Ford Mondeo Shuddering!

[berniecuddles]

went out in car down M2 today (ford mondeo )and when doing 70-75mph felt shuddering big time went a bit faster to 80mph then it stopped,tyres ok and tyre pressure ok any ideas please?

[Kassee]

wheel wobble ?

[berniecuddles]

garage job i think!

[Gizmonster]

Your wheels prob need balancing - just the front ones, as it's not necessary to balance the back ones. Take it to a tyre place to get them checked.

[Hopkirk]

Either get front wheels re-balanced or slow down.

[tali1]

My Citroen shuddered on m/way -it was nothing more than a loose suspension turret bolt that needed tightening

[Gizmonster]

A tell tale sign that it's the wheels out of balance, is that when you get up to speed (usually 60-70 mph ish) - the steering wheel vibrates.

[heathfield]

It's not uncommon for one of the wheel balancing weights to come off, leaving a wheel unbalanced. As to Giz's remark that back wheels don't need balancing - not so. I picked up a hire car once that juddered at speed. I thought it was from a front wheel. Called out the AA, and the mechanic straight away diagnosed it as an unbalanced rear wheel. Local tyre depot fixed it in a jiffy - no further problem.

[Gizmonster]

Okay I stand corrected ..... but maybe you can get away with not balancing the rear wheels, unless they're way out of balance. I've even been told not to bother having rear wheels balanced, from tyre depots, when I've had new rear tyres fitted - never had a problem. Maybe there's more leeway with the rear wheels and you only feel it when they're way out of balance.

[bhg481]

I suspect that "you don't need to balance the rear wheels" came about when most cars didn't have independent suspension on all 4 wheels - the rear suspension was a solid axle, as lots of vans have now. The vibration comes about when the rotation speed of the wheel hits a resonant frequency, dependent on the wheel size etc, so varies from vehicle to vehicle.