kayakerx

OK, so I have an issue that's driving me crazy. At about 75mph, a vibration is noticeable on my steering wheel. As the speed goes up from there, the vibration gets worse, and I start to lose road feel in steering. It really feels like a wheel is out of balance, so I put off figuring this out until I put my winter set up on, thinking it would be easier to drop off the wheels and pick them up when done. Well, the winter set up is now on, and I still have the same issue.

I went to the stealership to get an alignment, but they advised that that probably won't fix it. I had to have some body work done this summer, and the Audi guy told me to take it back to them. I did that, and what did they say? Of course! Take it to the Audi dealer.

Actually, the guys at my body shop are pretty cool. They said to go to the Audi dealer since they work on them everyday and might be able to diagnose it quicker. The manager went out on a ride with me, and he confirmed that it does feel like a wheel out of balance, but I then told him about it happening with both wheel set ups. So his suggestion was to start with a thorough split weight, high speed balancing. There is a slight (albeit very slight) chance that both wheels are out of balance. But since this is the easiest and cheapest possible solution, start there.

So I'm going to do this in the next day or two, but was wondering if you guys might have any other suggestions. I'm really afraid that my little "accident" may have slightly bent an axle. Or maybe my hubs aren't true? (I don't know if that's even possible, but I'm trying to figure something out!) It's obviously something in the drivetrain of the car, but at what point, I'm unsure. Thanks for any suggestions!

PracTTical

what was your "accident?"

no cell

your problem is in the wheels and/or tires.

kayakerx

Lost the front left wheel at about 35mph. I know, this sounds like the cause, but I swear that I remember this vibration starting before the accident. That's why I didn't go into detail on it.

kayakerx

Yeah, that's step one. I believe that is what my body shop has on hand.

PracTTical

my guess is alignment actually. test drove a honda when i was 16 that had that problem. turned out to be alignment. course the suspensions are COMPLETELY different, but who knows.

kayakerx

I've since come to my own conclusion that the lugs that were sent to me for my new spacers were not long enough. I ordered them from a different place than the spacers. I sent them all the info they should have needed (wheel specs, spacer size, car make year and model) and they were supposed to send the correct ones. Don't think that happened. More pics on that coming soon.

TTagz

I drove it another block and a half on three wheels pulled into a side street and parked it. The cops wanted to know how the hell I drove it with a missing front wheel.

TTagz

now its probably from something else being bent.

PracTTical

you answered with. it's a honda. it can do anything!