Steering Wheel Wobble - Rotor Tolerance Specs

Maintenance/Repairs
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1

I noticed my steering wheel was vibrating and wobbling up and down at faster speeds. It didn’t matter if I was braking or not. I could also feel a pulsation in my break. I noticed the steering wheel vibration driving my car home from a mechanic. He replaced both front wheel bearings, put on front shocks and replaced the front passenger side axel. Days before this I replaced both front rotors, put on new pads and purchased two new front tires. I also did both rear shoes. Because of all the work done I wasn’t sure what was causing the vibrations and wobble in the steering wheel. I had the front tires balanced twice and it didn’t go away. I inspected my brake installation and all looked fine. Eventually I purchased a dial indicator that measures to one thousandth of an inch. When measuring the driver side rotor and turning the axel it went up and down 7/1000 of an inch and the passenger side went up and down 2/1000 of an inch. When I looked up tolerance levels for a rotor it states it shouldn’t be more than one half of one thousandth of an inch. At 7 it’s 14 times too much and at 2 it’s 4 times too much. I also checked the back plate on the hub assembly for the 7/1000 side and it showed that this was the issue and not the rotor. I marked the axel and rotated the rotor (took it off and rotated to different bolts on the hub) and it would always go up and down at the same points to the axel. This indicates the issue wasn’t the rotor.

I have never had this issue and I’ve had bearings replaced periodically with different cars. I always change and replace my brake pads and rotors myself and have never had steering wheel wobble issues. Is the 2/1000 of an inch too much? I know 7/1000 of an inch is.

Looking for viewpoints and opinions on this? How could this happen?

2

I think you should find a better mechanic.
why are you not bring it back to where you had all the work done that you paid for.

3

.002 is the limit. And for good reason. I’ve seen .004 create a significant wobble while braking.

4

Ask the mechanic if they used an impact gun to install the axle nuts.

If they did, and didn’t torque the nuts to spec, it can damage the new bearings.

Tester

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5

My guess, something’s amiss w/ both of the front axles. It’s hard to imagine this could be caused by the new front wheel bearings, presuming the wheels turn freely & you’ve verified there is no unusual amount of bearing play. You might double check the axle nuts are torqued the proper amount. Those have to be quite tight. I usually have to stand on the breaker bar at the correct distance from the nut.

6

Your mechanic bent both front hubs somehow when installing the new bearings. OR the hubs were cheap trash to begin with.

The bearings are not causing this, the hubs are bent.

7

This has nothing to do with your wobble . But the tire manufactures now and have for some time recommended if only buying 2 new tires they should go on the rear of the vehicle no matter the drive setup - fwd - rwd - awd because the hydroplanning that can happen . There are plenty of articles on the web explaining it well . Tire Rack also has one.

8

Sounds like you are saying the axle stub is moving up and down in the wheel bearing. True or not? If true, then that is not rotor runout.

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9

It’s true, looks like it’s the hub assembly that’s bent or warped.