Hi, wondering if any of you clever folks have any ideas as to what this might be. For a couple of years now my Mk7 1.4 petrol has had a vibration through the wheel, it hasn't really gotten any worse but it is definitely there. I have had wheel balancing checked (might be worth redoing) but they are all fine.

It seems to be there at any speed but above 50 it becomes most noticable. At motorway speeds it is fairly pronounced. If I hold a loose grip on the wheel it can be seen visually darting from left to right slightly with a regular rhythm. I have also noticed if i swerve a bit from left to right at 60-70mph it becomes a more significant wobble, much more forceful.

There are no clunking noises from the car when going over bumpy ground. The rear passenger side corner does creak if you push down on it though and sometimes I hear what sounds almost like a 'cracking' noise when I first get in (before closing the door) if it's cold/been sat for a while, almost as if some seized metal has unseized?

I had wondered if it was the power steering on it's way out? I have heard they can fail on the mk7. There are no dashboard faults. I also have some aftermarket wheel nuts fitted which I am changing as soon as I can get a new locking nut key so maybe they could be the cause?

Any ideas?

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Some background:

• Around 3 years ago I hit quite a big pothole at 60-65mph. It took out two wheels and tyres as well as two wheel bearings (all on the passenger side)
• 2 MOTs ago I had an advisory for a worn rear axle bush on the passenger's side. As I said above that corner was creaking when pushed on. I sprayed some grease on it and the noise went away. The advisory hasn't come up again, it has been MOT'd twice at two different places, one in England and one in Scotland. The most recent was in December 2023, no advisories at all from either. I have also had advisories in the past for a light misting of oil on one of the rear shocks. Same story applies there, except I think the last 3 MOTs have been missing that one (including the one that mentioned the axle bush)
• The car has done around 85k miles and is a 2012

On 1/19/2024 at 6:56 PM, jr795 said:

Hi, wondering if any of you clever folks have any ideas as to what this might be. For a couple of years now my Mk7 1.4 petrol has had a vibration through the wheel, it hasn't really gotten any worse but it is definitely there. I have had wheel balancing checked (might be worth redoing) but they are all fine.

It seems to be there at any speed but above 50 it becomes most noticable. At motorway speeds it is fairly pronounced. If I hold a loose grip on the wheel it can be seen visually darting from left to right slightly with a regular rhythm. I have also noticed if i swerve a bit from left to right at 60-70mph it becomes a more significant wobble, much more forceful.

There are no clunking noises from the car when going over bumpy ground. The rear passenger side corner does creak if you push down on it though and sometimes I hear what sounds almost like a 'cracking' noise when I first get in (before closing the door) if it's cold/been sat for a while, almost as if some seized metal has unseized?

I had wondered if it was the power steering on it's way out? I have heard they can fail on the mk7. There are no dashboard faults. I also have some aftermarket wheel nuts fitted which I am changing as soon as I can get a new locking nut key so maybe they could be the cause?

Any ideas?

================

Some background:

• Around 3 years ago I hit quite a big pothole at 60-65mph. It took out two wheels and tyres as well as two wheel bearings (all on the passenger side)
• 2 MOTs ago I had an advisory for a worn rear axle bush on the passenger's side. As I said above that corner was creaking when pushed on. I sprayed some grease on it and the noise went away. The advisory hasn't come up again, it has been MOT'd twice at two different places, one in England and one in Scotland. The most recent was in December 2023, no advisories at all from either. I have also had advisories in the past for a light misting of oil on one of the rear shocks. Same story applies there, except I think the last 3 MOTs have been missing that one (including the one that mentioned the axle bush)
• The car has done around 85k miles and is a 2012

Am prob not best person for suggestions but just 2 thoughts  - as you say you could get the wheel balance rechecked. I wonder if one or both front wheels might be buckled? That too would cause vibrations that worsen with speed... & could be confirmed at same time as balance check.

& worn axle bush does sound a plausible cause of the rear suspension creak, and it's probably worth checking the dampers too, esp as both have been noted as advisories in the past.