I'm not sure which part to replace. My car shakes at highway speeds (60+ mph) and I know where it's coming from (essentially) but don't know which part to fix. When the car is jacked up and my hands are placed at 6 o'clock and 12 o'clock on the wheel, I can feel play. Is that:

A) Lower ball joint
B) Inner tie rod
C) Worn axle

Thanks!

BTW, lol this is not a quiz.

 

D) none of the above.

you're having a bad wheel bearing my friend. it actually does cause vibration when driving on it sometimes (personal experience)

 

I've had my wheels balanced twice and I still get some vibration at highway speeds. I was hoping it wouldn't be my wheel bearings, but I guess I'll have them checked.

 

Wheel bearing indeed. If the bearing is really worn, there's a good chance that the hub assembly is also worn. Get it fixed asap.

 

I've got the same thing 55 to 70 MPH I get vibration, but after 70 it kind of goes away. How frequently do wheel bearings go bad?

 

Not wheels bearings for me tho. Got those replaced 6 months ago. On uneven roads, the vibration either goes away completely or gets worse, somewhere has play in the front assembly.

 

I haven't replaced my wheel bearings but I have a very similar problem. When I asked my mechanic he checked everything out on the front end and said my rack had a little play in it....that it's a little loose but doesn't need to be fixed. I'm still concerned and irritated by it though and wonder if it is really the rack.

I have 136,000 miles.

 

I had a mechanic check it and he said there's play, and where he diagnosed he said it was the lower ball joint. I'd like to make sure this is the case tho.

Wheels bearings at first don't make much of a sound or vibration, but gets very bad when not fixed! Like you're running on warped wheels.

 

Having a mechanic look at it will give yield much more accurate results than people over the internet. If he looked at it, he's PROBABLY right.
does it also shake at speeds of around 30 MPH?? I wonder by saying your "Rack is loose" if we meant the inner tie-rod that screws onto the rack? I'd be willing to bet that if you lift your front tires off the ground you will be able to feel play in your tire moving left/right and it will be tight up/down. Some people who feel this and see the outer tie-rod is good automatically condemn the rack.
Does it shake worse at speeds between 25-35??

 

I guess I'm going to go ahead and grab a LCA, too bad it's hard to find!!! 5G don't have the ball joint alone, I guess it's one piece.