows that you are specifically looking to fix a vibration issue. It will likely cost you upwards of $60-80, but it will be worth it.

I had the same issue with my C5 A6 for 85k miles and three sets of tires. I replaced every front suspension part, even some of them twice without solving the problem. My dealer I bought my last set of summer tires from admitted that even though they have the Hunter machine, they only did a regular dynamic balance. I had them do a Road Force and it solved the problem.

Tahoesilvers4

Encouraging to hear about the road force balance. It seems extremely odd though that it could be so intermittent. If something is out of balance, I don't understand how it could come and go so randomly.

As I mentioned. I've had several shops look at it. Audi dealer, and three other shops. It's been on the rack, visual inspection for anything bent. Checking bearings, etc.. I have to believe that if a shop, especially the dealer saw anything suspect they dive in and bill me accordingly.

It's driving me totally crazy Not one shake the past two days. The past three weeks on and off.

The tires that came with the car were junk. They think the tread was peeling off from the inside. New tires seemed to fix the issue. Then it's been on and off. Now the snow tires are on. It drove perfect from Tahoe to Bend, OR. Not a single shake. Until the following day after I got here and was shaky on several of the roads like clockwork. Hit a certain spot and shake. Past two days. NOTHING.

I've even gone to the do it yourself spray wash and looked for odd dirt buildup, rocks in the treads, etc...

man... wtf...

G0to60

If you've only had visual inspections and haven't replaced anything I will suggest control arms. This is what mine did but a little more extreme when my control arm bushing were bad. New front control arms fixed the problem.

It's really hard to visually inspect the control arms unless they are really bad. The lowers are also tougher to check than the uppers.

Tahoesilvers4

Control arms have been mentioned before. And brought up with mechanics. And with 67,000 seem questionable.

I was going to get the road force balance done but then it snowed and I had to leave town. No time to get it done.

I just drove 435 miles from Bend, Or to tahoe and another few hundred miles since. Not one single shake....

John535is

There is a post on the A4 B6 section with a similar shaking problem. His ended up being the sway bar end links. Not heard of this being a problem with the Allroad but sounds like you are getting desperate so maybe worth a look.