crazy front shaking!!

[95WTSI]

whenever I go over 70mph the front end shakes like CRAZY!! what can I do fix it?

Thanks!

 

[GSTBlack95]

I bet anything its your ball joints, jack the car up and see if you can move the tires, if so then thats your problem.

 

[travislaw]

whenever I go over 70mph the front end shakes like CRAZY!! what can I do fix it?

Thanks!

Or it could be your tires out of balance. Or any number of suspension problems. If you have the time, take it to a place like Midas and have them do a free suspension inspection. They will tell you if any of your ball joints are bad.

 

[95WTSI]

I just got one replaced and the other one was still ok.

 

[toybreaker]

You can narrow down the problem with a few simple steps.

First, visually inspect front tires, look for inside/ouside tread wear, flat spots,..etc
Inspect rims for damage, and check for missing wheel weights. There may be shiny or dirty spots that show where wheel weights have come off. Make sure all tires are correctly inflated. Check all lugnuts for correct torque.

Grab a good hold on the front wheels and try and wiggle them, in and out and up and down. Make note of any noises or movement.

Proceed to the road test.

Driving at approximately 45 mph, do you feel anything? If so it's probably a bent wheel or out of round/flat spotted tire. If no vibration, proceed to a safe area to increase speed.

Driving in the 55 to 75 range, does it shake? Will going a few miles an hour faster or slower make it go away. If yes, it's most likely a slighly bent wheel or balance issue.

You can also rotate your front tires to the back, and see if the problem moves to the rear.

I would recommend you seek out a good local alignment shop for assitance. I prefer locally owned businesses because the same guy will be there to help me in the future.

I usually ask shops who does their alignments and use them. Professional mechanics don't tolerate anything but the best for long.

Good luck, and let us know what happens!

 

[95WTSI]

WOW!! I will try some of that! thanks

 

[WMD]

Driving at approximately 45 mph, do you feel anything? If so it's probably a bent wheel or out of round/flat spotted tire. If no vibration, proceed to a safe area to increase speed.

A flat spotted tire will fix itself when it it reaches highway speed temps. Hell, older style truck tires all used to be that way. Unless your talking about decreased height of tread in one spot. And i dont know how that would happen, maybe skidding for 1000ft .

Moving the tires to the back wont solve the problem, it will make it easer to drive though. I have a slightly bent 5 spoke stocker and I got it spun balanced and put in the rear. And it stopped the car form severely shaking. If not balanced the vibration will destroy your suspension.

 

[toybreaker]

my old trucks bias ply tires would indeed take a set overnight. The ride was pretty entertaining for a few miles on a cold day, but as you said, as they warm up they get happier.

The radial tires on these cars can get flat spotted several different ways.
Letting a car sit on a flat tire can allow it to deform, or become unround, permanently.
An unbalanced wheel that's run for a long time will eventually wear one area of the tire more than the rest. High speeds accelerate this type of wear. Even a mild imbalance will show up as tread depth variation over time.

Rotating the wheels front to rear is a valuable diagnostic test that's easy to perform. If the problem follows the wheels, you can eliminate or at least minimize front suspension as the cause. It also gives you a valuable look at the wheels off the car. It's a lot easier to see damage to the inside edge of the rim when you can see the whole wheel at once. The offset on these wheels combined with the negative camber seems to bend the inside more than the outside. Colorado roads leave something to be desired, and I myself have bent several wheels without hitting a curb or anything with the outside edge.

Good luck with your issue!!

 

[WMD]

Letting a car sit on a flat tire can allow it to deform, or become unround, permanently.

I had a car sit for 4 years, outside, and it had modern steel belted nylon radials. All four tires had flat spots, but after running them at high speeds, all four tires were fine. I have yet to have a modern tire become perminitaly deformed from flat spots.

I even had a dead flat tire on a rim, on a car, which sat 2 years, pumped it up, drove it, and it was fine. Granted it did cause cracks in the side wall. But the car was junk anyways

 

[95WTSI]

Well I got new tires and no more shaking!! thanks for the help and advise!

 

[FlatBlackTerror]

A flat spotted tire will fix itself when it it reaches highway speed temps. Hell, older style truck tires all used to be that way. Unless your talking about decreased height of tread in one spot. And i dont know how that would happen, maybe skidding for 1000ft .

Moving the tires to the back wont solve the problem, it will make it easer to drive though. I have a slightly bent 5 spoke stocker and I got it spun balanced and put in the rear. And it stopped the car form severely shaking. If not balanced the vibration will destroy your suspension.

Well if the car sits for a long time it can create a flat spot that cause a vibration like he has described. I know my car sat for awhile before i bought it and i had a problem with a vibration, i had to replace the tires and all to get it fixed. Luck