VOX98

Ok...the max ('98 GXE) is in need of super amounts of help. Here's the list:

#1 - At Low speed (5-15mph) if I hit a decent bump, the car "shimmies" laft to right. I can feel my whole body wobble. What could this be? Struts?

#2 - At Highway speeds, the max vibrates like crazy. My hand is shaking all over the place and I feel it in the seat too. I'm going to get the wheels balanced, tires rotated & alignment done but could this be a result of something else?

#3 - Brakes suck! The pedal feels soft. Have to push down almost halfway for any substantial stopping power. I had someone at a garage tell me my master cylinder is bad but I don't think it's leaking. Fluid level is halfway between the max & min fill lines and hasn't gotten lower.

And to add some fun to this whole thing...if I hit the brakes hard at highway speeds there is massive shaking and I think I'm going to die

#4 - Steering is sloppy. Wheel is always cocked off to the left and it wobbles left to right anytime I hit a bump. At Highway speeds if I hit a bump I somehwhat have to fight for control. Thoughts?

I need your help guys. Thanks.

Bollwerk

iTrader: (1)

I think the tire/wheel balance and alignment will help alot. I'm not an expert though. As far as the brakes, maybe one of the brake lines or calipers is going bad? Some places will do a full brake inspection for free I think.

Maxgig

iTrader: (5)

As for the shakes at highway speeds you may have a warped rotor or two. And a bad or failing master cylinder will definitely cause you to have to give more effort in order to stop. Take it somewhere and get a free inspection, which should point out the problems and fix as necessary.

speed racer

iTrader: (10)

The symptons of the car shaking alot when braking on the highway is a warped rotor. You should see that the rotor has dicloration and when you brake the shaking is more like pulsating which causes the car to shake. Your brake pads will most likely need to be changed b/c of uneven wear and I would bleed the brakes and put new Brake fluid in. Most likely your brake fluid has never been changed. Sounds like the old owner was doing some street racing with your car. All the symptons are due to heat.

VOX98

Cool....any ideas about the steering?

speed racer

iTrader: (10)

You could have bad ball joints or another bunch of problems. I would start with the brakes first. But if you want to check of any steering related problems, jack up the car and see if there is any play in the wheel by putting your hand on the 12 and 6 position and moving up and down. Usually any plan will signal a problem with your steering components such as your ball joints. You may need to have someone else chime in b/c I'm not too familiar with all the symptons.

Another thing is just replace your lower control arm.

dgeesaman

iTrader: (10)

Yeah, if you replace the LCA you get new ball joints and LCA bushings. Some people have 'upgraded' to Energy Suspension urethane bushings - I did and they are no different than stock bushings in good condition, but a big pain to install.

Other things to consider for the steering problem: bad steering rack, bad steering rack mounts (bushings), bad tie rods, bad swaybar bushings, bad swaybar endlinks, bad strut insulators, bad struts. It's hard to tell sometimes which of these has gone bad, and as a result I've changed them all. Since your symptoms sound rather severe, I think just inspecting what on the list should turn up the culprit. More subtle problems are much harder to find.

For the braking you simply need new rotors and pads. The soft pedal is probably bad master cylinder, but to begin you could bleed the brakes thoroughly in case the problem is air in the lines (cheap and not hard to do). If the bleeding doesn't completely solve the soft pedal, I strongly recommend you take care of the MC issue immediately. Bad rotors are immensely annoying, but not life threatening.

Dave

rneedles

New driver side Cv axle replaced, new sway bar ends replaced, ball joints replaced 2 years ago, tires are good on front, alignment done this week after cv axle replaced and car wobbles when starting and coming to a stop. Ball joints? Tie Rods? Replace Lower control Arm? Any information will be appreciated.

j2b4osan

the most likely suspects for wobbling and shaking are inner and outer tie rods & wheel bering. a warped rotor will only show signs upon breaking a bad CV will show clicking while turning. the rack going bad is uncommon. tire balance will only give you a little shaking but nothing unmanageable and it will not get worse upon breaking. and check to make sure you dont have a massive bubble in the sidewall of one of the tires on the inside (towards the strut) that will really cause a violent shake.

as for brakes check the pads check to see none of the calipers have frozen or are very hard to compress(should be able to squeeze the piston in with a big wrench without too much pressure).

good luck

rneedles

What are the symptons of a wheel bearing going out?

wesdot

A bad wheel bearing is audible. There is a clunking noise associated with it that will increase in frequency as you increase speed.

j2b4osan

a bad wheel bering will usually make a whirling sound or hissing (similar to brake pad sensor) that will change while going through sweeping turns like on a parkway ( for instance the sound may be loud while going through a long sweeping right but disappear while going through a left).
but sound is not always present so jack the car up and try real hard to push and pull the wheel at 12 3 6& 9 o'clock positions if there is any play and it cant be traced to movement from a bad tie rod its usually the wheel bering. (look closely because the movement can be very slight)