Just wanted to get a quick checklist of what might be the reason as to why my steering wheel vibrates pretty bad at higher speeds, I just replaced both control arms in the front with no luck. I remember someone posting this question a few months back but I can't remember what was suggested. anyway, hit me up for some possible solutions. new sway bar? better alignment?

 

Check tightness on your lug nuts as well as balance. After the tranny was replaced on my PGT the dorkus who put the lugs on didn't tighten them properly and I had similiar problems.

 

wheel balance, possible bad tires

 

Jack the front end up and grab the wheels and first pull bottom and see if there is movement. Then, do the same thing side to side. If side to side movement is present, change the tie rods. If bottom movement is present, then check the ball joints.

 

Hey 5 ltr. beater, I have the same problem (slight vibration at 75 mph and above) and actually posted the same question a few days back (Thread name = "Alignment or Balancing" ). I assumed that it was an alignment problem but I read somewhere that it could be tire balancing. Was going to get both done, but havent had the time. So in addition to checking condition of the tires and tightness of lug nuts, look into balance and alignment. Do let me know what you come up with. Hopefully I will have my problem fixed by then too.

 

as always, thanx for the info guys. I just got a limit increase on my credit card and i'm going to get this stuff fixed. And I won't forget to hit you up dtahsee.

 

yeah, like someone else said, balance and tires... I had bald spots on my tires so my car road like ****... made me wannt

 

word. 9 times out of 10 this is the reason

 

If you have the time and want something to do,Rotate your tires.If it is the tires or a balancing problem with the front tires,you will not feel it in the steering wheel if the problem is now on the back of the car.It will be less noticeable and the wheel will be smooth.......unless of cource all your tires are out of whack!

 

it's not that they are out of whack, but they are all mismatched. possibly contributing to the problem. I need to check the ball joints and tire rods first though.

 

if none of the tires match that leads to some funky situations.
when I had my blazer originally I had 3 matching tires and one non-matching tire (different tread pattern same brand) the car pulled to the right (right front tire was odd man out)
I put on a set of four new matching tires, the pulling stopped.
Food for thought

 

To correct this vibration there are usually a few main problems.

1) out of alignment
2) bad tires/tires out of balance
3) warped rotors
4) lug nuts overtorqued

Check the torque to be sure they are EVEN. I can't remember the exact number, but I use 80 lb ft. This is not nearly as tight as you think it is.

Previously, my car was shaking horribly. Apparently, someone at a tire store torqued the snot out of them. The problem is they tighten the lugs with an impact gun, which puts them on too tight. Then, the guy goes over it with a torque wrench, but it just clicks telling him it's not too loose. I went back and then got them somewhat tight with a tire iron, then torqued them on properly. It greatly decreased the vibration. It's not totally gone because my rotors are a little warped.

There are other suspension stuff that causes problems, but these are the "usual" culprits for steering wheel vibration.

 

Well, you've made some mistakes in the above statements. I've been working on cars for the past 4 years; brake/shocks/strut installer. I've never came across a car that vibrated because the wheels were on too tight. If anything, the car would vibrate if they were on too loose.
And as far as warped rotors go, I don't get the vibration during braking but only when i'm driving. The car brakes fine with no shuttering whatsoever.
I'm going to get the car aligned on Mon. , but in the meantime I replaced the front tires and that seemed to have made a big difference. There's still a little vibration left though. Hopefully a good alignment will take care of the problem.

 

Seriously I never thought about it until I had it happen. It was very difficult to get the lug nuts off. I drove the car home from the tire place, it was shaking like crazy. As soon as I got home, I took off the lugnuts all the way around and retightened them each to 80 lbs. After that, very very minimal vibration. Same exact everything else -- same rims, tires, brakes, etc.

I guess it's possible that it made my warped rotors behave worse, but it absolutely made a difference.

 

Bad tires is a common problem with vibration. I had the aligment done twice, tie rod changed, wheels balanced.. New tires solved everything.