Hi everyone I was in an accident a few months ago. I had to car fixed up and painted. My old tires were pretty worn out and at one point I had hit a pipe on the road which consequently bent one of rims. Anyways after that pipe incident I put on new rims and had the car re-aligned. Some time after that I had the car accident. After the car was fixed I put in all new Moog suspension parts:

-idler arm
-inner & outter tie rods
-center linkage

I also got all new 18 inch rims and new tires. Ok so I just got the car aligned and the car has a bit of a shake when I go over 65-70mph that u can feel in the steering wheel. Anyone have any suggestions as to what to problem could be? The lower ball joints on the car are probably a year old and were installed prior to the accident. Only thing I can think of now is that the accident damaged something else...but I am not sure what. I noticed the pitman arm had a little bit of play when I was installing the suspension parts but I read that it is a non-wear part. My mechanic says the tires weren't balanced right but I don't think its that.

 

O.k there are several possibilirties here. Check the following:
1 yes balancing can thro tire off
2 is it possible a defective rim you will know when tires are balanced
3 improper tire wear try rotating them
4 Brakes though doubtful in this instances.
5 Wheel bearings properly adjusted
6 u-joint going out can cause a vibration as well as
7 if all else fails ball joints I mentiom them last because they are relatively new.
8 Who did the work and is everything tight? Including lugs.

When you done the front end and tires were they all done same time or at different periods? Reason I ask is if seperate did you notice anything before the last fix?
If together try balancing the tires first or look to see if they are wearing odd.
Keep me posted if this helps.

 

Hey zjr,

Well lets see I had the tires balanced over 6 months ago. I remember when I had them balanced I told the guy to make sure they were high speed balanced cause I drive at high speeds on the highway. I then put the tires into storage and shortly there after had the accident.

I am going to have to go back to the mechanic this friday see waht he thinks. He told me he thinks its the balance but beign that I was in accident I think its something else you know what I mean.

I was thinking of hooking up my camera under the car somehow and running on the highway over 70 to see if the problem is visible from down there...Just a thought lol.

 

Think I'd be more afraid it would vibrate off. lol.
Just out of curiousity did you check the air perssure? 6 months is kinda a long time sitting .

 

driveshaft

 

deff sounds like a driveshaft U joint problem...


My friend's Mustang would do the same thing above like 60mph

 

You could try getting the driveshaft balanced. Inspect u joints, make sure everything's secured and straight.

 

Wheel is out of balance.. I'd bet on it

 

This statement makes me believe that its a loose or worn component in your front suspension or steering system. I had the same problem when my ball joints were going bad, but yours are fairly new so it may be something different. I've had tire problems that gave me shaking issues, but it didn't transfer to the steering wheel like you mention. I've never had driveshaft issues before, so I can't tell you if that will affect your steering wheel.

 

When I took my Z28 out of storage for the first time in about 4 or so years, I also noticed that after 60-65mph it would shake like a ****. The entire dash would be bouncing up and down, the mirrors were all over the place, etc. After a while it seemed to just disappear though so I was thinking that all the grease etc settled and after driving it for a while it fixed itself.

 

That almost sounds like flat spots in the tires being worked out, 85_305... My car sat in storage for a bit over a year, on the tires, and it was "rough" driving it around for the first couple days. After a bit everything smoothed back out and was ok. I tend to leave it on jackstands now if it's going to sit for long periods of time. Doesn't sound like this'll help Castro though.

 

^Oh really? Are flat-spots noticeable because I didn't happen to notice any
That's kind of weird it only happened after 60-65mph though itsn't it?

 

This man here is a smart one.

I work at Sears Automotive (not that that makes me smart) but 99% of the time when you complain of a vibration at a specific speed it will be balance. Flat spots will be felt even at low speeds. Bad parts in the front end will not cause a vibrtaion unless they are literally about to come off. Driveshaft is possible, but it wouldnt be smart to spend that money without getting your tires rebalanced for free to see if that takes care of the problem. Brakes are out of the question, unless of course you are braking and then it shakes.

Just a note, ask the technician when the last time the balance machine was calabrated...

Oh, and I almost forgot....Sears will sell you a wheel balance package for $55.96 and that balance's all four tires for you. Also, that is a lifetime package, so you can bring them in any time and balance or rotate them free....forever.

 

Thats what I was thinking but I wasn't sure

 

Hi everyone thanks for all the good feedback. I should be returning to the mechanic this week to see what the deal is. I read in the cars manual that after an accident the driveshaft can get out of balance (u-joints need to be inspected) so I will mention that to the mechanic.

Its possible the tires werent balanced right I will have that checked as well.

I also wonder about the pitman arm and the steering box connection perhaps something there got bent from the accident.

Oh and as far as the tires they are brand new and when I had them stored they were stored flat so no flat spots would develop

Will update this post and let everyone know what the deal is.