Car pulls left after alignment, wobble noise when cornering & shakes at high speeds

[creatz]

Have had this problem with my Ibiza tdi for a couple months now after hitting a couple pot holes quite badly, and have spent a fair amount of money trying to sort it.

When driving it sounds like I have a buckled alloy or the wheel is loose, with the noise getting louder and whinier the faster I go. When cornering there is a warbling/wobbling/throbbing sound - also as if the wheel is loose. The car also pulls to the left.

I had my alignment done, and new tyres on the front as they were worn on the inside. I thought this would have fixed it but it didn't, so I thought it could be a buckled alloy, so I've just bought a new set of alloys, almost certain it'd fix it, but no - the noise is still there.

Does anyone have any ideas? Maybe the cv joint/boot? Or axel? It's driving me nuts!

Thanks

 

[Chriswaite130]

Wheel bearing? They make the noise described when they're shot. Jack the car up and spin the wheel - you should hear it.

Ibiza's are bad for pulling to the left anyway even with the tracking done.

Is it lowered? That can kill the insides of the tyres

 

[creatz]

Oh yeah forgot to mention I checked wheel bearings and they're fine, even took it to quikfit and they said they're fine. & they tend to say something needs replacing when they don't so pretty sure it's not the bearings!

Yeah it's lowered. It pulls pretty badly, & the noise at around 60-70mph is really loud. I had wheels balanced, have a hunch it still might be the tyres though as I bought part worns

 

[Andi]

I recently replaced my girlfriends wheel bearing. Not because it had play in it but it made a horrific noise.

I'd be tempted to point a finger at the bearing. Just because there is no play in it doesn't mean it's not goosed.

 

[creatz]

Would bearings cause all four things? The shaking, whining, pulling to the left & wobbling noise when cornering?

It seems like they're separate things but I'm not sure

 

[Chriswaite130]

Yup my front left wheel bearing went and had no signs of wear. Mechanic said it was fine, but the noise kept going to the point where I happily paid to change it anyway. Solved the issue

Also, a cheaper alternative if you think its the tyres is to change the wheels from front to back to see if the noise moves

 

[creatz]

How much does it cost these days to get a bearing done? Also i think one of my cv boots is split, what're the things that could cause?

Done that already, noise seemed to get worse, but the shaking got less. The back-left tyre is worn on the inside (used to be on the front) but that shouldn't cause any problems. Will have a word with my mechanic.

 

[abbotsmike]

Did you definitely get the wheel alignment and balancing done by someone with decent kit? Sometimes a not up to scratch job can make things worse, not better. I have also seen it said that these cars are quite sensitive to bad alignment.

 

[creatz]

Turns out it's the front track rod end ball joints plus the rear wheel bearings.

The rear wheel bearings don't have any play in them, run smoothly when spun etc, mechanic said this is because unlike the front bearings it's encased & all one unit. That's what has been causing the noise, & the wobbling sound round corners & drifting to the left is caused by the track rod end ball joints. This in turn made the alignment I had pointless, as it will have just gone back to how it was straight away.

Thanks for all your help!