SHAKING!!

[Sir Robert Arthur]

I have a 93 SHO ATX, and my steering wheel shakes a lot when I am over 70mph on the highway. I had a similar problem with my brakes shaking and vibrating while braking on the highway, and my mechanic said that my front rotors were warped... He turned the rotors, and my brakes are very smooth and not shaking any more. He recommended I have the tires checked for proper balance, and thinks this will solve my problem. My question is how important is the balance of my tires, and could them being not balanced properly actually cause my steering wheel to shake?? Any info would be greatly appreciated!!

 

[sdpatt]

The dynamic balance of the wheel and tire assembly is critical to smooth and shake-free travel on the road as well as the proper wear and lifetime of the tires not to mention the control of the car at speed. The proper balancing of a tire is more of an art than many tire shop techs are trained for.

The usual cause of shaking while braking is warped front rotors. Turning (resurfacing) them or replacing them is the quick fix for that condition, but proper lug nut torque by the before mentioned tire shop techs (or yourself) is the remedy. The spec on the torque value ir 80-105 lb-ft and the air wrenches in the hands of many ham-****** mechanics will easily twist to 150-200 lb-ft. This causes uneven loading of the free-floating rotor and almost certain early warping.

 

[Mike Kopstain]

Another area to check is the wheel bearings.

 

[cRaZySHO.]

Proper torqueing(spelling?) should be doen in a star pattern, I start at 65 ft lbs at all wheels, the I go to 85, then I finish it off with 105. Make sure to do a star pattern. If you follow this, you shouldn't have a problem.

 

[Bizzy]

All of these guys are right. Other things to keep in mind other than rotors, tire balance & front wheel bearings are subframe bushings & tie rods.

 

[poissonverte]

Silly little shaking SHO's.. when my SHO shakes i feed it more alcohol

but really.. check the archives.. someone had a shakey car at 80 mph.. fixed it with some new suspension thing. im still trying to figure it out since mine shakes at 80 so i go faster .. well slower

 

[RI-SHO]

Is there anything I should look into replacing that usually just wear with age? Because I sometimes like getting up to 130MPH here and there, I have yet to experience any shake at all(TQ my wheels to 100), just wanna keep in mind to save money on labor later on.

Since it hasnt been brought up, do you have aftermarket rims, or damaged out of round slicers?(uneven wear of tread?) If you do have aftermarket rims that were custom drilled or dont fit right, you should look into buying hub centric rims(I love my TD's for fitting so well; had bad luck with previous car & aftermarket rims).

<small>[ May 12, 2002, 01:12 AM: Message edited by: RI-SHO ]</small>

 

[pjtoledo]

.......my front rotors were warped... He turned the rotors, and my brakes are very smooth and not shaking any more. He recommended I have the tires checked for proper balance.......[/QB]

After warped rotors are turned to remove the hi spots they are out of balance. If they are warped, I toss 'em. Rotors that are turned just to renew the surface are usually still in balance, or at least close enough.

Perry Toledo,Ohio