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Shaky Steering Wheel

Old Sep 19, 2016 | 12:09 PM
  #1  
MaximaNoob1's Avatar
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Shaky Steering Wheel

Also note that it pulls to the right.

I have noticed that my steering wheel shakes pretty bad anywhere from 45-90mph, but it goes away over 90mph. There is no shaking in the city either. I have swapped the front tires to try and correct the pulling issue, but it didn't help for both issues. I jacked the car up and pulled on the tires in the 12 and 6 and 9 and 3 positions, but it didn't move and was real solid. The car had 1 tie rod end replaced and had an alignment done before I bought it, but I feel that might be the issue for the pulling. The axels have slight play in the joints, but only if you pull on them. The wheels have weights on them, so they are balanced to a degree. I have done all the at home tests but cannot find an issue. My next thing is to take it school here and get the tires rebalanced and possibly aligned if we have a machine. Anyone think of something else to test?
Old Sep 19, 2016 | 02:15 PM
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Shaking could be a wheel balance problem or an alignment problem.

Having switched the tires front/rear, it is probably not a wheel balance problem. It could be a bent rim, though. If you are going to have the tires spin balanced, then I hope the person doing that will be checking for bent rims like they are supposed to. It could also be a brake rotor out of balance.

You checked for ball joint and wheel bearing problems. I will assume you did it correctly. But did you check the inner and outer tie rod ends.

Regarding the axles, they are supposed to move in and out. As the wheel goes up and down on the suspension, the length of the axle has to change. It's a geometry thing.
Old Sep 19, 2016 | 03:06 PM
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^^Yep.

What's the age & condition of the tires?
Old Sep 19, 2016 | 06:22 PM
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Originally Posted by DennisMik
Shaking could be a wheel balance problem or an alignment problem.

Having switched the tires front/rear, it is probably not a wheel balance problem. It could be a bent rim, though. If you are going to have the tires spin balanced, then I hope the person doing that will be checking for bent rims like they are supposed to. It could also be a brake rotor out of balance.

You checked for ball joint and wheel bearing problems. I will assume you did it correctly. But did you check the inner and outer tie rod ends.

Regarding the axles, they are supposed to move in and out. As the wheel goes up and down on the suspension, the length of the axle has to change. It's a geometry thing.
I do not know how to check the tie rod ends, or at least what to do lol.

I can get the rotors and wheels checked out when I have some time. Thanks for the help.
Old Sep 19, 2016 | 06:23 PM
  #5  
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Originally Posted by mclasser
^^Yep.

What's the age & condition of the tires?
No clue on the age, but they have decent tread left. They are some cheap Kumho tires.
Old Sep 20, 2016 | 07:47 AM
  #6  
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Kumho make good tires, but they can get broken belts from potholes like any tire can. Check them while they're spin balancing them.

Check steering rack bushings, too.
Old Sep 20, 2016 | 06:58 PM
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Original owner of a 2000 SE with 129,000 miles on it. Just rebuilt the front suspension and found following items that needed repairs and I had an intermittent shake in the wheel.
- Inner and outer tie rod ends (inners were really loose)
- Passenger front wheel bearing (was shot)
- new tires

I suspect the really problem was the wheel bearing but putting all of the pieces together made it really bad when the shaking started.
Old Sep 20, 2016 | 07:11 PM
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Originally Posted by HerBlue2kSE
Original owner of a 2000 SE with 129,000 miles on it. Just rebuilt the front suspension and found following items that needed repairs and I had an intermittent shake in the wheel.
- Inner and outer tie rod ends (inners were really loose)
- Passenger front wheel bearing (was shot)
- new tires

I suspect the really problem was the wheel bearing but putting all of the pieces together made it really bad when the shaking started.
was your wheel bearing making any noise while driving ?
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