Axles? Those can cause vibrations at higher speeds if they are worn.
Any pulsation during braking?
Any pulsation during braking?
Shaking steering wheel... what to start checking
- Thread starter cchase
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No pulsation during braking.
Is there any kind of steering damper that is not immediately apparent to me? I know this truck pretty well but I have to say I don't think there is any kind of damper for the steering...
Is there any kind of steering damper that is not immediately apparent to me? I know this truck pretty well but I have to say I don't think there is any kind of damper for the steering...
after your rundown a few posts above, it's front end wheel alignment and possibly uneven tire wear on front tires. not much else is going to cause a tick-tock shaking of the steering wheel when your driving. I can say this fairly confidently from experiencing maybe the same thing, probably not as extreme otherwise i'd be asking online just the same, 02 camaro i have with 2 sets of wheels, the oem goodyears and a set of chrome zr-1's with michelin pilot a/s. the michelins ride noticeably different and i will on ocassion get a steering wheel shake- doing 50 on smooth road no hands on wheel the steering wheel will tick tock left and right slightly. put my oem goodyears back on and they have around 25k on them, completely smooth.
so i think for you it's a combo of alignment and tires, and even though the alignment may be to "spec" you may need slightly different than spec. Or the shop may have used the wrong spec. i would research around on front end alignment and see what might cause your problem and what would correct it. it might be something as simple as a little more or little less toe in or a slight camber change. and it's possible the alignment shop was off a little, so it might be worth going back to them if they seem competent, tell them what's going on and take the guy for a ride, see what they recommend or ask them to perform a slight adjustment to see if that fixes it. that would be cheaper and easier than trying new tires i think.
but like i said and from what you've described there can't be much more to it than that, for that high mileage i would suspect ball joints and wheel bearings but there would be other symptoms associated with that- most likely pulling either on level road or when braking which you say you don't have.
so i think for you it's a combo of alignment and tires, and even though the alignment may be to "spec" you may need slightly different than spec. Or the shop may have used the wrong spec. i would research around on front end alignment and see what might cause your problem and what would correct it. it might be something as simple as a little more or little less toe in or a slight camber change. and it's possible the alignment shop was off a little, so it might be worth going back to them if they seem competent, tell them what's going on and take the guy for a ride, see what they recommend or ask them to perform a slight adjustment to see if that fixes it. that would be cheaper and easier than trying new tires i think.
but like i said and from what you've described there can't be much more to it than that, for that high mileage i would suspect ball joints and wheel bearings but there would be other symptoms associated with that- most likely pulling either on level road or when braking which you say you don't have.
Was it balanced on a road force balancer? It can tell the tech to dismount tire and rotate it/ remount to help eliminate high spots.
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This may sound very odd, but for the past 15,000 miles or so the steering wheel on my Saturn would vibrate above 65 mph.
During this time, I rotated the tires multiple times, tried different tire pressures, rebalanced the tires (just dynamic) and checked the suspension thoroughly.
Last Saturday, I decided to replace my upper motor mount because there was some slight saggage. During the replacement, I also noticed that there were a few tiny cracks in the dogbone mount nearest the crank pulley.
After replacing both mounts, the vibration has been eliminated. The steering wheel no longer shakes when you drive above 65 mph.
During this time, I rotated the tires multiple times, tried different tire pressures, rebalanced the tires (just dynamic) and checked the suspension thoroughly.
Last Saturday, I decided to replace my upper motor mount because there was some slight saggage. During the replacement, I also noticed that there were a few tiny cracks in the dogbone mount nearest the crank pulley.
After replacing both mounts, the vibration has been eliminated. The steering wheel no longer shakes when you drive above 65 mph.
Tires go bad. Wheels get bent. Loose components in the steering don't cause shaking or vibrations they just aggravate the situation. A tread separation may not be evident until centrifical forces pull the rubber off the carcass. Balancing tires has not been re-invented by the "road force balance".
I would be looking at tires.
I would be looking at tires.
Well I've been driving with this for a while longer.
I would swear it's something steering component related. It seems to be initiated by a small (sometimes imperceptible) bump in the road, at which point it will start doing it, sometimes for quite a while.
Any thoughts at this point?
I would swear it's something steering component related. It seems to be initiated by a small (sometimes imperceptible) bump in the road, at which point it will start doing it, sometimes for quite a while.
Any thoughts at this point?
Originally Posted By: cchase
Originally Posted By: hardcore302
That's not the steering wheel. Haven't had a drink in a while?
Joking, lol. Driveshaft or tire balance.
I doubt it is the driveshaft as this isn't something you can particularly feel in the vehicle. Only the steering wheel sits there wiggling back and forth.
Look. I know you dont like me and all that, and im not gonna feed into or respond to anything. But i think i can think of something that nobody else has mentioned: SHOCKS. Especially since you have an old 1500 -Truck,- so the Shocks arent as Beefy as a 2500 or 3500.
If it is THAT Elusive.. Perhaps the Shocks themselves are loose on a nut, maybe on one side... I read through the Post and i know how a Shimmying wheel cna get annoying.
Thought i would try to be of some assistance. i will do extra careful to steer clear of you.. but i try to be helpful when i know the answer to something.
Is that fair, cchase? My Name is L. Trippett and it is nice to meet your Introduction beforei take off for this weekend's Festivities.
-Shake on it?- *shake*
Originally Posted By: hardcore302
That's not the steering wheel. Haven't had a drink in a while?
Joking, lol. Driveshaft or tire balance.
I doubt it is the driveshaft as this isn't something you can particularly feel in the vehicle. Only the steering wheel sits there wiggling back and forth.
Look. I know you dont like me and all that, and im not gonna feed into or respond to anything. But i think i can think of something that nobody else has mentioned: SHOCKS. Especially since you have an old 1500 -Truck,- so the Shocks arent as Beefy as a 2500 or 3500.
If it is THAT Elusive.. Perhaps the Shocks themselves are loose on a nut, maybe on one side... I read through the Post and i know how a Shimmying wheel cna get annoying.
Thought i would try to be of some assistance. i will do extra careful to steer clear of you.. but i try to be helpful when i know the answer to something.
Is that fair, cchase? My Name is L. Trippett and it is nice to meet your Introduction beforei take off for this weekend's Festivities.
-Shake on it?- *shake*
I had thought of possibilities like the shocks... however, they were replaced about a year ago with new Bilsteins (which replaced a set of Bilsteins which had been on there for 200k and were still operating properly) so I am suspect of that being the issue.
Full sized Chvrolet? I'm betting on pitman arm. It doesn't take but about 060' wear to make the front end shake.
Sorry, should have been .060".
Another 700 mile trip later and I'm no closer to figuring out what causes it to happen in the first place.
I think it's time to bring it to a shop and have them look it over.
johnd, thanks for the suggestion on the pitman arm, the pitman arm and/or idler arm were 2 things I was looking at, I'm going to mention what you said when it goes in.
I think it's time to bring it to a shop and have them look it over.
johnd, thanks for the suggestion on the pitman arm, the pitman arm and/or idler arm were 2 things I was looking at, I'm going to mention what you said when it goes in.
Another status update. I took the truck to a suspension/tire shop to have them take it out for a drive and check everything out.
They took a look at everything and said that my front tires were out of balance. However, as mentioned previously this has happened on 2 other sets of tires that I know are properly balanced. Also, you can feel the steering wheel wobble slowly at speeds under 30 mph, which the tech admitted wouldn't happen even if you taped a rock onto one side of the wheel.
Tie rod ends are good, steering box is good, ball joints are good.
The pitman arm and idler arm had a "little" play but not enough to cause a problem, according to the tech.
What should I do with this information?
They took a look at everything and said that my front tires were out of balance. However, as mentioned previously this has happened on 2 other sets of tires that I know are properly balanced. Also, you can feel the steering wheel wobble slowly at speeds under 30 mph, which the tech admitted wouldn't happen even if you taped a rock onto one side of the wheel.
Tie rod ends are good, steering box is good, ball joints are good.
The pitman arm and idler arm had a "little" play but not enough to cause a problem, according to the tech.
What should I do with this information?
I've had my tires balanced and realized that the tech made the balance WORSE before I got half a mile from the tire shop. Never assume that a new balance job is done perfectly.
Also if you had the tires rotated, maybe you have a slightly out-of-round tire that wasn't very noticeable on the rear and is very noticeable on the front.
Also if you had the tires rotated, maybe you have a slightly out-of-round tire that wasn't very noticeable on the rear and is very noticeable on the front.
I had ruled out tires as the cause because I run snows on stock wheels in the winter and have a set of American Racing aluminum wheels for the summer on another set of tires.
It did it with the summer wheels/tires so I had the front wheels balanced. Still did it. So I swapped the front wheels to the back. Still did it. Over the winter, when I was running the snows, still did it. Always the same. Can be perfectly smooth, no shaking. Begins shaking slowly occasionally at speeds under 30 mph.
Does this seem like sound reasoning for ruling out the tires and wheels?
It did it with the summer wheels/tires so I had the front wheels balanced. Still did it. So I swapped the front wheels to the back. Still did it. Over the winter, when I was running the snows, still did it. Always the same. Can be perfectly smooth, no shaking. Begins shaking slowly occasionally at speeds under 30 mph.
Does this seem like sound reasoning for ruling out the tires and wheels?
Originally Posted By: cchase
I had ruled out tires as the cause because I run snows on stock wheels in the winter and have a set of American Racing aluminum wheels for the summer on another set of tires.
It did it with the summer wheels/tires so I had the front wheels balanced. Still did it. So I swapped the front wheels to the back. Still did it. Over the winter, when I was running the snows, still did it. Always the same. Can be perfectly smooth, no shaking. Begins shaking slowly occasionally at speeds under 30 mph.
Does this seem like sound reasoning for ruling out the tires and wheels?
You'd THINK so... but on the other hand I really can't think of any suspension related problem that specifically causes that slow shimmy at *low* speeds. Usually suspension problems are more noticeable at high speeds, and even if they start at low speed they get much worse at high speed.
What you're describing sounds like its happening at exactly the wheel rotation rate, which really makes me think wheel or tire problems. But you've eliminated both.
Wheel BEARING problem? I forget if its a 4x4, and don't want to lose my text by going back to re-read, but if so it might be a CV joint or front axle U-joint problem depending on the type.
Brake dragging issue? Just throwing stuff out there now.
I had ruled out tires as the cause because I run snows on stock wheels in the winter and have a set of American Racing aluminum wheels for the summer on another set of tires.
It did it with the summer wheels/tires so I had the front wheels balanced. Still did it. So I swapped the front wheels to the back. Still did it. Over the winter, when I was running the snows, still did it. Always the same. Can be perfectly smooth, no shaking. Begins shaking slowly occasionally at speeds under 30 mph.
Does this seem like sound reasoning for ruling out the tires and wheels?
You'd THINK so... but on the other hand I really can't think of any suspension related problem that specifically causes that slow shimmy at *low* speeds. Usually suspension problems are more noticeable at high speeds, and even if they start at low speed they get much worse at high speed.
What you're describing sounds like its happening at exactly the wheel rotation rate, which really makes me think wheel or tire problems. But you've eliminated both.
Wheel BEARING problem? I forget if its a 4x4, and don't want to lose my text by going back to re-read, but if so it might be a CV joint or front axle U-joint problem depending on the type.
Brake dragging issue? Just throwing stuff out there now.
Thanks for taking your time with this 440, it's really appreciated.
I agree with your reasoning that it "must" be tire/wheel related. The only wildcard in that would be that if in some way a mis-alignment was exacerbating something, in my thinking.
I sat there and spun the wheels in the air today and I realize it's not a scientific approach to anything but [censored] if they aren't perfectly straight and round.
And I figured no balance problem, no matter how bad, would be evident under 30 mph...
I agree with your reasoning that it "must" be tire/wheel related. The only wildcard in that would be that if in some way a mis-alignment was exacerbating something, in my thinking.
I sat there and spun the wheels in the air today and I realize it's not a scientific approach to anything but [censored] if they aren't perfectly straight and round.
And I figured no balance problem, no matter how bad, would be evident under 30 mph...
Man, sorry to hear about this. Gotta be driving you crazy that you've checked all of that stuff and nothing checks out bad. I had a somewhat similar problem on a Crown Vic a few years ago. (I'd hit a bump and it would shake the wheel pretty good. Drove me crazy.) Turned out to be a steering gearbox. I was hoping that might be it for you, but it looks like they checked that.
Good luck to you. Wish I could help you get it nailed down.
Good luck to you. Wish I could help you get it nailed down.
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