Vibrating steering wheel at higway speed braking - upper control arms?

[chrissurfr]

Hey guys,

As some of you know, I had a lot of issues with Audi and vibrating brakes on my car. Well, rotors and pads were replaced under warranty about 1500 miles ago. Unfortunately,steering wheel vibration just reared it head again over the past.

When I apply about 35% brake pressure at highway speed, I get a lot of shuddering in the steering wheel. I brought the car by my friends shop and it looks like the upper control arm bearings on both sides are toast. I'm lowered so I don't think I will have much luck with Audi on warranty.

Can worn upper control arm bushing cause steering wheel vibration under braking? After some googling, it looks like the lower control arms are the typical culprit, not the upper. Any pointers would be appreciated.


Thanks,
Chris

[4ringnut]

Have you had your wheels balanced recently? If not, that's the first thing you should do when you feel vibrations on the highway.

[chrissurfr]

Thanks but I know for sure it is not that.

I'm really trying to find out if "Can worn upper control arm bushing cause steering wheel vibration under braking?"

[4ringnut]

Do you want to bet?

[4ringnut]

Your car is a year old. I doubt it's a worn out bushing.

[chrissurfr]

Do you want to bet?

Sure I'll bet you, I just put on new BBS wheels, new tires and new brakes all within the last 2k miles.

My car has been lowered for almost two years and the control bushings are pretty much done.

The steering only vibrates under braking.

Once again for those who have experience with this "Can worn upper control arm bushing cause steering wheel vibration under braking?"

[4ringnut]

Not really sure why you're asking for people's input if you know the cause. It could be a slightly warped rotor ( you could have really bad luck, it's happened to me) some rotors come warped from the factory. If your car is still under warranty, why not let the dealer sort it out?

[manguyen]

i have the same issue with my car! thought it was the brakes and had them replaced and the issue came back shortly after. Swapped to Alcons and also swapped tires and problem still exist.

[Gonzoe11]

Hey Chris... I feel your pain. As much as I love my cab, I've had this one chronic problem. When I first felt the vibration I had 2 clearly bent rims and had those corrected, after switching to my summer wheels and tires the vibration resurfaced. I have since replaced or added rotors, pads, upper control arms, coilovers, AK, spacers, sway bars, end links and the vibration persists. I am back on the winter set up with spacers so there are many factors to consider. I just dropped off my summer set up to check for correctness (make sure they aren't bent) and get a proper road force balance.
My vibration is definitely worse on uneven surfaces but we'll see what happens after I switch my setup, remove spaces and have a proper balance.
I was intrigued after Matt Farah's RS5 convertible review and he complained about the same vibration. I hope this isn't a true characteristic of these cars.

[4ringnut]

That really sucks. You spend all that money on a car, and have to deal with this kind of bullshit. My car just spent 2 weeks at the dealer because of a suspension creak. After replacing the entire suspension of the drivers rear side they realized it was a bad spot weld on a body panel. I almost told them to keep the car. Hope you get it figured out man.

[manguyen]

That really sucks. You spend all that money on a car, and have to deal with this kind of bullshit. My car just spent 2 weeks because of a suspension creak. After replacing the entire suspension of the drivers rear side they realized it was a bad spot weld on a body panel. I almost told them to keep the car. Hope you get it figured out man.

I have this same problem also. Creaks over every bump, especially at the end of my driveway.

[4ringnut]

Yeah, not to get off topic but they basically used a "special Audi bonding agent" to reattach the loose piece. Problem gone.

[Brava]

Sure I'll bet you, I just put on new BBS wheels, new tires and new brakes all within the last 2k miles.

My car has been lowered for almost two years and the control bushings are pretty much done.

The steering only vibrates under braking.

Once again for those who have experience with this "Can worn upper control arm bushing cause steering wheel vibration under braking?"

Try a set of aftermarket brake pads, I had the same brake vibration at highway speed. After replacing three sets of oem rotors and pads within 30k miles, and vibration showing up again every time, I went with set of Hawks HPS pads and the vibration magically disappeared. Please note that I'm still on the oem rotors that used to vibrate before.

So before spending any more money on control arms and what not, spend just a little 200 dollars on a set of more robust pads.

[skynetop]

What years does this happen on? Just picked up a14 cab and have a vibration between 60-70 mph and at times 30-35. Had wheels rotated and checked. Seemed to help but it's not too noticeable but at times I feel it on the foot rest. Not too much in the wheel. Been see all sorts of posts related to TSBs break pads and full suspension swaps.

Try a set of aftermarket brake pads, I had the same brake vibration at highway speed. After replacing three sets of oem rotors and pads within 30k miles, and vibration showing up again every time, I went with set of Hawks HPS pads and the vibration magically disappeared. Please note that I'm still on the oem rotors that used to vibrate before.

So before spending any more money on control arms and what not, spend just a little 200 dollars on a set of more robust pads.

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[Darel]

I have a similar vibration on my '09, but not under braking. And the funny thing is, it's not always there - sometimes the steering wheel will be shaking back and forth ever so slightly in my hands, other times it's smooth as glass. I'm used to bent rims (been through 5 in the last year on my wife's M-B) but this is a little different. AFAIK I'm still on my original control arms at 65K, so that's on my list, maybe after Xmas. I did just put on new brakes and rotors 2 weeks ago, and tires right after I bought the car in May, so I don't think that's it. My vibe is also at highway speeds (50+) but again, not always there.

I have no creaks at all, this is the quietest, most solid-feeling car I've ever driven.

In the end it's not a real big deal, just a curiousity for me. I'll work it out in time but I'm not in a rush.

[gqambitions]

I have a similar vibration on my '09, but not under braking. And the funny thing is, it's not always there - sometimes the steering wheel will be shaking back and forth ever so slightly in my hands, other times it's smooth as glass. I'm used to bent rims (been through 5 in the last year on my wife's M-B) but this is a little different. AFAIK I'm still on my original control arms at 65K, so that's on my list, maybe after Xmas. I did just put on new brakes and rotors 2 weeks ago, and tires right after I bought the car in May, so I don't think that's it. My vibe is also at highway speeds (50+) but again, not always there.

I have no creaks at all, this is the quietest, most solid-feeling car I've ever driven.

In the end it's not a real big deal, just a curiousity for me. I'll work it out in time but I'm not in a rush.

Was having this similar issue on my 2010. Balancing did the trick for me. but my bushings were also worn out so replacing those next week. I would start with balancing all the tires and see if that helps. If not would guess control arms next.

[NuVega]

I have a similar vibration on my '09, but not under braking. And the funny thing is, it's not always there - sometimes the steering wheel will be shaking back and forth ever so slightly in my hands, other times it's smooth as glass. I'm used to bent rims (been through 5 in the last year on my wife's M-B) but this is a little different. AFAIK I'm still on my original control arms at 65K, so that's on my list, maybe after Xmas. I did just put on new brakes and rotors 2 weeks ago, and tires right after I bought the car in May, so I don't think that's it. My vibe is also at highway speeds (50+) but again, not always there.

I have no creaks at all, this is the quietest, most solid-feeling car I've ever driven.

In the end it's not a real big deal, just a curiousity for me. I'll work it out in time but I'm not in a rush.

Might sound crazy, but check your tire pressure and type of tire. Resonance frequency tends to be higher if your tire pressure is low, resulting in increased feel of vibrations, and depending on road surface can vary. My 09 A5 did the same, I would get a slight shimmy shake sometimes and others I didn't, control arms and wheels/tires balanced. My issue ended up being my Continental ExtremeContact summer tires, if they weren't right on the money in terms of PSI I would get the issue, switched to Michelin Pilot Sport A/S3+, issue vanished.

[JamesRS5]

This sounds like brake pad material transfer problems. It gives you all the vibration symptoms of a warped brake rotor but is actually an uneven transfer of pad friction material to the rotor which creates areas of higher and lower friction between pad and rotor as the brake rotor rotates.
This is usually caused by holding your foot on the brake in traffic when the brakes are hot but with the automatic ebrake acting on the rear can also cause these high friction spots.

I’ll take a minute to explain what I’m talking about and how to fix it if this is the problem:

When you install new brake components, pads or rotors, you go through a ‘bedding in’ procedure where you slow the car from differing speeds to get heat in the new parts, and the instructions always say NEVER come to a stop.
What you’re actually doing in this ‘bedding in’ is transferring the friction material from the pad to the rotor, as you build up the speed of the braking, you build up the heat and layers of material to give an even coating on the surface of the rotor.
So what happens if you don’t bed in correctly and your rotors are hot and you sit with your foot on the brake while at the lights or in traffic, you get patches of friction material on the rotor surface that feels just like a warped rotor.

The fix is pretty straight forward, run through the bedding in procedure again, lots of high speed heavy braking, do not allow the ABS to cut in and do not come to a full stop. See if that helps.

OE pads are terrible for the above and gave these warped rotor symptoms, the guys who swapped out to Hawk pads cured the issues immediately.

[JamesRS5]

Oh and one more thing Chris, who installed your lowering springs?

If they tightened the bolts for the bushes before the car was settled to it new lowered ride height then the bushes will fail very quickly as they are now trying to work in a permanently twisted state.
You should always lift the suspension using a floor jack to its new operation position and then tighten the bolts.

[Darel]

Thanks guys I am pretty sure that's the problem, balancing or bent rim. I run all four tires at 40psi (to try and prevent bent rims) and just topped them all off for the change of season yesterday before driving 6 hours and the shimmy is still there. After going through 5 rims on my wife's car in the last year I'm not mentally prepared to take this car in and have them tell me it's another rim, so I'll probably just deal with it for a while.

[Hey_T_S5]

Thanks guys I am pretty sure that's the problem, balancing or bent rim. I run all four tires at 40psi (to try and prevent bent rims) and just topped them all off for the change of season yesterday before driving 6 hours and the shimmy is still there. After going through 5 rims on my wife's car in the last year I'm not mentally prepared to take this car in and have them tell me it's another rim, so I'll probably just deal with it for a while.

I had a similar issue on my other car, couldn’t figure out why my car was shaking at high speeds and sort of knew it was a balancing problem. Took the car to the shop I bought the tires twice to no avail and decided to have the dealer balance my tires. Haven’t had the issue since the dealer re-balanced my Wheels.


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[shonseb]

When balancing your tires, please make sure they are 'road force balanced'. Regular balancing doesn't represent real world conditions and you can still have vibration from a wheel that was not road force balanced

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