Strange Wobble: Please help!

[hindibuff]

Hi,

I have a 2006 Cayenne S. I have 18 inch Michellins on it that are about 5K old. Recently, I have developed a very weird problem and wanted to see if anyone else has experience similar issues.

Lately, the car would "oscillate" at idle speeds. Meaning, its almost like riding in a boat. The car would ride would sway left to right repeatedly, like oscillating. It seemed like one of the tires had a bump or something. It made the car very jerky on slow speeds, the mileage dropped immediately and the car seemed to be dragging more than gliding on highways and roads. The wobble seemed to be caused from the passenger rear tire it seemed.

I took it in to a tire place, then checked all 4, alignment and balance. The passenger rear was off balance ( i just completed a 1000 mile trek before this). Since then, the car was a bit better but I could still feel that it was not completely fixed.

Now, a week later, the problem is back in full force. The wobble is now on the front passenger ( after rotation), and it is almost like the car is jerking when at idle speeds and turning. Makes me wonder if it might be a boot or suspension instead of the tire.

I plan to take the car in tomorrow and have the front passenger checked again. I am wondering if anyone here has experienced similar issues or has suggestions on what might be wrong and possible remedies.

Appreciate the help.

[mudman2]

If they rebalanced then the rims would appear ok UNLESS they did not road force balance them. that is essential on this car. Look for a shop with a Hunter RFB machine

[Dennis C]

Generally when people talk about a "wobble" in Cayennes, it's the cardan shaft, not the wheels or tires. Have you considered this possibility, or are you certain that it is coming from the wheels or tires?

[odix]

Agree -- sounds like drive-shaft issues. You can rule it out by getting under your vechcie and pulling the shaft shaft -- if it's loose you'll know it.

[CTTinTO]

Generally when people talk about a "wobble" in Cayennes, it's the cardan shaft, not the wheels or tires. Have you considered this possibility, or are you certain that it is coming from the wheels or tires?

I would think its a driveshaft issue as well and not necessarily wheel balance. Wheel imbalance wouldn't cause a "wobble" unless it was REALLY bad and and the bad wheel assy would need to be on the front axle. In the rear, regardless of static or dynamic imbalance on the wheel assembly, it will only be felt as a high frequency vibration on the body and steering wheel but not shimmy which is sometimes described as a "wobble".

The only other thing I can think of is a damaged wheel bore or improperly centered wheel.

[mudman2]

But shaft issues are more heard than felt until its gone

[wvicary]

Does this only happen at low road speed while turning? At higher steering angles the differentials can cause the wheels to skip which is normal.

[hindibuff]

All very thoughtful replies.

So far, I have had the following done.

Had the balancing done. Re-alignment done. I also had the road balance done yesterday. No effect.

I took it to the dealer today, they checked all the shafts, nothing obvious. They have kept the car overnight since it tends to do this much more so in the mornings.

Funny thing is, I notice it a lot more on cemented surfaces than tar roads. I dont know why. and especially when turning right. Now that the wheels have been rotated, I feel the problem is travelling with the tire. The weirdest part is that the milege has dropped to 12 or so. So I know something is definitely wrong. The car doesnt quite coast anymore, and it feels like there is a lot more drag on it than normal.

If they cannot find anything tomorrow, I am going to ask Michelin for help and see if they offer anything. The tires are about 4000 miles old, so really there is no problem there, unless it is something inside one of them.

Really weird problem and makes me so not enjoy the drive that I used to. Any other ideas?

[bimjim]

They have kept the car overnight since it tends to do this much more so in the mornings.

The problem I've been having with mine (odd noise) is also more pronounced in the morning. I was getting a bit of wobble too.

It's being looked over today for suspected drive shaft issues.

[mudman2]

I am going to guess your side walls are shot

All very thoughtful replies.

So far, I have had the following done.

Had the balancing done. Re-alignment done. I also had the road balance done yesterday. No effect.

I took it to the dealer today, they checked all the shafts, nothing obvious. They have kept the car overnight since it tends to do this much more so in the mornings.

Funny thing is, I notice it a lot more on cemented surfaces than tar roads. I dont know why. and especially when turning right. Now that the wheels have been rotated, I feel the problem is travelling with the tire. The weirdest part is that the milege has dropped to 12 or so. So I know something is definitely wrong. The car doesnt quite coast anymore, and it feels like there is a lot more drag on it than normal.

If they cannot find anything tomorrow, I am going to ask Michelin for help and see if they offer anything. The tires are about 4000 miles old, so really there is no problem there, unless it is something inside one of them.

Really weird problem and makes me so not enjoy the drive that I used to. Any other ideas?

[CTTinTO]

I am going to guess your side walls are shot

All very thoughtful replies.

So far, I have had the following done.

Had the balancing done. Re-alignment done. I also had the road balance done yesterday. No effect.

I took it to the dealer today, they checked all the shafts, nothing obvious. They have kept the car overnight since it tends to do this much more so in the mornings.

Funny thing is, I notice it a lot more on cemented surfaces than tar roads. I dont know why. and especially when turning right. Now that the wheels have been rotated, I feel the problem is travelling with the tire. The weirdest part is that the milege has dropped to 12 or so. So I know something is definitely wrong. The car doesnt quite coast anymore, and it feels like there is a lot more drag on it than normal.

If they cannot find anything tomorrow, I am going to ask Michelin for help and see if they offer anything. The tires are about 4000 miles old, so really there is no problem there, unless it is something inside one of them.

Really weird problem and makes me so not enjoy the drive that I used to. Any other ideas?

does the "wobble" go away after some driving?

If these tires are relatively new to you, it could be that they are flat spotting over night. Michelin has had issues with flat spotting when tire diameters started increasing and in 06' developed a flat spotting spec/test. This spec of course is not very stringent and is highly dependent on the sensitivity of the vehicle they are going on. We all know that Cayenne's are very sensitive to tire inputs...

Perhaps you could try bumping up your tire pressure for one day (to max indicated on the sidewall) and check the next day after parking overnight to see if the wobble still exists.