wobble!!! Options

[C666Hunter]

Probably your best bet. Hope it isnt anything serious, though if it is a rack, there is one on fleabay at the minute for £5.

[pal1972]

well took mini up to green and whites this afternoon for them to have a look!! turns out - knackered subframe mounts! knackered ball joint!! oh and also exhaust manifold gasket gone too!!! and just for good measure the heater matrix is about to pack up! steam coming out of the heater vents on my way there!!!!! On the plus side, theyre sorting it tomorrow so the car should be nice and driveable by end of tomorrow!!!!!! can't make my mind up wetther to get them to do the matrix while its in there!? can't afford it though!

[C666Hunter]

Bit of a nightmare about the matrix. But better it gave you signs of failure than just blowing. Glad to hear you're sorted at least with the wobble.

[pal1972]

how easy is it to replace the matrix?? The guys at green and whites said it was the matrix due to the steam so i'm guessing thats prob right unless anyone knows anything else?? they wanted £55 for a new one is that about right? I'd prefer to have ago at it myself if i can get hold of a one cheap enough, or is it worth trying tofind alate mpi heater unit to replace it with as ive heard these are much better?!

[pal1972]

I GIVE UP!!!!! got te cooper back tonigt, the damn wobble is till tere despite G&W doing wat theyve done! admittedly it isnt as bad but still horendous once you hit around 40/45mph I had the wheels balanced, i now know the ball joint is fine so what the hell is the cause of the b****y wobble!!??? anyone fancy a test drive to give me their opinion!? where can i get the wheels checked out to see if theyre buckled??

[roofchoplofty]

Dont give up just yet, does the steering wheel shake with the wobble or is it the car?
If its the steering wheel, then its more than likely one of the front wheels ( or both), try putting your spare wheel on, and see if theres any difference. If not put the original wheel back on and swap the other side for the spare wheel.
However if the car wobbles then it could be the back! try the same method on the back wheels.

If not are you coming to the club on thurs night? if so im sure we will have a go and try ave a look.

NEVER GIVE UP, there worth it in the end, the little buggers.

[pal1972]

yeh the steering wheel shakes a lot!!! gonna have one last go at getting the wheels balanced but at a different place to see if that rectifies it at all! only problem is the spare isn't a sportspac spare - dont know if that makes any difference? will try to get along to the club meet but doubt it'll be in the mini as i'll wake the little 'un up getting in and out the garage!!

[roofchoplofty]

put the spare on anyway, even if its not the same size. it might tell you if one of the wheels is buckled.

[pal1972]

trouble is i dont know if the spare is balanced properly!! i'll try it though if i get a chance

[WIZZAS DAD]

I used to have a set or RSP wheels on my Clubman, i had them balanced twice at 2 different places to try and cure a terrible speed wobble.....turned out to be an out of true wheel, so no amount of balancing was gonna cure it....I sussed it out by fixing a screwdriver onto some blocks of wood, so that the tip of the screwdriver just say touched the rim...Then slowly rotated the wheel, and behold it was about 5mm out of true.....Originally the wheels were ok....The problem seemed to occur after last years Moorland & Coastal ( and some enthusiastic driving )..I cured it by fitting other wheels......Bill

[pal1972]

Cheers for that Bill, thats my worst fear that one or more of the wheels may be buckled/out cos i can't afford a new set! but i'll give your method a try and see what happens! also getting them rebalanced elsewhere just in case!

[pal1972]

Just tried your method Bill - well on two drivers side (cant sueeze down other side of garage to do the other side at minute!! front wheel fine, rear wheel prob a couple of mm discrepancy! Is that enough to give such horendous shaking/wobble? obviously will try same method on the other two at weekend, but i'm really gutted as i wanted this to be a regular used car and i cant afford to replace wheels, is there anything/anywhere that can cure the wheels locally??

[pal1972]

AAAAHHHHHH!!!!!! just tried the passenger side nd the front appears fine but the rear is out again about 2-3mm using the screwdiriver against te rim test!!!! this stil doesn't explain the steering wheel wobble though - especially if both fronts appear to be running true!!!!!!! cant afford new wheels at the minute - plus i'm not really inclined to get new ones untill i FINALLY get to the bottom of this!! but i would contemplate new wheels if i can be guaranteed to cure it!!

Anyone got a set of wheels they know are true that i can try on my car for half an hour to see if that helps!?

[pal1972]

contacted minispares in huddersfield as they stock the sportspac wheels, and they replied saying that 'the sportspac wheels arent the best as they are heavy on one side'!!!! i might have some wheels to try courtesy of a very generous member on here so will see if they work out any better! if so then i guess its a new set of wheels!!!! - bummer!!

[pal1972]

SORTED!!!!!! well at least two of the rims aren't running true - after the screwdriver test - took it back up to G&W's and they kindly swapped the fronts for two spares they had lying about took it for a spin and.... greatly reduced wobble!!! they then swapped the rears for the fronts on the existing wheels and horrendous wobble again!!! so, a short trip up to northumberland on friday afternoon to purchase a tired set of 6x13 minilites (courtesy of john - samurai), got tyres fitted and balanced, took it for a spin and........NO WOBBLE!!!!! car drives great - although noticed a pull to the left but i guess thats just a tracking issue! but much better to drive and now at least i can use the damn thing. will keep these alloys on for a while until i can source a set of replacements!!

cheers for everyone's input over this issue, what a nice bunch you all are!

[surfblue63]

car drives great - although noticed a pull to the left but i guess thats just a tracking issue!

Could be some thing as simple as the tyre pressures.