Request help diagnosing a front end vibration

[SquawkVFR]

2010 2ss M6 stock front end, stock Pirellis, not a daily driver.

Every now and then when I drive it, I get a noticible vibration in the steering wheel that lasts for about five miles. After that it completely disappears and it won’t happen again for quite some time.

It ONLY happens when I leave the house/garage and not every time.

The tires are balanced. There’s is no play in the wheels or steering. I can’t take it to a mechanic because I can’t duplicate the problem.

Any ideas?

[charles71]

Possibly flat spots on tires. How long between drives? is your garage very cold (concrete floor) or check pressure in tires. big difference between left and right tires until heated by being driven.

[SquawkVFR]

Originally Posted by charles71

Possibly flat spots on tires. How long between drives? is your garage very cold (concrete floor) or check pressure in tires. big difference between left and right tires until heated by being driven.

I’ll double check for flat spots, my air pressure is +/-3, I suppose the concrete is cold but it’s done it two or three times over the summer and I’m betting it wasn’t too cold when it was 100°. It has happened when I’ve driven between short times of sitting and longer times.

Also I’ve done performance driving to the tune of 140 and it was smooth as glass. Before, during and after. (It was on a track before all you goody two shoes chime in.)

One of my thoughts was it might be the bearings. But why would the bearings only be a problem intermittently?

[69 SS 350 5 Speed]

The stock Pirelli's are summer tires and when the temperature starts to drop they will flat side after sitting and cold. Once you put some heat in them they will drive normally.

I suggest you drain the air out of them and put in winter air.

[SquawkVFR]

Originally Posted by 69 SS 350 5 Speed

The stock Pirelli's are summer tires and when the temperature starts to drop they will flat side after sitting and cold. Once you put some heat in them they will drive normally.

I suggest you drain the air out of them and put in winter air.

I understand, but it’s happening in the summer as well. Unless y’all are saying they just cool off so much from sitting from so long. That’s a bit disheartening.

Besides, I already changed the air out. First thing I thought of duh.

[ChibiBlackSheep]

Possibly just some rust on the rotors that needs to come off. How do the brakes look?

[SquawkVFR]

Originally Posted by ChibiBlackSheep

Possibly just some rust on the rotors that needs to come off. How do the brakes look?

Brakes and rotors look fine, admittedly there’s a very fine layer sometimes....it enough to cause a vibration?

[ChibiBlackSheep]

Originally Posted by SquawkVFR

Brakes and rotors look fine, admittedly there’s a very fine layer sometimes....it enough to cause a vibration?

If you can't pinpoint it to the tires, I would really just assume the brake since it goes away right away and it only happens after sitting. Rotors and rust can make a feeling like a vibration or a tire out of balance.

[Rock-It Man]

I kept my original p zero tires for 6 years, and in the winter the car sat for 6 months on a concrete floor. I did nothing to protect the tires.

There was never any significant flat spotting, at least nothing that would last more than a couple of hundred yards on the first drive in the Spring. So I think something else is going on. It could even be the road surface. Do you always go down the same road in the morning?

[SquawkVFR]

Originally Posted by Rock-It Man

I kept my original p zero tires for 6 years, and in the winter the car sat for 6 months on a concrete floor. I did nothing to protect the tires.

There was never any significant flat spotting, at least nothing that would last more than a couple of hundred yards on the first drive in the Spring. So I think something else is going on. It could even be the road surface. Do you always go down the same road in the morning?

The time of time of day doesn’t seem relevant. I do go down the same road, I live in the country so the surface changes about six times over the course of the vibration. *light bulb*. As I’m typing this...

I take the same route home. The last intersection before home there’s ALWAYS a bit of gravel accumulation at the stop sign. Between there and my house is a short distance, very low speed which mean I might be picking up a piece of gravel in the tread and not throwing it off until I leave the next time I drive.

Ok that sounds stupid. No way a piece of gravel is doing that.

[SquawkVFR]

I’m gonna guess by everyone’s sudden silence I rode this ride off the rails.

[LsxDoctor]

There have been quite a few threads on this same issue. My car does the same thing. I have been to 2 local dealerships and 2 shops and nobody can figure out what the sound is. In the other threads from what I've read, they were unable to determine the issue. On a G8 forum there was a similar issue with their cars and I think it ended up being the front strut/s.

[SquawkVFR]

Originally Posted by LsxDoctor

There have been quite a few threads on this same issue. My car does the same thing. I have been to 2 local dealerships and 2 shops and nobody can figure out what the sound is. In the other threads from what I've read, they were unable to determine the issue. On a G8 forum there was a similar issue with their cars and I think it ended up being the front strut/s.

I’ll keep an eye out for that too.