Hi there,

I'm experiencing this problem - squeeky wheels, and I've had my wheels rebalanced lately (and 2 new front tyres). Does anybody know what this may be?

To be more exact, the whistling/squeeking noises gets faster and faster as the car is going faster (regardless of if im pressing the accelerator or not - i could be doing 30mph and take it out of gear/hold down the clutch, and it'd still be whistling/squeeking <--the best I can discribe the noise).

Does anything know what this may be? I've tried searching through previous posts but I don't know really what to look for, I've not seen anything besides this post which relates to my problem. Is it something to do with wheel bearings? If so I have no idea what I should do / how much this would cost to replace. Please please can someone offer me some advice.

Oh yes, and since I had the tyres changed, after going 50mph+ my steering wheel starts to shake quite a bit now (didn't do this before) - looks like I may need to get my tires re-aligned - will this have anything to do with the noise i'm experiencing?

Many thanks for anyone who can help me

andy

With the steering wheel wobbling at speed would suggest balancing/aligment, as to the noise can you tell if it is coming from the new tyres or all of them?

Hi there,

Thanks for your reply,

I know, I need to take it back to the garage where i got the balancing done (is that different to wheel-alignment? of is it the same thing, different name?)

I really think it's coming from either one of the front wheels, and sometimes it's there, and sometimes it's not. Is there a test of some sought I can do? The best I've managed so far is sticking my head out of the window whilst doing 30mph to try and hear where the noise is coming from when I hear it (which is very frequently).

Thanks once again,

Andy

balanceing the wheels is done to make the wheel run smoothly. If the the wheel is out of balance the heavy side tries to throw outwards whenever it's not on the road and this can cause the vibration. Assuming the tyres are good balancing the wheel will cure most wheel vibrations. Setting the alignment is done to ensure that the wheels are facing in the optimum direction. Both situations normally give different problems.. an out of balance wheel can eventually cause a bald patch on the tyre which will be just one place on the tyre .. if you park on the bald spot the tyre will appear okay. If the alignment is wrong the tyre wear will be a band all around the tyre, usually one edge or the other and regardless of where you park the band will be visible. Your problem does sound like an imbalance which the tyre centre can put right in ten minutes, queing not included.

Deal with it sooner rather than later as suspension bushes etc take a hammering while it's out of balance.

Thank you for your reply :-)

When you say that this sounds like what the problem is, are you referring to both the shaking of the steering wheel, AND the squeeky noise the wheels make?

I'm gonna go phone the garage now! :-)

Sorry Andy, got a bit premature there and overlooked your squeek. Could be a wheel bearing, once had a similar thing with a sticking brake. I would drive it to a reputable back street garage and let them have a listen. Ask them to explain what they find and how they came to that conclusion. You can always post here what they find and someone will probably have put that right themselves. Sorry not to be more concise but that's how squeeks go I'm afraid.(colleague makes squeeky noise in background).

Sorry again Andy, was adding more while you were responding to my first. It does sound as though it could be two seperate items. One being balance the wheels to remove the vibration and the other thing is still a mistery. Get the squeek investigated and mention the wheel wobble. It could be that solving one problem will cure the other. One way or another you will sort both problems out. If the garage is a good one this should'nt be too expensive. Albert Tatlock tells us he got his wheel bearing for £40 and fitted it himself, not too difficult if you have the tools but a bit daunting to start on for the first time. Many enthusiasts never do any work themselves (on the car that is) but pay for someone else to do thier work. May not be the bearing anyway so price just as an example.

Just seen the flirty thirty..more like effin fifty

Ok, thank you... I'll see what I can do, I'll get it into a garage asap, and post what I come up with on here, I know it'll be useful for someone else should they be hearing any similar noises, although to post description of noises is always a bit of a nightmare lol :-)

I'll keep this post updated,

Andy

yeah , Good luck Andy, price wise that is. Ive got some photographs of noises round here somewhere.....