Bad Front End Shimmy

[TicoSHO]

I have had a bad shaking in the front end for a little bit now. It makes the steering wheel shake back and forth about an inch or more either way when I'm at around 30mph. I can feel it at all speeds but it is worse at lowers speeds and while braking (don't believe it is warped brakes because it doesn't matter how hard or soft I hit the brakes). When I get to 70 plus it gets real scary. The whole car gets rattling. I have done some searching and think it might be the control arms. Is there a way to get under there and find out for sure? Has any one had a shop do this work? How much did it cost? Can I do it my self in the driveway with limited tools and knowledge? I have the instructions from sho phoenix and it looks a bit hard.
Also I have had a squeak from the left front since I had the car. It only squeaks when I turn to the left not right. And some times it seems not to turn to full lock. Almost like it is binding up.
Please help guys. I am worried that I will lose a tire on the way to work one day. That would really suck.
Thanks.

 

[Rob94]

Yeah, shop charged about $500 to do both control arms. With the front tires off the ground, do the shimmy test with your hands at the 12 and 6 position to check. Also, consider that the wheels may be out of balance.

 

[TicoSHO]

Would the wheels being out of balance cause it to shake so hard? I mean at 30mph to 40mph it would cause a fat man to jiggle.

 

[N3FOL]

Would the wheels being out of balance cause it to shake so hard? I mean at 30mph to 40mph it would cause a fat man to jiggle.

Yes. In addition, an out of balance wheel will also show obvious uneven tire wear.

 

[TicoSHO]

Yes. In addition, an out of balance wheel will also show obvious uneven tire wear.

I do have a bad uneven wear problem on the right front. The inside edge is much, much more worn down than the outside.
The squeak issue is from the left front (only during left hand turns, forward and backwards, but it is very loud at slower (5mph) speeds and when stopped. The shimmy also seems to come from under my feet.

 

[SonicRiot]

I would suggest checking the wheel balance and the wheel bearings. Both will cause shimmys, but wheel bearing shimmies are usually accompanied by a lot of noise. I don't see how a bad control arm would cause a shimmy unless it was obviously loose or the ball joint catostrophically failed.

As for the extreme tire wear, it sounds like your toe and/or camber is off. You need an alignment.

 

[TicoSHO]

Sorry, forgot to add that at slower speeds there is a thumping in time with the wiggle coming from the front of the car.

 

[SonicRiot]

How'd you make out?

Thumping and shimmy? Wheel bearing. Did you check them out?

 

[TicoSHO]

What a nightmare!
I gave the car to the mechanic who has worked on the car for the past owners and told him about the front end wiggle and my alternator went out. He rebuilt the alt and looked at the right front. Told me he replaced the lower control arm but that I needed an alinement. The car was pulling a little to the right before hand but when I got it back in order to drive straight I had to hold the wheel at the 2 o'clock position. I had me a little worried to say the least. On the way home I could feel the right front stiffer on bumps but the left front felt ready to fall off.
I took it the next day to get the alinement and they called to tell me they had to replace the left upper and lower control arms. I could tell the other idiot didn't even look at the left side (no finger prints in the brake dust). It cost me $224 to do the alinement and control arms. WhenI asked if they could tell if the right side was done they said yes because the arm fell out of the rack when they started working on it. I was ****** to say the least.
But, I now drive straight down the road and power delivery is much smoother. They also rotated the tires from front to back to even out wear.
I found out that the young girl who had it before me had hit a curb right before she got her new car and I got the SHO. Also I found out she liked to stomp on the gas every chance she got which would explain the broken motor mount.
Now I can feel wiggle in the ass end at about 70mph. I think I need the tires balanced. You can't feel it in the wheel at all, just in the car itself.
Anyway, I have spend $2100 on the car including the purchase price. Still not bad but there is still more work to be done.
The worst part is I find myself justifing it each time I sink more money into the car. Oh well, such is the life of a SHO owner. I keep her on the road as long as I can afford it.

 

[SonicRiot]

Considering there are no upper control arms in a SHO (MacPhearson setup), something sounds super-fishy. Check your receipts.

 

[TicoSHO]

Considering there are no upper control arms in a SHO (MacPhearson setup), something sounds super-fishy. Check your receipts.

Sorry, they replace the innner and outer tie rods.
Why didn't I pay more attention in shop class. :banghd: