steering wheel shakes when cold

[UGAgirl97]

I test drove a 2011 LR4 this past weekend with about 300 miles on it and as soon as I put it in the interstate, the wheel started shaking pretty intensly. I asked my salesman about it b/c it was very bothersome. He said it was because sometimes the tires get that way if they have been sitting awhile and eventually it works itself out after a few minutes of driving. He was worried it would affect my impression of the car, which it did. He said I could put nitrogen in the tires to help with this. It did get better as we drove, but never went away completely. I hope this is not a major issue. It was really irritating

 

[scottd132]

I test drove a 2011 LR4 this past weekend with about 300 miles on it and as soon as I put it in the interstate, the wheel started shaking pretty intensly. I asked my salesman about it b/c it was very bothersome. He said it was because sometimes the tires get that way if they have been sitting awhile and eventually it works itself out after a few minutes of driving. He was worried it would affect my impression of the car, which it did. He said I could put nitrogen in the tires to help with this. It did get better as we drove, but never went away completely. I hope this is not a major issue. It was really irritating

Don't expect it to get better or get it fixed. Pick one off the lot that does not do it from the beginning and you may luck out.

 

[cypress822]

I only wish i could find a cause...it is so irritating

 

[carguy 67]

I know this is an old post but I have/had this problem as well, dealer acknowledges it, but that being said, is doing nothing to fix it. The service rep I spoke to basically said "its there, it happens all the time, deal with it". So... is it the tires (continentals) i don't know. I do know that when i got it, brand new, once i got over 60mph it shook so bad you couldn't read your wristwatch if you were grabbing the wheel. I brought it in and they fixed it, said a wheel was out of balance also had the chatter issue with the brakes so the replaced the rotors ( i only had 250 miles, so pads were reused i think) Bottom line, now at 12k it still does it, not nearly as bad. Flat spots? short of jacking it up every evening, or never stop driving, its gonna happen, but i drive it every day so its not like its given much of a chance to flatten. Wiill be interesting to see what its like when i need new tires, but given the amount of driving i do that will be in 2 or 3 years.

 

[cypress822]

I still have the steering wheel vibration at 23k miles. Just picked up my car again from service...this time they replaced the lower control arms.

They have already replaced steering system. Tire store replaced tires. Tires have been rotated and balanced so many times i can't begin to count.

 

[mrtp4]

I have had exactly the same steering wheel shake problem. The dealer blamed it on cold tires and unbalanced tires, but it never went away, even when they switched over to my winter tires on new rims.

Recently they did the service bulletin to replace the entire steering rack, including the steering wheel. This seemed to fix everything and the vibration was gone, or at least I convinced myself it was gone.

About 3 weeks later now and there is a small but very clear vibration developing around 65 mph. (The old vibration was most pronounced around 55 mph). This vibration is not nearly as bad as what I used to have, but seems to be getting worse, so I suspect it might be just a matter of time before it rivals the brutal vibration I used to have.

If anyone gets this resolved please keep us all posted, since this is clearly not an isolated problem. Thx

 

[grizzld]

So, what MY LR4 does this problem affect? Has anyone with a 2012 experienced the steering wheel vibration?

 

[mrtp4]

My LR4 is an early 2011 build, HSE Lux w/ Vision.

When they replaced my whole steering system it was done on service bulletin LTB00400, which appeared to cover model years 2010-2011. So maybe 2012s are immune??

 

[garg]

All,
I have the same exact problem. I took it in 3 months ago. The did alignment and rotated the tires. The tires look like they are slightly unevenly worn out.

The problem never went away. I think I am going to take it in again. Could warped rotors cause this even when the brakes are not applied?

 

[cypress822]

garg....i was wondering the same thing...but wouldn't you notice the problem also when braking anyways if that was the case?