Judder felt through steering wheel

[E_PITT]

I had my front pads and discs replaced a few weeks ago. When I drove away from the garage I found the front wheels were wobbling badly under normal driving and severe juddering was felt through the steering wheel under braking. I stopped ASAP and tightened the wheel nuts - no more wobbling and no more brake judder.

Next day the problem had returned. I cheked the nuts again and they had not loosened. I carried on driving for a week or so and the problem seemed to come and go. One day it would feel almost undrivable, the next day it would be a pleasure to drive.

I took it to a Kwik Fit and the guy there looked her over and said it was because the tyres were old, worn and out of shape. I guessed that perhaps when the brakes were changed the rear wheels were perhaps moved to the front which made the problem more noticable. Anyway, I had the alloys restored and treated myself to 4 new Continental tyres all round.

The car was fine driving away from the wheel restorers and then a few days later the problem came back. The intermittent nature of the fault is baffling me.

I'm utterly fed up with this. Has anyone experienced a similar problem and if so what was found to be the cause?

Ed

[BrianG]

Ed,

How often and how much do you drive your car? Mine is an everyday driver doing about 30 miles a day, yet I have noticed my tyres flat-spot while standing over night and can take a good 5 miles or so in the morning to sort this out.

Also, the X308 (and the X300) has a well known steering judder problem at typically between 55 to 65 m.p.h. Either side is fine but in that band you can think you've got square wheels. I think this is due to general wear in bushes and steering rack, etc., which whilst quite safe and will pass the MOT, accentuates any wheel balance problems.

I had new Pirelli P-zeroes fitted all round in December and they seemed OK for a short while then I got the usual front shudder/wobble at the stated speed. I asked for the front wheels to be re-balanced and the problem was solved. I note that the balance weights - plural - on each wheel seem to be the amount now required, yet the car left the tyre place apparently correctly balanced when fitted only about 1000 miles before.

[E_PITT]

Brian,

Thanks for your reply. Like you my car is my daily driver although my mileage varies considerably from day to day. The first 10k I covered in this car really lived up to the magic carpet ride that enthusiasts talk of (although my previous x300 was better). Since having the brakes done it's a very different story!

The peculiarity of the juddering is the intermittency of it. It is noticable below 30mph. In the speed bracket you refer to it is very bad. At anything approaching the national speed limit and beyond it is utterly terrifying.

Although i'm going to take it back to the guys who did the brakes (who I rate highly) for a reexamination I can't help thinking that the pot-holed roads may have exacerbated already worn bushes up front. I say this because the wobble is not always under braking. In fact the horrendous steering wheel judder continues for a few seconds after releasing brake pressure which makes me think there is play in the bushes. As if it takes them a few seconds to settle after the geometry is upset.

The car has done 110,000 miles so I suppose it's about time things like bushes started to wear out.

Ed

[joejag308]

ED........its one of those problem areas which come with age........the only real way to go is to have ALL the bushes and bearings shocks and springs renewed..........this seems a rather expensive thing to do.
But is it?...........add the cost of another vehicle over £20,000 or a part ex costing a few thousand more plus all the extra messing about hoping you have bought well.
You could buy someone elses trouble (possibly the same as your own) or even going to another marque........
Wiegh those possibllities against the replacement job (done by guys who really know their Jaguars) and maybe its not so bad a possiblity.
Especialy if you like your current car that would i imagine be in great shape and want to keep it.
Go to a place you can get this sort of job done to the standard you want and ask for a quote........then put it against the cost of replacement.
One thing that did occur re the brake pads being replaced...did they fit the correct pads and put them in the right way round, even though this is not easy to do........it seemed to stem from that job being done........the tyre issue i once had that problem and it was as one of your guys said the tyres had "perished" in the walls through age not with high mileage.

[daveji]

This sounds to me as if the pad replacement job was not done properly or the car has subsequently suffered damage in some way.
Only a proper examination can reveal which.
Another thought......have your new tyres,particularly the fronts been fitted properly?
They were not on my car and I had similar problems.
No new tyre is perfectly round....thats what balancers are for.
The tyre high spot,usually yellow, must be aligned carefully next to the valve.
The wheels must be properly balanced,either dynamically (now old fashioned method) or on one of the new computerised rotating balancers.
The balancer will reveal whether a wheel has been bent also.
The front wheels should be fitted with the security nut next to the valve and the wheelnuts tightened by hand and torqued to the correct value of 95NM (if I remember correctly)
Many tyre fitters pump the tyres up too hard,.....use the "comfort" setting which for my tyres is 4-6 psi less than the load/high speed setting,but is limited to 100MPH sustained cruise speed.
Details for your wheel/tyre combination is in the handbook.
Its easier and cheaper to go over the "new ground" first before digging deeper.