bouncy car

[jools]

Great forum, thanks to all the contributors !

Recently had 4 new tires fitted, initially there was a fair amount of juddering at higher speeds which was felt through the steering wheel and generally the whole cabin (above 60mph, more noticeable when doing a constant speed). Had the balance done, and redone several times by Kwikfit who fitted the tires and still there was no real improvement. I then took the car to my local VX and they rebalanced the wheel (at considerable cost) and now it is better.

However I do still get the occasional juddering especially on rougher roads going at speed, but it is not as bad as before. The car also feels a lot more nervous, and the ride is not as comfortable as before, I seem to feel every bump and holes out there. It also seems a lot more bouncy and on the whole I don't feel as safe driving it when going at speed. In fact I almost lost control on one occasion when going fast and changing direction.

I have the Design model with 16inch 215/55 tires.

Anyone think this might be related to worn shocks or springs ?

[Harry]

how old is the car and what sort of mileage has it done?

apparently, the vauxhall wheels are a nightmare to balance, but your problems don't sound as though they are solely related to the balancing.

but if it was worn shocks you would definitely know as it would be knocking going over every bump

[chrisgettings]

theres not going to be a quick fix
you need to find sombody willing to swop your wheels over with you for the day

with you wheel on a friends car he will tell right away if it the wheels ,,,

[Bainie]

I had a similar problem lst week, after taking the car back to the tyre place it was established that the wheels were very slightly buckled on the back edge, though with 16`s this is a lot less likely it is possible. They put them on the balancing thingummybob and you could clearly see it ..

[Spikey©]

If you push down on the front wing, does the car settle or bounce up and down for a bit? If the shocks are ok the car should settle straight away, if not it will bounce a bit.

[jools]

how old is the car and what sort of mileage has it done?

apparently, the vauxhall wheels are a nightmare to balance, but your problems don't sound as though they are solely related to the balancing.

but if it was worn shocks you would definitely know as it would be knocking going over every bump

The car will be 3 years old this June, so still young so to speak.
Kwikfit tried balancing the tires 3 times, and when I first took it back to them complaining of juddering, they did admit to having some problems with their balancing machine. They even swapped the tires around but in the end it still wasn't right. I then decided to take it to my local VX, thinking that if kwikfit has a problem with their balancer that they will never be able to sort it.

Anyway, after taking it to VX it has improve a lot but like I say I still get some juddering now and again.

I don't hear any knocking over bumps, just seem to bounce a bit. Ever get the feeling when you bounce and you are sitting and you clench your buttocks !!! That's what I seem to do more often now when driving the veccy !!

[jools]

Oh, I forgot to say the car's only done 31000 miles

[jools]

I had a similar problem lst week, after taking the car back to the tyre place it was established that the wheels were very slightly buckled on the back edge, though with 16`s this is a lot less likely it is possible. They put them on the balancing thingummybob and you could clearly see it ..

When kwikfit swapped the tires around, they said they left one of the wheel at the back alone, as it has a slight buckle on it, and putting it at the front may make things worst. I bought the car used and cannot remember doing anything to make the wheel buckle.

[jools]

If you push down on the front wing, does the car settle or bounce up and down for a bit? If the shocks are ok the car should settle straight away, if not it will bounce a bit.

I tried doing the bounce test, it's very difficult to say, but it seems to bounce up 1 and down 1 and then settles. So from that, the shocks would seem to be alright.

If I close one of the front door hard, the car does wobble a bit, although it soon settles.

Is there a more reliable way to test the shocks, as oppose to having a weakling try to bounce the car

[Gsi3.2]

if you still have this problem next week, i have another set of wheels for you to try, and we're only in leighton Buzzard, so not a million miles away..

i'll take a look at the rest of the car ( dampers) as well if you like..