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front end loose, high speed vibration

16K views 13 replies 9 participants last post by  Xedus129  
#1 ·
Lately my 9-3 ss has been handling more like a farm truck than the freeway flyer i remember. Plus i recently developed a vibration in the seats and the steering wheel between 70-85 mph. above and below that it runs smoothly. To rule out the stupid stuff i just replaced the outer tie rods, strut thrust bearings, all brakes (new rotors), new michelins, and new alignment. I have had the tires balanced and inspected a few times with no improvement any suggestions?
 
#2 ·
feel the vibrationnnnn

/bump
I also have been recently experiencing this in my 04 SC. I thought at first it might be new tires (got some new snows) but I don't think that is it. I also have been getting "the crunch" because its been cold as hell here, but I don't think the sway bar bushings would cause a wheel vibration. Oddly enough it does seem to be at the same speeds as described above, maybe some sort of resonance issue? Hopefully someone can help narrow it down, as I would rather not have the dealer just start replacing parts at my expense!
 
#3 ·
mine does the samething after speeds greater than 80mph...will shake...i think it could be a tire out of balance since it only does it at high speeds, it may be thats when its more noticeable...but yeah mine will do it wether coasting @80 or accelaratingly past 80, will shake all the way to 100, after 100 i dont tend to notice it as much...which could mean its afected by the speed of the tires roations, which is why i think they just need balancing
 
#4 ·
i have this issue as well... it's not really a HORRIBLE vibration, but it is noticeable and slightly visible in the steering wheel and seats. i was thinking about double checking the tightness of the tie rod ends as i just replaced them, but other than that it does feel quite sloppy in turns as well.
 
#5 ·
Yeah, mine isn't so bad to warrant having it out of commission for a few days. I just had an alignment and brand new hankooks put on so I doubt its the tires but who knows. I did some searching and it seems brake issues may cause it, when I back up and brake slowly I get a nice squeal so maybe its a brake issue.
 
#7 · (Edited)
I will check in the next few hours and post here. I miss my OG9-3, these new 9-3s are nothing but trouble (but fun)!

Update: Just checked under soft, mild, and hard braking.. no vibrations. These issues really started happening after I put my new snow tires on the car but before I had nasty radial pull to the right with the all-seasons on there. I might make a video later to show what is happening, because the more I search the more possible issues I seem to uncover.
 
#8 ·
only thing i noticed with mine was it was great up until i got stuck in the snow during the big snowstorm we had this year, snow and ice got packed into the rims and i had to take the highway to bring the fiancee to work, and she was wobbling real bad from the snow/ice... once i got it all cleared off the rims, the wobbling stopped, but left me with this slight little joy of a vibration that i'm not sure what it could be.
 
#9 ·
What might have happened is that along with the ice, you lost a balancing weight and now the slight vibration is being caused by that.

I've found the same thing on my car though, sometimes it's been the road surface itself with the slight vibration. But what you can do, is directly after this vibration occurs, get out and (if at all possible) measure the temperature of the 4 rotors, you can use one of those infrared thermometers. If one rotor is significantly hotter than the others, you might have a caliper that is malfunctioning and seizing. I realize most people don't have one of those thermometers but its just a suggestion.
 
#10 ·
vibration in steering wheel when stopped with engine on

have a 9-3 2.0t Vector '53 plate. Have recently noticed that there is a vibration in steering wheel and through to seats when stopped at traffic lights , etc --any ideas /????? Car is rather noisy as well--more noise in car than when listening to engine noise outside of car
 
#12 ·
Well if its while you're stopped at a redlight its not going to be wheel bearings. I guess engine mounts could cause vibrations but I haven't heard of many people having that issue. What are you idling at?
 
#13 ·
In my experience, the cause of speed related vibration is wheel balance 95% of the time we get a complaint in the shop. Assuming the car is equipped with stock Saab alloy mags many shops will only do a static wheel balance, which means that counter weights are only used on the inside edge of the wheel. This is done for cosmetic reasons and in some cases because the wheel design doesn't allow for exterior weights to be used. This type of balancing takes into account 'up and down' movement of the wheel, or how oval the wheel is, but does not take into account the 'wobble' or side to side movement of the wheel. The result is that the balance readings on the machine will say everything is fine when in fact it is not. Often the effects are felt only at higher speeds.

Ask that the wheels be dynamically balanced with two planes of weights used, inside clip-on and outside adhesive used. (don't worry, the weights will be inside the spokes, not really too visible.) Dynamically balanced wheels take into account both the oval shape of the wheel as well as any side to side wobble and corrects for both.

If you are still experiencing vibration, roadforce balancing must be performed to rule out excessive wheel runout or defects in one or more tires. (new tires can be defective, too) Not many small shops have a roadforce machine so use this link to locate one. (larger dealers should have one, if they don't, stay away)

http://www.gsp9700.com/pub/search/findgsp9700.cfm

For those in or near Montreal, pm me as we are equipped with a brand new Hunter GSP9700 machine and I would be glad to balance your wheels correctly as well as align the vehicle if required.
 
#14 ·
I had my front wheels balanced and it took away the vibration through the wheel, around 70+ I still get vibration through the floor (back wheels probably) so I think you are right about the balancing. I am just going to suck it up until I take my winter tires off and then have a high speed balancing job done at the dealer or one of the places on that link near me. As for idling, one time I had horrible vibrations at idle in my 02 9-3 and it turned out to be the spark plugs.. but that was from idling rough your issue may be different.