Front end wobble

Maintenance/Repairs
1

I have a 91 Oldsmobile Royale with front wheel drive that has a wobble in the tires; it’s especially noticeable at slow speed, and gradually dissipates as highway speed (55 mph) is approached. The air pressure is ok in each tire, and the lug nuts are all tight. The tires are in outwardly good condition. Sounds like a front end drive age situation to me, but does anyone else have a diagnosis other than this?

2

If the wobble is felt on the whole car, I would suspect the tires are out of round. This can also be seen on the steering wheel at a very slow speed (10mph) as the wheel rotates from side to side.

3

Nows the time for tires. When describing tires, saying that they are in “outwardly good condition” really doesn’t say much.

I want to know age,have they been rotated on schedule,tread depth,any odd wear patterns, have the tires been checked for out of roundness.

For me tires are like batterys, at the first hint they could be causing a problem they are replaced.

Others go for every last start and every last mile.

4

If the alignment and wheel balance are correct I’d carefully inspect for a bent wheel or a bad tire. Tread separation is one possibility.

What happens if you switch the tires front to back?

5

I had the same problem with a 98 Ford Windstar. It turned out to be a separated/slipped(?) belt in the front tire. My mechanic spotted it right away, but I couldn’t tell from looking at the tire. Replaced tire and problem was fixed.

Ed B.

6

And The Correct Answer Is …

All of the above! Run with it!

7

Ed B I have a question about your cross country tires? How do you like them etc. Can you please contact me@ codyrisker@gmail.com Thanks for your time.

8

I had this problem in my VW Passat 1999. Had new tires, balanced, Aligned, and so on. Right after a wobble started. Turns out to be coincidental. The problem was a bad CV joint on front right. Could be any. After spending money on all the stuff below twice except for tires, the mechanics suggest CV. Put it up, ran wheels and the right wheel wobbled like crazy. Replaced the CV and it is now fine.