Steering wheel shakes like hell!

[joshrckstr]

Hey everyone! I am new to this site and yes i have read all the recommende reading befor posting. I am having some major trouble with my suspension/ride quality. Whenever i am driving at low/high speeds(pretty much any speed) my steering wheel shakes like hell(shakes from left to right) The car feels so out of control.It almost feels like i should not even drive the damn thing. But it is my only form of transportation at the moment. I am just wondering if this has something to do with my tires maybe being out of balance or if this is a alignment isssue or some other suspension issue alltogether. It almost feels like there may be a bulge in the tire, but nothing can be noticed when the tire is looked at. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Talesin]

Go to a mechanic, or better yet, suspension shop. Have them inspect it, including the tires. It SOUNDS like you just need to have your front wheels realigned, but it could be a mis-balanced tire, wearing control arm(s), worn out inner CV joint, dying tire, tired power steering pump, low power steering fluid, or possibly even a broken/borked steering gear/rack.

When's the last time you had an alignment done? Lowered it since then? Hit any nasty potholes/animals? Are you getting a clicking when you turn the wheel? Does it get worse at higher speeds? Better?

 

[arnie carlos]

Ball joint or tie rod problem?

 

[joshrckstr]

Yeah! I do i have a cv thats in pretty bad shape right now. It does click when i turn. Could that be the problem? It almost feels like the car kinda bounces up and down a little and it also seems to go from left to right at times to. I think it's the cv on the left side from what i have noticed. I know its not the pwr steering caused that was one of the first things i had to replace when i bought the car.What do ya think?

 

[joshrckstr]

Sorry, i had a couple more answers to your questions. As far as high rates of speed,it gets worse. And i do have it lowered about 1.5 inches. and yes every once in a while i do hit some pretty bad potholes.As far as animals. I have yet to hit my first. But i always have my eye out. The problem was already in existence befor i lowered it though, just not as bad. It seems to be getting worse with time. and use. My cv also seems to be getting worse as well. Wow! This is a pretty cool site. I think i might stick around for a little while. Everyone seems to help out others at the drop of a dime. I dig it!

 

[bjones18]

Sounds like some routine maintenance is in real need.

Fix the halfshaft (replace both LHS & RHS)
Check the wheel/tire balance front and rear
Check for a bent wheel.
Also, rust between the hub and brake rotor, or between the wheel and rotor will skew your wheel such that it rotates like a potato chip giving vibration. To resolve this, the hub, rotor and wheel must be cleaned at their mating surfaces.

 

[Talesin]

I was getting a worse problem... shimmy like you have, but also an occasional strong rhythmic jerk to the left. Turns out that I had a two-inch slice in the driver's front outer CV, and the passenger front inner CV boot was COMPLETELY shredded around the circumference. As in, came apart in my mechanic's hands when he turned around to show me.
That and I had a bent driver-front lower control arm.. shredded its bushing, and scored the ball joint up pretty good.

As for your lowering, hope you went with a kit (and some stiffer shocks), or your control arms are going to be pointed slightly upward, instead of laying flat.. it'll only make handling issues much more noticeable.


Apologies for bumping a near necro-thread, by the by.

 

[UH1Huey]

I had the same problem it was my cv joints. My steerring wheel would shake like hell too and so i got my axels replaced cause i took the shit offroad and toar up the joints. after i got them replaced i had the tightest handling. and no shake in the steering wheel. Hope this helps.