Violent Shaking at Highway Speeds

[mechtech]

You may indeed have bad wheel bearings or tie rod ends - any test you make is valuable.
Visually, you can check for bumps, sidewall anomalies, and out of round.
Have a friend wiggle the steering wheel back and forth rapidly 1 to 2 inches, while you look at the tie rod ends [engine off - car on ground]. you will readily see if they are loose or tight.
Grab the tire at the top and push hard in and out to test the wheel bearings - you are checking for looseness. Also, spinning the wheels by hand can reveal noises or looseness of the bearings.
Are the rotors warped or uneven?
Pry on the ball joints to check them.

 

[swalve]

If it happened out of nowhere, I wouldn't suspect a wear item like a tie rod or bearing. First suspect is out of balance tire, second suspect is one of those end-links for the front stabilizer bar.

What kind of shake it is? Where does it feel like it's coming from? Would you say it's engine speed dependent, or wheel speed dependent?

 

[ConfederateTyrant]

swalve, the shaking didn't get violent until I got up to over 55 mph, however there is always a little vibration at higher than 25 mph speeds. Seems to be wheel speed to me, and I am now looking to blame tire balance. I think I was just too paranoid about my U-joints failing that I blamed them first, so my fault on that.

Perhaps a little tire history, I had a loose tie-rod end, and some of my tires were apparent to alignment wear. I got the alignment taken care of, and checked it again when I was in auto tech. After I rotated the tires, the tire that was on the same side as the loose tie-rod end (which was in the rear) wore to where the belt was showing. I replaced the back two tires (to take care of the exposed belt, plus so I could get a set of tires and take better care of them) and plan to get the front two replaced after I have the alignment done, I just haven't gotten a chance to go get it checked.

New rear tires have been on for about 400 miles, they still look brand new, treadwise, and no messed up formations. I will ask the tire guys if they'll check the balance on my rear tires when I get the front ones replaced, just to make sure.

Last month I checked the suspension at each wheel, no movement or give at all in any direction, horizontally nor vertically.

Thanks everyone.

 

[ConfederateTyrant]

Drove my car today, never exceeding speeds of 55, and it was gradually shaking more and more when the speed gets faster. At those speeds, it's reminding me of when my one tire (as mentioned in the previous post) had it's belt exposed, but I'm going to give my tires a thorough check tomorrow, as well as an alignment check (hopefully).

 

[ConfederateTyrant]

Found the problem today when I went to get the alignment checked. Tread was starting to separate and the belt was partially exposed, on the front driver's side. So I'm getting my two front tires Friday and then back to have the alignment fixed, if it's off. Right now I have the spare on there and it's back to riding smoothly.

I checked all over those daggum tires, and could not see or feel any tread separation, obviously I missed something.

Glad to see that cleared up.

 

[Papa Bear]

C.T. .. What make of tires are they ?? I want to stay away from them.

P.B.

 

[ConfederateTyrant]

I would not blame the tires themselves for separating, I would blame my alignment and negligence at not balancing/rotating at proper intervals first. That's like blaming oil for destroying the engine because the person never topped it off nor changed it.

But sure, the make is Vanderbilt A/S. The tires are showing the cupping effect, so that made the tread uneven and when it wore, the weakest/thinnest parts wore off first.

I'll be taking much better care of these tires, blanace and rotate, or at least a rotate, every 5,000-7,500 miles.

 

[CapriRacer]

quote:

---

Originally posted by ConfederateTyrant:
I would not blame the tires themselves for separating, I would blame my alignment and negligence at not balancing/rotating at proper intervals first. That's like blaming oil for destroying the engine because the person never topped it off nor changed it.

But sure, the make is Vanderbilt A/S. The tires are showing the cupping effect, so that made the tread uneven and when it wore, the weakest/thinnest parts wore off first.

I'll be taking much better care of these tires, blanace and rotate, or at least a rotate, every 5,000-7,500 miles.

---

Just so it's clear:

Are you saying the tires wore irregularly and wore into the belts?

 

[ConfederateTyrant]

CapriRacer, in a sense, both. The tread was worn into the belt, and this where it was lumped/irregular in that area.

 

[Nebraskan]

I've heart that cupping of a tire has to do with a loose tie rod end. Perhaps both. Sometimes one is worse than the other. My Buick PA tires are getting a bit cupped and I am suspecting that the culprit is either the tie rod ends or the ball joint. Will have to have them checked VERY soon.