97 Eclipse GST Shakes during drive

[hun6over]

HI, Ive been checkin out this website for a while now and noticed that you guys are pretty knowledgable so here goes...

I have a 97 eclipse gs-t convertible which sat on my driveway for a year without being driven. Yep, it sat there with no movement for almost a year, but i would occasionally start the car and leave it on idle for like 5 minutes. Well.. recently i started driving the car around (4 days ago) and was suprised to see how strong the car still is, so i took it for a ride on the highway. The other day when i drove it on the highway at 50+ mph, i noticed the car shaked violently. It seemed that the faster i go the more it would shake. I figured the car would only shake at high speeds so i took the car for few rides around the neighborhood and noticed that at 25+ MPH i could still feel some shaking.

NOTE: my right rear tire has a slow leak but i pumped it up prior to driving the car. My brakes were a litle rusty also, but i drove it around and stepped on the brakes alot to get rid of most of the rust. I can hear a little squeeking from braking still though. I am not sure if these things contribute to my car shaking. Any suggestions would be nice. Thanks

 

[rjlichau]

i have a similair problem except i drive my car everyday, and it isnt my entire car that shakes. just my steeringwheel on the freeeway. i am not sure if it is the tires and rims that i have, cause i have some shi**y tires, or if it is my suspention because that is pretty shi**y too(front right squeeks when i turn and when i go over bumps)

 

[Atuca]

i have the same problem, but i am not sure it is a problem. Both my RS and my GST steering wheels would shake a bit when going like 70mph+, as for the car shaking, mine only does that when i am stopping from going 70 mph to 0.

And just to add to the face, my RS had a squeek in the front right, and it was the control arm that had to be fixed. I have sold the RS now, and i got my GS-T. Not a week or so after getting it, my front right started squeeking. I am not sure if it is something i am doing wrong driving or what, but it may be poossible at about 120k miles, eclipse's have squeeky front rights that need to be repaired.

just my $.02

 

[dsmspike]

Sounds like your tires are out of ballance. And also from sitting for so long they could also have some flat spots on them. I would get the tires ballanced and redrive it and see if it helps out at all. If that don't help then definately check the tires real good to see if there's any flat spots on them. Some places have road force variance tire ballancers and they can do that for you all in one stop. It's worth trying to find a shop with a machine like that.

Second poster your tires are just out of ballance. A missballance of just .25 oz will cause a shake. You need to have your tires ballanced.

3rd poster sounds like you have a brake pulsation if it don't shake just driving but when on the brakes like coming from the off ramp of the freeway. If the wheel does shake while going 70+ then get your tires ballanced as well. But for the stopping thing just get your rotors turned.

 

[Zmann42087]

Your tires need to be balanced. After sitting for a year, check for flat spots as well.

 

[kmoore]

I had a very similar problem. I only drive my car in the summer, so I let it sit for the winter and when it was time to take it out, and I took it up to higher speeds, it would shake like no other. Very uncomfortable and annoying. Well, my back right tire had a flat on the side wall, so I just ended up replacing all four tires. Needless to say the shaking has stopped and the ride is completely smooth. So, I would think it would be your tires.

 

[BlackGSXEclipse]

it could also be your tie rods.

 

[1g_tsi_awd]

They are probably just out of balance... If you want to check it for cheap, you can take it to a local high school by you... most highschools (at least by me) Have a balancer. The Highschool might charge you like 15 bucks at most.

 

[97redEclipse001]

It's also a spyder, I'm pretty sure that all spyders shake to some degree no matter what. I've been trying to get rid of the shakes in my car for a year now and I've decided that I'm just going to live with it. The balance/alignment suggestions would be a good place to start to get rid of the violentness of it though.

 

[deeez2g]

had this problem but not on my eclipse. on my 00 celica. my problems were my right and rear motor mount so you might want to check that out.

 

[asexton6969]

Well typically when your car shakes at highway speeds your tires are out of balance. If a car sits for an extremely long amount of time they will however develop flat spots and sorry to say it you would need a new tire. As far as squeaking, typically that is the sound of a bad lower ball joint or one that needs to be greased and/or tightened even. If you have shaking when stopping, most likely your rotors are warped. Take them off and take them to a local parts store, they will let you know if they can be turned. If the pads are still good shave them flat, otherwise it is WELL suggested that you just replace them. Any questions? Just pm me, I work at a local Sears Auto Center, these are questions I deal with daily.

 

[hun6over]

My bro told me that when he drove the car before letting it sit there for a year, there wasnt any shaking. Just a note.

My car only squeeks when i break and there is NO shaking. Just squeeks. The convertible being a factor for the shaking is pretty interesting because my convertible top frame is broken on one side so its uneven. Ive been trying to find a new arm for it for a while now but no luck

Thanks to everyone for their advice