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Message Board

505 Vibrating and off-center steer wheel

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berttreb 5 posts  (100%)	Written 2010-02-22 09:03:31 (200 days) Hi everyone, perhaps someone can help.... YEAR 1984 MAKE Peugeot MODEL 505GTI ENGINE SIZE 2,2lites MILEAGE 120000km (74500 miles) Observation: The steering wheel vibrates at speeds between 80 km/h and 120 km/h (50mph to 75mph). At certain speeds between 80 and 120 km/h the vibration stops. To drive the car in a straight line, the steering wheel needs to be turned slighty to the right (perhaps 5 degress off-center in clockwise direction). I think the previous owner had an accident which could have caused this but I have no further details. As far as I can tell the car does not pull to the left or the right when driving in a straight line on a smooth level road. How the car is used: I have had the car for over a year and have driven about 16000km (10000miles). In general I use the car to drive longer distances (>= 400km / 250 miles), mostly on highways on the weekend. The car is not used everyday to drive around the city. I've noticed the off-center steering wheel since owning the car, about 1 year ago. The off-center steering wheel has not caused any noticeable problems. Some history: About 5 months ago I noticed that one front tyre was unevenly worn off. The outside of the tyre's tread was smooth. But the middle and inside sections of the tyre had sufficient tread. The mechanic also noticed hills-and-valleys on that same tyre in the middle tread section. The front tyres, and front 2 shocks were replaced. The front wheels were aligned and balanced. The man who balanced and aligned the wheels said the rims are "stuffed-up" because of potholes. A mechanic told me that the steering wheel is vibrating because the wheels are not balanced. He said I can drive without balancing the wheels and that the tyres would not wear off unevenly. I'm worried that the off-center steering wheel will cause the front tyre to wear off unevenly again. Question: 1. Does the car have 2 unrelated defects: (1) vibrating steering wheel and (2) off centering steering wheel ? 2.1. Are the "stuffed-up" rims the cause of the vibration? 2.2. Are unbalanced front wheels the cause of the vibration? 3. What can cause the off-center steering wheel? 4. If the steering wheel is centered by a mechanic, do the front wheels need to be aligned and balanced again ? 5.1. Should I take the car to a mechanic? 5.2. Should I rather take the car to a wheel-alignment-and-balance-place and tell them to straighten out the steering wheel? 6. For centering the steering wheel, what should I ask the mechanic to look out for? 7. What could be broken / bent / defect / deformed that could cause the steering wheel to be off-center? 8. What sort of expenses can I expect to pay to center the steer wheeling (if it can / needs to be fixed) ? Perhaps somebody could give a range from the least expensive repair for a simple defect to the most expensive repair for a serious defect. Kind regards Loic	Reply
berttreb 5 posts  (100%)	Written 2010-03-24 14:10:45 (170 days) Ball joints / bearings on the steering needed to be replaced. Then balancing and alignment was done. I still feel vibrations though. Then again, the alignment dude said the wheels are buckled. The off-center steering wheel only required that the nut in the middle of the steering wheel be loosened and the steering wheel straightened.	Reply