help! steering wheel shakes!

mootang

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Dec 5, 2004

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texas

Mar 24, 2006

#1

• Mar 24, 2006

• #1

well as said in the title my steering wheel shakes a little when i'm driving(barely noticable) but then when i hit the brakes at certain speeds it shakes pretty good. what is the cause? I know its some old worn out bushing/ball joint but i don't know much about suspension so I have no Idea where to start.

 

95strokerPSU

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Jul 29, 2004

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Sacramento from Philly

Mar 24, 2006

#2

• Mar 24, 2006

• #2

What about your rotors? Could they be warped?

 

mootang

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Dec 5, 2004

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texas

Mar 24, 2006

#3

• Mar 24, 2006

• #3

maybe but its been happening since they were brand new. Idk

 

Methodical

15 Year Member

Dec 1, 2003

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Clinton, MD

Mar 24, 2006

#4

• Mar 24, 2006

• #4

Check your outer tie rods and ball joints. For tie rod check (car on the ground) grab tire at 9 and 3 o'clock and alternate pulling the tire left and right side - any play you have bad tire rods. Ball joint check - raise the car and grab the wheel at the top and bottom and pull in and out - any play you a bad ball joint. How is the wear on you tires?

Peace

 

donjohn

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Feb 7, 2004

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Irvine - Southern California

Mar 24, 2006

#5

• Mar 24, 2006

• #5

good shop suggested that my struts were worn out, as well as numerous bushings.

so i bought a arms, tie rods, shocks/struts and it shakes a TON less... but it still shakes. I think a new drive shaft would finish it off since a lot of shakes can be attributed to the u-joints

 

WhiteDevil

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Feb 4, 2003

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San Diego

Mar 24, 2006

#6

• Mar 24, 2006

• #6

How would a steering wheel shake have anything to do with U joints?

 

badstang123

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Jan 17, 2006

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Santa Clarita, CA

Mar 24, 2006

#7

• Mar 24, 2006

• #7

I had the same problem on my expedition. The tires were out of balance. I would have them checked first since it's easy and cheap.

 

GRGT1994

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Sep 22, 2004

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Mar 24, 2006

#8

• Mar 24, 2006

• #8

+1 on the tire comment.

With a vibration at speed the first suspect IMHO is always tire balance. Then maybe rotors. Then lastly suspension. Inspect in that order. Not necessarily because that will be the order of frequency (though often it is), but certainly because that is the easiest/cheapest way to go. Eliminate the easy stuff the go more complex.

 

mootang

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Dec 5, 2004

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Mar 25, 2006

#9

• Mar 25, 2006

• #9

thanks guys,
I probably should have been more descriptive. It's been like this for over a year, Ive just been to lazy to fix it. the tires and allignment have both been done in that time and the problem continued, so i don't think its the tires and like i said its been doing this since the brakes were brand new. thats why i think it is the suspension.

Methodical, I will try that. I think that was the answer I was looking for. I will definatley let you know how it works out.

 

tomustang

Psychotic Member

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Jun 8, 2000

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McLean Hospital

Mar 26, 2006

#10

• Mar 26, 2006

• #10

mootang said:

thanks guys,
I probably should have been more descriptive. It's been like this for over a year, Ive just been to lazy to fix it. the tires and allignment have both been done in that time and the problem continued, so i don't think its the tires and like i said its been doing this since the brakes were brand new. thats why i think it is the suspension.

Methodical, I will try that. I think that was the answer I was looking for. I will definatley let you know how it works out.

Click to expand...

if you have play in the steering wheel also i say it's the U joint

 

Methodical

15 Year Member

Dec 1, 2003

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Clinton, MD

Mar 27, 2006

#11

• Mar 27, 2006

• #11

tomustang said:

if you have play in the steering wheel also i say it's the U joint

Click to expand...

For clarification purpose, I will assume that you are talking about the steering shaft rubber joints. However, if you are talking about the drive shaft U-Joints that usually is felt throughout the entire car and not just the steering wheel. When my DS UJs went bad it felt like I would vibrate out of the car.

If you determine that the steering shaft is bad then get yourself a Flaming River steering shaft. I've had this every since they first made it for our cars. 200% better than the stock rag joints. Just One Man's Opinion.

By the way have you tried diagnosing the problem yet? What were the results?

 

donjohn

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Feb 7, 2004

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Irvine - Southern California

Mar 27, 2006

#12

• Mar 27, 2006

• #12

WhiteDevil said:

How would a steering wheel shake have anything to do with U joints?

Click to expand...

hmm, now that you mention it, i'm not sure, i guess i was talking about the whole car shakin in general. good call

 

go-stang5.0

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Jan 27, 2003

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Glenview,Il

Mar 27, 2006

#13

• Mar 27, 2006

• #13

Sometimes rotors can be bad new. Not likely but also not impossible. Have you ever had them checked for runout. I have heard of people getting new rotors that had to be cut. Or if you started abusing them right after getting them you could have warped them quickly by lack of seasoning (heat cycling the rotors to remove internal stresses). I would check the rotors to be sure and yea check tie rods and ball joints.

 

mootang

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Dec 5, 2004

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texas

Mar 27, 2006

#14

• Mar 27, 2006

• #14

methodical, not yet. right now i'm looking into getting the UPR K member kit, a bump steer kit, and cobra brakes. if i do decide to go this route than it would be a waste of time to try and fix this.

 

Redsnake2

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Aug 8, 2005

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Philly, PA

Mar 27, 2006

#15

• Mar 27, 2006

• #15

my car used to do the same thing. i was changeing everything, calipers, rotors, brake pads and new tires.. the finally fix... i changed the wheel bearing. it's a sealed bearing and was a snap... no more shaking in the wheels..

 

S

spock2001us

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Aug 23, 2005

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Mar 27, 2006

#16

• Mar 27, 2006

• #16

I had not thought of the front bearings.....hmmmm.....but years ago I did not tighten the lugs properly enough while in the air, then when I lowered the wheel, I tightened and torqued the lugs while on the ground.....I end up warping the s**t out of the rotors and my brake pedal would bounce like a yo-yo. I end up taking the rotors back and replacing them since they were under warrenty.

 

hillie16

Founding Member

Nov 29, 1999

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Mar 27, 2006

#17

• Mar 27, 2006

• #17

Like someone else suggested, maybe the driveshaft, especially if you've done gears. The stock drive shaft is balanced for 3:08's. We put 4:10's in a friends car and it when from no shake to bone jarring, the new driveshaft fixed it.

 

mootang

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Dec 5, 2004

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texas

Mar 27, 2006

#18

• Mar 27, 2006

• #18

if for some reason my rotors came warped and I've been driving on them for over a year can i just buy new rotors or do i need new pads too?

 

BlownFiveLiter

have car, will race....wait, it doesn't run

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Chicagoland

Mar 27, 2006

#19

• Mar 27, 2006

• #19

You could probably get away with just rotors, but it's probably cheaper to just get them cut down. No one else mentioned it, but just torquing wheels by feel, versus using a torque wrench can also cause this symptom, because you could have mismatched torque specs between lugs. Might be something else to look into?