Shaking Steering Wheel/Car

[afouras]

Whenever I hit between 80-85mph my steering wheel starts to shake A LOT...I haven't realled paid too much attention to it, but I think the car as a whole shakes too. What would cause this? Easy fix? It also happens when I have to brake somewhat hard. Any help would be great, thanks.

 

[MilTownSHO]

Tires out of balance, wheel bearing, etc. Could be alot of things...

 

[turbotbirdguy19]

My 99 does the same thing 80- ,Ive had the wheels balanced a million times never goes away though

 

[turbotbirdguy19]

Oh yeah I would say your rotors are warped if you are getting shakey when braking.

 

[jsho]

I had that problem; I got my tires balanced and it stopped.

 

[multishowner]

The rotors are warped as evidence of the shaking when braking hard (mine is doing it)... This is normal on high performance cars, mainly because the people with SLO cars don't need to slow down quickly like us speed junkies... it is a big viscious cycle... go really fast, slow down really fast... brakes get really hot, metal expands and contracts... you get a warped rotor....
The tires/rims are out of balance... if you get them rebalanced and it doesn't fix it, rotate and rebalance somewhere else... if that doesn't fix it, the tires are not staying round at speeds.... get new tires (higher speed rating is recommended)... Make sure you are at the correct tire pressure too...
Wheel bearings will make noises when going around hard corners if they are bad...

 

[bill holloway]

New member jumping in here. been there, done ALL that. Car has brand new tires and rims + alignment. Still shakes at around 70 and does vibrate under braking too. arrrrgh. Front tires both look toed out. Last pair ground off inside edges with fresh alignment. Subframe problems?

thanks for listening

bill
white 97

 

[SHOZ123]

Wobbling at speed, particularly the 60-75 mph range is tires. Most shops cannot properly balance a tire that is that bad. You can do it your self with some stick on weights and trial and error. But you will not ever get them properly balanced at any shop unless they spin the tire on the car.

 

[SonicRiot]

Warped rotors, both front and/or rear can cause vibrations and/or noise under both braking and coasting situations.

In other words, if your rotors are warped, you may experience vibrations while cruising AND braking.

How many miles are on the rotors? Have they been remachined?

 

[bill holloway]

Thanks all for the quick replys. Longer history on this nightmare. Previous owner had similar though much less severe problems. Rotors were turned and vibration came back. Replaced and vibration came back. This with 3 different brands of tyres.

Local Ford dealer had adjusted/tightened subframe bolts in past. Now local dealer says steering rack is worn out. Can't see how rack would cause other problems. Wants $2K parts and labor!!!! Know any shops in the SF/Oakland area you can recommend? I live in Alameda.

Bill

 

[SHOZ123]

Do you know what kind of pads? And what kind of tires?

Rotors don't warp as often as people think. More likely is a build up of pad material.

Still say it's tires.

 

[rrg93sho]

try cv shafts unless it goes away at higher speeds as for balancing your own tires get real i work at a tire shop try some other bs . mine were a .50 out on balance at most and i cant feel it at 140 or 65 mph . and you can get new tires but realize new tires can be out of round no matter what brand you get. if you do get new tires get 215/55/16 kuhmo 711s they work great on a atx car and there cheap +h rated do not waste your time on z rated /to stiff or 225s /too wide to use on slicers effectively you will only run on about 60/70% of the tread and everyone will argue but the only time they wear on the edges is when cornering hard /rollover . this information is invalid if you are a packrat and carry around 2000 pounds of crap all the time in that case you dont care about perfomance do you.

 

[bill holloway]

good point about the pads. I believe the previous owner installed the ceramic kind. I do know they were expensive and aftermarket. Possibly the pads/calipers are at fault?

Car has brand new Ronal RT rims 17 x 7.5 with 245/45-17 Bridgestone private brand somethings. This is a Gen 3. Look great, now if I only had a digital cameera. Ride a bit stiffer and the vibration only a little less is all the change.

Called dealership today after they had the car for a day and a half without calling me. After further discussion had the impression they really aren't trying. Encouraged them to try some more.

keep suggesting

bill

 

[SHOZ123]

try cv shafts unless it goes away at higher speeds as for balancing your own tires get real i work at a tire shop try some other bs . mine were a .50 out on balance at most and i cant feel it at 140 or 65 mph . and you can get new tires but realize new tires can be out of round no matter what brand you get. if you do get new tires get 215/55/16 kuhmo 711s they work great on a atx car and there cheap +h rated do not waste your time on z rated /to stiff or 225s /too wide to use on slicers effectively you will only run on about 60/70% of the tread and everyone will argue but the only time they wear on the edges is when cornering hard /rollover . this information is invalid if you are a packrat and carry around 2000 pounds of crap all the time in that case you dont care about perfomance do you.

I had some 245/45/16 Kumho Ecstas on 7.5" wheels that could not be balanced by any tire shop. I bet I spent over $150 at three different shops and still got the wobble at 60-7-0 mph. Replaced two of the tires under warranty after the shops said they were too bad to balance, broken belt or something else they said.

Put on new rotors too, that didn't help. So I tried the George Forchey method of balancing the tires at home on the car. I did finally get the tires to have an acceptable amount of wobble.

Then relegated the tires to off road use only.

 

[SonicRiot]

"Unbalanceable" tires is often due to excessive road-force variation. Most shops don't even have a machine to test for it. High road force variation essentially feels like lumpy tires and can cause noise, vibrations, and steering problems, all ranging in severity.

Also, the axles could be out of balance.

As for rotors not commonly warping and it being a build-up is not really accurate. Rotors will glaze way before pad material sticks to them. Organic pads and Asbestos pads are a thing of the past. A decent set of Raybestos, Bendix, or Wagner performance pads will produce minimal dust, build-up, and wear. Think about it logically: a high spot on the rotor or pad will not cause the side-to-side motion of a warped rotor. Pad material does not build up on one spot from normal use with modern pads.

Chinese rotors warp like crazy. They are cheap and thin and the quality is inconsistent (hard spots). If someone opted for the $18 rotors while doing brakes, I garuntee warpage in no time on your SHO. Excellent rotors are generally Italian (Brembo) or German and are quite expensive. Considering the mileage they last, I think it's well worth it. Cheaper rotors such as Moroso can be had at decent prices, but a set of nice ceramics will warp and blue those babies instantly.

You can take apart the calipers and check for seizing or resistant slider pins, missing or broken shims, and worn or torn dust boots and piston seals. If any of these are present, the caliper may not be opening well. As the rotor turns through the caliper and it has the slightest warp, it will graze the caliper causing noise or vibrations.

But most likely at this point, you may be missing a weight on an axle.

BTW, a cut rotor is not always a true rotor. It must be mic'ed, checked for runout with a dial indicator, and be within specs. Most people that cut rotors wont bother to take the time to check runout before and after the rotor is cut. I know i didn't until I found out that I couldn't true a problem rotor by cutting it.

 

[bill holloway]

car back from dealer. Still shakes at speed but at least now brakes don't shudder when braking. Chewed out service mgr since vibration at speed is still there. He refuned some of the cost before I had a chance to ask.

How do I check for a missing weight on the axles? Would that cause a consistant vibration at just some speeds?

thanks for the help

bill

 

[NC_SHO]

I'm having the same problem with my 99. Gone through all of the tire stuff and have also replaced axles & front hubs. Going to try tie rod inners & outers as there is a little play apparent.

 

[stephen newberg]

I had some 245/45/16 Kumho Ecstas on 7.5" wheels that could not be balanced by any tire shop. I bet I spent over $150 at three different shops and still got the wobble at 60-7-0 mph... ...So I tried the George Forchey method of balancing the tires at home on the car. I did finally get the tires to have an acceptable amount of wobble.

Then relegated the tires to off road use only.

LOL

I have also had serious problems with Kumho Ecastas. Frankly, they are cheap to buy for a very good reason, they are just not good tires.

This thread touched on tires a couple of times and then went away into other things, but if you still have your wobble problem after all the hardware you have replaced, I think Ian was right some time ago and you have a tire problem. If they were cheap tires such as Kumhos, that becomes even more likley.

pax, smn

 

[afouras]

So tires are the root of the problem? I have Kuhmo's on my car, and it shakes a lot at 85mph.

 

[stephen newberg]

Oh, if you have Kuhmos, IMO, that does make it a good deal more likely that tires are the problem. And, as Ian mentioned, it is very possible that they cannot be balanced to correction. Tires is one of the only places where you with great frequency get what you pay for. If it was cheap, you got cheap.

pax, smn