Vibration Help!

I have a 85' carrera coupe I just recently purchased. It runs like a bat-out-of-hell and is glossy black. My problem is that I get this vibration from the steering wheel at high speeds and while cornering. At first I thought the wheels might be out of balance, but I had them checked and that only helped a little. Then, I checked all the wheels to see if any were lose. It turns out my front left wheel has a very slight wobble when I pulled on it. I could be wrong, but I think it is the wheel bearing('s). Would this be hard to replace myself and if so does anyone have a procedure for this? I would appreciate any help you guy's could give me.

You might want to verify if it's the wheel bearings or not. This is easy. With the car jacked up, grab the wheel at the 12 o'clock and 6 o'clock positions and shake in a see-saw motion. Check for looseness. Now grab the wheel in the 3 and 9 0'clock positions and shake in the same manner. If it wobbles equally in both positions, it's probably the wheel bearings. If it wobbles in the 3 & 9 position and not in the 12 & 6 position, it's likely your tie-rod ends are dead. If it's the wheel bearings, these are tapered roller bearings and can be adjusted up. Pop the dust cap off and loosen the allen head pinch bolt in the retaining nut. tighten the nut as tight as you can with ONLY your bare fingers then retighten the pinch bolt. Pop the dust cap back on and reinstall the wheel. Recheck for looseness. If looseness still exists, then remove the hub entirely and inspect the spindle for worn grooves where the inner race of the bearings seat. If there are grooves present, strut replacement is necessary. If not, replace inner and outer bearings.

While you've got the wheels up in the air, check for a bent wheel. Just spin the wheel and hold something against it (a finger maybe) that is braced firmly against your knee (or something you can count on to remain steady. You'll be forced to back your finger off to the highest spot and then you can see how deep the lowest spot is as it spins by. I've usually gotten away with as much as a 1/2" difference without any noticeable problem. More than that would probably be bad.

Tog's right, but be sure to check the inner wheel. The inner lip on my Fuch had somehow been bent. But I didn't even notice it until the second time I took the wheels in for an alignment.

pbs911---
never thought of that! next time I've got mine up in the air I'm gonna check the inner side too to see if the wheel has been pinched or "squatted" (hmmm... is that a real word? )

I'm suprised that tog didn't offer some kind of smutty comment about a vibriation. Missed your chance tog.

Randy Jones
1971 911

A dirty mind is a terrible thing to waste!

I'm workin on it! My nurse in the old folks home says it's OK for me to lose it from time to time since I'm senile anyway.

[This message has been edited by tog (edited 11-29-2000).]