slight shimmy in steering wheel over 65mph

[79elcamino]

Re: slight shimmy in steering wheel over 65mph

the ball joints were not changed but two different mechanics said that everything on the front end was nice and tight and there was no play when moving the wheels back and forth or up and down, and when i got the car realigned the guy checked for play because he said if there is play he wouldnt do the alignment, and there is no noise its just a vibration in the steering wheel at 65mph and up.

[J4o2el7]

Re: slight shimmy in steering wheel over 65mph

tie rods ?

[79elcamino]

Re: slight shimmy in steering wheel over 65mph

tie rods ?

ill have them checked, ill have everything checked again at my next oil change. lets say though when i take off overdrive the vibration goes away, would that mean the overdrive gear if messed up our the whole tranny?

[STG]

Re: slight shimmy in steering wheel over 65mph

As it turns out, Columbo was right about the ball joints. They were not replaced. Just because they "feel" good when the car is jacked up and you try to jiggle a wheel by hand doesn't mean they perform on the road.


Under what EXACT conditions do you experience shimmy? Most importantly, WHERE?

My 2004 Mach1 has 245/45 17 Toyo front tires, 275/40 17 Toyos out back on 17 X8 and 17 X 9.5 Team III Halibrand replica wheels, H&R Super Sport Springs, Tokico Illumina shocks and Maximum Motorsports camber/caster plates alone with Maximum Motorsports full length welded subframe connectors. On some stretches of Wyoming Highway 14/16/20 it feels like I have a tire balance problem between 72 and 78 MPH. It only happens on certain portions of that road. My friend's stock '04 Mach 1 does not exhibit the same problem.

I checked with the Wyoming Department of transportation and found out that my little problem only occurred on portions of the highway that were paved by a certain contractor. Sure enough, the problem disappeared a year later when another contractor repaved those portions of road.

In 1986, my mother bought a new Volkwagen Jetta. While driving on the Pasadena Freeway (the first freeway in the United States - you can tell because some of the on ramps are 50 feet long, others 90 degrees to the freeway with a STOP sign...you make a right turn onto the slow lane), I experienced violent front wheel hop. The left front tire was actually coming off the pavement.

The dealer who got a hold of VW of America who sent a couple of factory engineers out to see this behavior. They conformed a design fault. As it turned out, no VW road testing included a surface like the Pasadena Freeway. Back when it was built, shorter concrete pours (slabs) were used. These short slabs coupled with settling over the years created the perfect conditions to set up violent front suspension hop at 55 to 60 MPH. It didn't happen anywhere else and only the front left wheel/tire hopped.

The engineers came up with a retrofit that was made available to every 1986 Jetta owner under a technical service bulletin.

[79elcamino]

Re: slight shimmy in steering wheel over 65mph

it happens where ever i drive 65mph and up on and its not i shimmy its just a vibration, you cant see the wheel moving back and forth, but its goes from no vibration and when i hit 65 you feel the wheel vibrating, one person told me its because the car is small and cheaply made so you feel things more but i dont buy that, if that was the case then at 60mph i would feel something, its only 65 and up

[STG]

Re: slight shimmy in steering wheel over 65mph

it happens where ever i drive 65mph and up on and its not i shimmy its just a vibration, you cant see the wheel moving back and forth, but its goes from no vibration and when i hit 65 you feel the wheel vibrating, one person told me its because the car is small and cheaply made so you feel things more but i dont buy that, if that was the case then at 60mph i would feel something, its only 65 and up

Way back in this thread you wrote the car has a bent wheel. You think it has nothing to do with your slight steering wheel vibration at 65MPH which you described as a shimmy for the first half of thread.

I think I found the reason why 34.6% of all service writers commit murder or suicide within three years on the job.

na no spare ill see if i can borrow one

For God's sake, replace the bent wheel. I don't care if it's a regular or space saver, just test for the vibration with four straight wheels.

Oh, by the way, you're not very good at logic.

[Jim Bob]

Re: slight shimmy in steering wheel over 65mph

For God's sake, replace the bent wheel.

3. Bent wheel. (excessive runnout)

[79elcamino]

Re: slight shimmy in steering wheel over 65mph

guess what i just found out all 4 rims are bent

[STG]

Re: slight shimmy in steering wheel over 65mph

guess what i just found out all 4 rims are bent

I guess we ALL found out something about you.

I give up. Is there an ignore feature on this forum?

Help!