Guest RedBeard Posted April 14, 2004 Share Posted April 14, 2004 I've asked before, but haven't been able to fix yet and I thought I'd ask once more. My 99' has a vibration in the steering wheel at speeds over 65 - I can find smooth spots, but can't really keep it smooth for too long. I've cleaned the wheels of all dirt/debris and I've had the tires balanced twice (same shop) without much luck. I don't know what else to try and no one I've asked sounds very confident that they will know the problem without "just trying a few things." I'm hoping not to pay for a bunch of useless/needless fixes. One thing I noticed is that the front left tire seems to have a bit of extra wear on it (outer edge of the tread), but not much - occasionally the truck pulls to the right a bit at highway speeds, but it's barely noticable - any chance this is an alignment issue? I don't really know @%&$ about cars although I'm trying to learn, so for those who do, what would you do next? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k9sar Posted April 14, 2004 Share Posted April 14, 2004 Outside shoulder wear on a single tire usually indicates an excessive positive camber problem. Underlying causes may include a broken or sagging spring (measure ride height on both sides), a bent strut or spindle, a mislocated strut tower or engine cradle, a collapsed control arm bushing or a bent control arm. As for the shake... if balancing and alignment doesn't help, check your motor mounts and possibly tranny mounts. A broken motor mount will cause this and the shakes will be most predominant during accelleration (but not necessarily from start). I had a previous car with a broken mount and it was fine until about 45mph when it began to shake. If I took my foot off the gas, it would settle down but come right back as I accellerated. Good luck and don't forget to post when you find the solution. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kkanaskie Posted April 14, 2004 Share Posted April 14, 2004 I've have the same problem with my 98 SE, 120K miles. Actually I took my original new one back for the same problem since the dealer couldnt fix it after 3 tries, siting lemon law in PA. They even replaced the steering assembly. The second new one was better for awhile but eventually started vibrating. Interestingly on a recent long trip the vibration went away for over an hour, but then started again. I spent money balancing the wheels but that didnt help. A mechanic suggested inspecting the bushings. I'm having a severe "death wobble" that I determined via this forum is due to worn rear bushings. I'm also going to look at the front ones. Good luck with the dealer, from what I've read they probably wont be able to help. Kurt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88pathoffroad Posted April 15, 2004 Share Posted April 15, 2004 Has anyone tried swapping tires for a set of new ones and seeing if that helps? I've heard wierd things about tires just plain causing vibration after they get enough miles on them, and new tires fixing the problem... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trialsin26 Posted April 15, 2004 Share Posted April 15, 2004 I would also agree with new tires as something to look into. I had a local shop here do a bad balance job on my car once and my tires were never the same. Always had vibration, lots of tire wear and etc. At 30k I replaced the tires with some TA's and now everything is smooth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest RedBeard Posted April 16, 2004 Share Posted April 16, 2004 Thanks - the tire idea sounds good, although it sucks to by new ones when these only have about 15K miles on them. I may even just try putting my spare on and changing out the tires one at a time and see if that helps any - I'll start with the tire that seems to have a little extra wear on it and see if that makes a difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jcatlin Posted April 16, 2004 Share Posted April 16, 2004 Let us know how that works out I have the same thing going on with my 97 Pathfinder. It's not major so I'm not stressed about it, but it's definitely noticable around 65-70 mph. -j- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest RedBeard Posted April 16, 2004 Share Posted April 16, 2004 Will do - I'll try switching out each tire tomorrow and let you know how it goes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest RedBeard Posted April 16, 2004 Share Posted April 16, 2004 Okay - so upon further review it seems that there is equal outside shoulder wear on both front tires - I'm 90 percent sure that the tires were the same age when I got the truck. Any advice on what would cause both front tires to have outside wear while the back tires look great? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k9sar Posted April 16, 2004 Share Posted April 16, 2004 excessive positive camber. An alignment should fix it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Pickles Posted April 16, 2004 Share Posted April 16, 2004 Outside wear (if not too bad) could just be aggressive driving, or even normal wear since you're putting pressure while turning. That's why you need to regularly rotate them, to keep the wear even on all 4 and extend the overall tire life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reidc Posted April 18, 2004 Share Posted April 18, 2004 When you hit bumps or ripples in the road does the shaking get worse? I went through the rebalance sydrome only to find it didn't work. However - the stealer mentioned that the struts were leaking and my aftermarket sway bar links were shot. He would be happy to do it for about $700. $125 each for struts, $40 each for links, and yes I needed rear shocks for $55 each(I really did- not included in the $650). Went to my local stealer instead- and bought the struts for $75 or $80, links for $30 each, and shocks for $40 each. Installed shocks in 20 minutes, and brought the balance to a local who did it for $40 a side. I would have done the struts myself, but it was still too cold up here to bother. No more shaking through the wheel or vibration from front end! Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmgar99 Posted April 18, 2004 Share Posted April 18, 2004 I had a bad shake in the front of my 97 along with a really BAD! rear wobble at highway speeds....New struts, rear shocks and coils all around solved the problem. I went ahead and installed AC's 3" kit and all my shakes and wobbles are gone....even though I haven't had an alignment or tire balancing done since the install sssh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaritimeMan Posted April 18, 2004 Share Posted April 18, 2004 Another place to check might be your tie rods. If these get worn, play can occur, and cause shimmy in the steering wheel at higher speeds due to thier looseness. An alighnment shop should be able to check them out for you, and I think they go for something around $100 a set. If they find that one is loose, I would recomend replacing the inner and outter rods, as you might as well do it while you are there. Hope this helps, let us know how it turns out. M.M. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest witchblade Posted April 22, 2004 Share Posted April 22, 2004 I have a 98 se .. same problem developed not that long ago.. though it was wheel balance .. wasn't .. thought it was a problem with the tires themselves.. bought new ones.. most of the vibration went away. Still have some between 95-110km/hr and is also intermittent as others have suggested. There is a service bulletin that has them check the steering box for the correct pre-load ( I think that's what it's called ). Mine has also developed a clunk on the right front side now when I turn the steering wheel back and forth quickly. Goes in next week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest RedBeard Posted April 26, 2004 Share Posted April 26, 2004 I don't have any wobbles or movement that I can feel - or any other suspension problems for that matter. The vibration in the wheel doesn't change when I hit a bump. I will say that it seems easier to find smooth speed spots for longer periods on brand new roads, but the surface doesn't seem to have a big impact. I think I'll rotate the tires first and if that doesn't work I'll have the alignment done. From what I hear I should go to the dealer for the alignment - everyone agree? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaafallon Posted April 28, 2004 Share Posted April 28, 2004 The alignment is probably a good move. One other thing you might think about is finding someone else to do the balance. Since you've used the same place twice it might be them (or the machine they use). At this point though I'd find a speed shop or someone that really knows what they're doing, not a local discount shop that hires a new kid to do the balancing every other week. Good luck. jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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