Anybody experience bad shaking?

NEEDA5.0 · Dec 27, 2003

Our 94 shakes pretty bad. The steering wheel giggles like the tires need to be balanced. Its not warped rotors becuase it happens at all speeds and its not made wrose by braking. I though it was a balance problem but we did that and it still shakes. Any ideas?

baglock1 · Dec 27, 2003

NEEDA5.0 said:
Our 94 shakes pretty bad. The steering wheel giggles like the tires need to be balanced. Its not warped rotors becuase it happens at all speeds and its not made wrose by braking. I though it was a balance problem but we did that and it still shakes. Any ideas?

Sounds like it's time for a new harmonic balancer. What's the mileage on the car, or have you swapped the balancer recently? It seems like as soon as our cars hit 100K-110K, the balancer goes bad.

NEEDA5.0 · Dec 27, 2003

119K. It seems like the shake is coming from the steering wheel and its only when moving. Wouldn't a harmonic balancer issue create a shake all the time? Can the tires be so bad that the car shakes even after they are balanced?

Rootus · Dec 27, 2003

I'd be surprised to see the balancer cause the steering wheel to shake. Could be a warped rim, or a flat spot on one of the tires.

Dave

baglock1 · Dec 27, 2003

NEEDA5.0 said:
119K. It seems like the shake is coming from the steering wheel and its only when moving. Wouldn't a harmonic balancer issue create a shake all the time? Can the tires be so bad that the car shakes even after they are balanced?

Okay, that pretty much eliminates the balancer. Since you just had the tires balanced, I'd get a good alignment next. If the alignment is out of specs, that shake could easily happen.

NEEDA5.0 · Dec 27, 2003

I guess I could swap the tires from our other car and see if it goes away.

Anybody know if Civic tires fit a Mustang?

Maybe thats a bad idea, I'd hate for the Mustang Gods to show thier rath.

huskerpower02 · Dec 27, 2003

I would just go ahead and buy the new tires anyway. Mine 95 shakes a little during braking around 45 mph. But i do have a warped front right rotor thanks to the tire shop. I know it hurts to spend money on tires but its gonna have to happen sooner or later.

-Drew

VibrantRedGT · Dec 27, 2003

I had some terrible driveline vibrations that shook the entire car. Aluminum driveshaft cured that problem. Warped rotors don't come into play until the brakes are applied.

NEEDA5.0 · Dec 27, 2003

Is a new driveshaft a "in the garage on your back" kind of job? They are relatively cheap (about $149, right?). If the new tires don't fix it, which the car needs anyway, then I'll try that. It is expensive though. I need 4 new ones at $129 each + tax of course. I also need a new set of drag radials at $150 each. Last year I mounted the DR's to the oem rims and drove on the dr's all year. Not that big a deal since I mainly just race the car and drive it on weekends. But this year I need to invest in some super cheap rims for the track. So thats another $100. I can think of alot of other things this car could use for $800. But the wife is interested in racing it this year. Despite my "worst case senario" feelings about the idea, I hope that by getting her more involved I can convince her into making the car faster. I can do that anyway, but if shes more hip to it, its less headaches for me. I'd hate to see her blow a tire at 100 mph.

huskerpower02 · Dec 28, 2003

not ment to hijack the thread but VibrantRedGT, how hard and what do you have to do to fix the warped rotor problem. im still taking it back to the tire shop to have them fix it. should i not be driving the car with this problem? thanks

baglock1 · Dec 28, 2003

huskerpower02 said:
not ment to hijack the thread but VibrantRedGT, how hard and what do you have to do to fix the warped rotor problem. im still taking it back to the tire shop to have them fix it. should i not be driving the car with this problem? thanks

Warped rotors should be replaced. Occasionally, they can be turned down to true again, but that leaves less mass on the rotors and a greater chance of failure again.

Typically, rotors warp due to uneven cooling. Unless you engage in opentracking or some other driving activity where the brakes get routinely pushed to the limit, I'd suspect you got the brakes really hot and didn't allow them to cool down to normal operating temps before shutting it down. As the excessively hot rotors cooled down, the caliper/pad assembly was static on the surface and didn't allow proper airflow to reach that area.

And you can drive on warped rotors but it is a safty issue. The capabilities of your brakes have been reduced and so you can't stop as well as normal. Under braking, that deflection is undoubtedly stressing the caliper and could eventually weaken its mount. It's a good idea to get it fixed as soon as you can, but it's not so bad that you can't drive it to the shop.

huskerpower02 · Dec 28, 2003

baglock1 said:
Warped rotors should be replaced. Occasionally, they can be turned down to true again, but that leaves less mass on the rotors and a greater chance of failure again.

Typically, rotors warp due to uneven cooling. Unless you engage in opentracking or some other driving activity where the brakes get routinely pushed to the limit, I'd suspect you got the brakes really hot and didn't allow them to cool down to normal operating temps before shutting it down. As the excessively hot rotors cooled down, the caliper/pad assembly was static on the surface and didn't allow proper airflow to reach that area.

And you can drive on warped rotors but it is a safty issue. The capabilities of your brakes have been reduced and so you can't stop as well as normal. Under braking, that deflection is undoubtedly stressing the caliper and could eventually weaken its mount. It's a good idea to get it fixed as soon as you can, but it's not so bad that you can't drive it to the shop.

Thanks alot for the info. The tire shop i took it to actually over torqued the front right rotor when putting the wheel back on after balancing it. Hopefully they can just shave it back down to normal, if not then it looks like a new rotor will be on them. Again, thanks for the information

-Drew

WMDPALMER · Dec 29, 2003

All the vibration is probably not good for the front joint in the car. I had a FWD Mazda and the rotors were warped which aventually led to bad CV joints from all the vibration.

Green 94 5.0 · Dec 29, 2003

to answer your question needa, the driveshaft is an easy swap. all you need is a 12pt 12mm socket. the entire swap shouldnt take more than 30 minutes from start to finish.

baglock1 · Dec 29, 2003

huskerpower02 said:
Thanks alot for the info. The tire shop i took it to actually over torqued the front right rotor when putting the wheel back on after balancing it.

Yep, that'll do it. I should have said that the most common cause of warped rotors excepting a defective mechanic...

NEEDA5.0 · Dec 29, 2003

Will warped rotors cause that kind of vibration even when NOT braking?

94Blue302GT · Dec 29, 2003

Well, another possibility...
My steering wheel and car shakes at all speeds cuz my trannie is blown to bits. Oh, sorry, I'm just complaining now about my car...

NEEDA5.0 · Dec 29, 2003

94Blue302GT said:
Well, another possibility...
My steering wheel and car shakes at all speeds cuz my trannie is blown to bits. Oh, sorry, I'm just complaining now about my car...

Oh, thats just what I need.

95GtTopLess · Dec 29, 2003

I'll try to make this short...I've fought this problem for about a year now. I've replace ball joints, tie rods, rotors and brand new tires. I've had my tires balance at about 6 different places and probably 17 different times because every tire store assumed the last place i took it to just suck at balancing. The only time that the vibration almost dissappeared was when the tires where balance on a Hunter 9700 balance, which simulates the tire on the road. Come to find out that my aluminum rims are bent. Sorry this was so long just wanted to save you some time from my experience. Now i'm looking for rims......

95GtTopLess · Dec 29, 2003

Oh yeah...the new tires that i bought are now bad because they wore to the rims, so getting new tires now is pointless

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