Steering wheel vibration normal?

My 1969 MGB Mk II roadster steering wheel starts to vibrate quite badly when it approaches speeds of 55- 60 mph and above - the vibration appears to ease off a little when I go above about 65mph (not that I do that very often).

I have not had the car that long and finally got around to getting the wheel balance and tracking checked (while I had the tyres replaced) - I had assumed that would cure the problem but if anything it might be worse.

Is this vibration regime normal? If not any ideas what to check for would be much appreciated!

I asked the same question yesterday. These guys should be able to help us.

Thankyou - I've been away from the computer for a couple of weeks on holiday and missed your post

When you're lucky, it's tires, either defective or not balanced, or a bad wheel, not true.

It can also be front end looseness, bushings needing replacement, wheel bearings or even sloppy U-joints.

I had a 77 once where I did EVERYTHING and still couldn't get rid of it, although it was slight at 60.

Start with trying to wiggle the front tires from side to side...see if there's play.

Others will have more ideas.........

Carl, no its not normal. First try putting the rear tires on the front. Simple test.
If you notice any change, then its either a bad wheel, or tire or they didnt balance correctly.
As Dan said and as long as you are going to rotate the tires, give them a little wiggle top to bottom (grab at 6 o'clock and 12 o'clock) and side to side (3 and 9)for play in bearing and suspension before taking them off.
Rob

Go back to where you had the tires mounted & balanced, tell them you have a problem, human error is the first thing to check. Wire wheels are harder to balance than steel or mags which do you have? If you have mags then they are probably lug-centric not hub-centric & should be balanced with a cone & flange plate not a cone alone. If you dont have wires you mat want to get the assemblies road forced to check loaded runout & sidewall stiffness variation. If you have wires they flex too much under load to make that work.
My general opinion of wire wheels is that they belong in a museum not on the road but if that's what you're running check the splines for wear, check for loose or broken spokes & check the wheel for being true.
Make sure your bolt on wheels are straight, undamaged, & that the lug holes aren't chewed up or enlarged.
Inspect the lugs & lugnuts for wear or stripped threads. Check the hubs for excessive runout, they're not that hard to bend. Check your wheel bearings for wear & play- repack, retighten, replace as needed.
Check your kingpins for wear, the overall suspension for cracks & signs of fatigue. Check your bushings including the ones between the x-member & the unibody. Make sure everything is torqued to spec. Check your shocks for leaks & function.
Take two aspirin & call me in the morning

After verifying the wire wheels are true and all spokes properly tensioned, and the wheels balanced, visually check the rubber or plastic bushings where the lower A-arm pivots at the chassis. If they are worn, replace. Front wheel alignment (toe-in, toe-out) should be checked next. Then wear in the lower link and trunnion bushings and/or the tie rod ends. Although your tires are new DO NOT rule out that they are perfectly round.

Check spoke tension uniformity by lifting the weight off each wheel, tap each spoke lightly with a screw driver. Each spoke of a given length should emit a uniform "ting". If you find one with a dead "klunk", it is not in tension, and will allow the rim to flex slightly.

Good advice so far - but if you find the suspension is tight, and the wheels are balanced, you may need new/replacement steering column bushings!

I went down the same path as you - new swivel axles, tie rod ends, poly bushings, multiple wheel balancing, new rotors and still had the shake - a set of Gerry's bushings (GEM Enterprises) solved the problem!

It's your wire wheels, mine do the exact same thing from 55-60 and then get better after 60. They are old and out of true, what i did was find the best of the worst and put those two on the front. The sad thing is that it costs just as much to true them as to buy a set of new ones.
Allan

Folks

I have plenty of things to try and will start with the easy ones first!

Thankyou very much to all of you for your replies - much appreciated. I am learning a lot about the joys of owning a classic car!

When you notice a vibration problem at a certain speed then it tails off after you exceed that speed it will usually be a wheel balancing problem. It is said that if a balancing problem, you will see the problem reappear at double the speed. Maybe not a good idea to take her up to 110 mph to find out. ;) Some tire shops nowadays don't know how to properly balance real wire wheels and you should try to find a local shop that knows how--if you haven't already.

I have to differ with the person stating his opinion is that wire wheels belong in a museum. I have new Dayton wires on my car, had them properly balanced, and they run perfectly without any vibration at any speed. Would I use these on the track at Sebring? No. But for cruising to the club events, weekend drives, and even the occasional 700 mile drive to Gatlinburg, they are the classic look I enjoy best.