Steering Wheel Shake

soccerplayer2007

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I know this overall topic has been covered many times before (I do know how to use the search function), but I'm having problems with my steering wheel shaking at speeds north of 50mph and increasing in intensity as the speed increases.

What I found today is that at 70mph the vibration comes and goes in consistent intervals, regardless of surface (blacktop vs cement). For instance, this morning the wheel was perfectly still for 15 seconds, then for 15 seconds it started shaking more and more until it peaked and started to decrease, which again lasted at about 15 seconds.

Any educated guesses on what this could be and what I should check and in what order? I can't seem to find a thread with a person having this exact problem.

Thanks in advance, it is much appreciated.
 
Look closely at the inside edges of the front wheels if the insides are more worn than the rest of each tire, then it points to a slight alignment issue.
You could also try swapping the front and back tires. If the shake goes away, it will probably come back once those tires have worn in the same way.
 
Id look for odd tire ware, also a slightly unbalanced tire would only show up at certain speeds
 
Look closely at the inside edges of the front wheels if the insides are more worn than the rest of each tire, then it points to a slight alignment issue.
You could also try swapping the front and back tires. If the shake goes away, it will probably come back once those tires have worn in the same way.

Ok. I will try that tonight. My back tires are less than a month old. I'll let you know. I do notice some uneven wear. It is all on the outside of the tire, but the amount of wear is thicker on some portions of the tire than others.

(EDIT: And only the passenger front tire. )

Also, I did have an alignment check (I believe road force) done a couple weeks ago. Thought that might have been the problem. Everything in the printout was "green" even though it wasn't perfectly aligned.

Id look for odd tire ware, also a slightly unbalanced tire would only show up at certain speeds

If unbalanced, is it still possible for it to come and go while keeping the speed constant?
 
if it was a balance issue, i wouldnt think it would come and go (at a constant speed anyway)
 
My car has this same issue intermittently as well. My vibration starts at about 60 mph to about 70. Before this or after, there is hardly a vibration. Interestingly, it has seemed to be more prevelant after I changed the front hubs...though I wouldn't think that would have anything to do with it.

I have swapped tires front to back, had them rebalanced, new rotors and no signs of uneven wear and the alignment is arrow straight with no pull whatsoever.

When the vibration gets really back is after I take a circular on ramp fast and hard. The vibration is so bad after that, that it almost feels as if the steering wheel is going to come out of my hand, but as I drive along the vibration decreases leading me to believe it's suspension related...maybe time for those lateral bars.

Not to hi-jack but it seems a lot of us have this same issue.
 
Ok. I will try that tonight. My back tires are less than a month old. I'll let you know. I do notice some uneven wear. It is all on the outside of the tire, but the amount of wear is thicker on some portions of the tire than others.

(EDIT: And only the passenger front tire. )

is it a bulge or worn tread, u might have a defective tire. correct me if im wrong, but i believe wear on one side or the other is an aliment issue, wear in the middle or sides is a psi issue. is the car pulling at all?
 
Not to hi-jack but it seems a lot of us have this same issue.

I've noticed that as well from searching. Seems odd that the problem hasn't been nailed down.

Ok. I will try that tonight. My back tires are less than a month old. I'll let you know. I do notice some uneven wear. It is all on the outside of the tire, but the amount of wear is thicker on some portions of the tire than others.

(EDIT: And only the passenger front tire. )

is it a bulge or worn tread, u might have a defective tire. correct me if im wrong, but i believe wear on one side or the other is an aliment issue, wear in the middle or sides is a psi issue. is the car pulling at all?

No bulging. Just worn tred, that is again on the outside of the tire and is uneven. So the amount of wear on one portion is virtually none but on the exact opposite side of the tire it is worn in a couple of millimeters.
 
I've noticed that as well from searching. Seems odd that the problem hasn't been nailed down.

No bulging. Just worn tred, that is again on the outside of the tire and is uneven. So the amount of wear on one portion is virtually none but on the exact opposite side of the tire it is worn in a couple of millimeters.

I have the same problem and I have found that my passenger side lower ball joint is bad. Mine is a 2nd gen.
 
Just had my wheels balanced yesterday, was having the same issue. I could only get the car to 70 briefly today, too much traffic, but it seems to be fixed.
 
I've noticed that as well from searching. Seems odd that the problem hasn't been nailed down.



I have the same problem and I have found that my passenger side lower ball joint is bad. Mine is a 2nd gen.
What steps did you take to come to that conclusion?

Just had my wheels balanced yesterday, was having the same issue. I could only get the car to 70 briefly today, too much traffic, but it seems to be fixed.

Keep us updated on that. Mine were balanced a month ago, but the shaking was the same before as after.
 
Replaced inner and outer tie rods, balanced wheels three times, road force balanced wheels, changed brake pads and turned rotors, made sure all brake hardware was working correctly and was there, and then noticed a creak when I pressed down on the passenger side front part of the bumper. Took off the wheel and tightened lug nuts to the rotor. I grabbed the top and the bottom of the rotor and felt a space while trying to move the rotor. I had my friend move the rotor and found the lower ball joint had about a quarter inch of play. I cut part of the greaseless ball joint boot and saw no grease inside the boot. I had my friend turn the steering wheel violently. I noticed the ball joint moved when my friend did this. The car was on a lift and I do believe this has to be the problem. I have looked up other possible problems like the steering column spring not being strong enough. One of the updates on the Gen 2s is a stronger spring to fix that problem. Another problem looked at was the steering rack. I checked the bushings on this and found no problems. There were no signs of leaking fluid from anywhere near the steering rack.
 
drive shaft

Ive looked around on google and saw someone had drive shaft issues and had it changed and had success. I also have intermittent vibrations at 60+ speeds.. vibrate for 4 sec then off 4 sec and then repeat.
 
Replaced inner and outer tie rods, balanced wheels three times, road force balanced wheels, changed brake pads and turned rotors, made sure all brake hardware was working correctly and was there, and then noticed a creak when I pressed down on the passenger side front part of the bumper. Took off the wheel and tightened lug nuts to the rotor. I grabbed the top and the bottom of the rotor and felt a space while trying to move the rotor. I had my friend move the rotor and found the lower ball joint had about a quarter inch of play. I cut part of the greaseless ball joint boot and saw no grease inside the boot. I had my friend turn the steering wheel violently. I noticed the ball joint moved when my friend did this. The car was on a lift and I do believe this has to be the problem. I have looked up other possible problems like the steering column spring not being strong enough. One of the updates on the Gen 2s is a stronger spring to fix that problem. Another problem looked at was the steering rack. I checked the bushings on this and found no problems. There were no signs of leaking fluid from anywhere near the steering rack.

Have you replaces the joint yet then? Did it fix your wheelshake?
 
Have you replaces the joint yet then? Did it fix your wheelshake?

I did order two new joints from rockauto. They are the deeza's. I know I am going to hear about it for not ordring the moogs, but I couldnt justify paying that much for moogs. They should be here friday or saturday. I am driving my camaro for the time being because of a rattle at startup that is getting worse. I will be fixing the ball joints sometime this month along with the secondary timing chain tensioners. I can keep you updated.
 
I did order two new joints from rockauto. They are the deeza's. I know I am going to hear about it for not ordring the moogs, but I couldnt justify paying that much for moogs. They should be here friday or saturday. I am driving my camaro for the time being because of a rattle at startup that is getting worse. I will be fixing the ball joints sometime this month along with the secondary timing chain tensioners. I can keep you updated.

That would be great. Would a good test be to jack up the car, grab the passenger wheel at 12 & 6. If I experience play most likely that lower ball joint. Would a similar test of grabbing it at 9 & 3 test the play in the tie rods?
 
That would be great. Would a good test be to jack up the car, grab the passenger wheel at 12 & 6. If I experience play most likely that lower ball joint. Would a similar test of grabbing it at 9 & 3 test the play in the tie rods?

Sounds right to me except I just grab the tie rod and shake the hell out of it. Make sure you are on jack stands if you do this.
 
Sounds right to me except I just grab the tie rod and shake the hell out of it. Make sure you are on jack stands if you do this.

Well, I went out and put it on the jacks and shook the wheel with a lot of force and noticed no play. Everything seemed tight.

Hopefully over the weekend I will be able to rotate the tires and bring the new ones to the front.
 
Hey man please let us know what you find, I just bought a 2002 LS and im having the same issue.
 

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