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C4 shakes while driving

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Old Oct 5, 2010 | 10:54 PM
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Default C4 shakes while driving

My 1989 corvette sometimes starts to shake while driving. The car drives perfect 97% of the time and like crap the other 3%. It feels like a tire is out of balance times ten. I have had two different sets of wheels and tires on the car, both balanced, and it does the same thing. Any thoughts?
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Old Oct 6, 2010 | 12:23 AM
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When my front bearing went out, I felt a little movement. When I jacked the car up to check things out underneath and get the weight off the wheels, my front passenger tire would move a little bit.
Id check out your half shafts in back are solid, and all 4 bearings.
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Old Oct 6, 2010 | 08:47 AM
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try to be more specific. Is it from the wheels or the engine?
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Old Oct 6, 2010 | 09:17 AM
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Originally Posted by RetiredSFC 97
try to be more specific. Is it from the wheels or the engine?
Is it constant or intermittent?

Does this occur at any particular speed?

Is your Vette a Polo Green?
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Old Oct 6, 2010 | 09:34 AM
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First things I would check are tire balance, making sure a wheel hasn't been bent, wheel bearings, and maybe even the U-joints.
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Old Oct 6, 2010 | 11:11 AM
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Originally Posted by techvette
First things I would check are tire balance, making sure a wheel hasn't been bent, wheel bearings, and maybe even the U-joints.
or just worn out tires.
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Old Oct 6, 2010 | 11:13 AM
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Originally Posted by RetiredSFC 97
try to be more specific. Is it from the wheels or the engine?
Another thought. Is it the steering column? I get some pretty good steering column shake on rough roads and it gets worse with the targa top off. As with your car, I only get this occasionally as well.
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Old Oct 6, 2010 | 01:20 PM
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Tie rod end or ball joint is bad or going bad, I have the same problem, and I need to fix it, since I’m going to fix it myself I have put it off but it’s on the winter to do list, the tie-rod or ball joint will ride good sometimes than others it will vibrate at around 70mph, the vibration gets transmitted up the steering column, that is why the steering wheel shakes.
In my case who ever had the car before me over greased the ball joint and blew out the rubber boots and now when I grease them, grease comes out of the boot, which in turn caused the ball joint to deteriorate.
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Old Oct 6, 2010 | 01:42 PM
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Originally Posted by Loby 1
Is your Vette a Polo Green?
If it's a polo green they are junk just ask The Dog.
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Old Oct 6, 2010 | 02:31 PM
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Originally Posted by rad928music
Tie rod end or ball joint is bad or going bad, I have the same problem, and I need to fix it, since I’m going to fix it myself I have put it off but it’s on the winter to do list, the tie-rod or ball joint will ride good sometimes than others it will vibrate at around 70mph, the vibration gets transmitted up the steering column, that is why the steering wheel shakes.
In my case who ever had the car before me over greased the ball joint and blew out the rubber boots and now when I grease them, grease comes out of the boot, which in turn caused the ball joint to deteriorate.
Hmm... Mine will shake just a bit between 51 & 54 mph. Very odd. Thought maybe I had a tire going bad or something... But it could be a tie rod and/or ball joint, eh? Any other way to test it to confirm that diagnosis?
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Old Oct 6, 2010 | 02:54 PM
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I think it's just getting scared 'cause you're probably driving it too fast..
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Old Oct 6, 2010 | 04:43 PM
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My car use to shake at 60 and above I bought 2 new rear tires and no more shake. If your car feels like a row boat also then it might be your ball joints.
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Old Oct 7, 2010 | 12:17 AM
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Default C4 Shake

The tires are new as well as the wheels, this was happening with my old wheels and tires too. I was hoping it would get fixed with the new tires. It is not a constant thing, just every now and then. When it happens it feels like the car is going to shake apart. I'll definately look at those ball joints
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Old Oct 7, 2010 | 12:19 AM
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Originally Posted by RetiredSFC 97
try to be more specific. Is it from the wheels or the engine?
Feels like it is from the wheels, new tires and wheels and still has the same problem as old tires and wheels.
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Old Oct 7, 2010 | 12:47 AM
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sounds like ball joints to me
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Old Oct 7, 2010 | 08:45 AM
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When I got mine, it shook REALLY bad. We put a new set of tires on it and it was doing what you described. Almost random. It turned out to be bad u-joints in the half shafts. It's perfect now.

Check it all out though. Every car is different.
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Old Oct 7, 2010 | 10:31 AM
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Originally Posted by ch@0s
If it's a polo green they are junk just ask The Dog.




If you've tried two sets of balanced wheels and tires, it has to be a suspension and / or wheel bearing issue. Check:

Tie rod ends, innner and outer
Wheel bearings
Shocks (usually overlooked diagnosing a shake)
Suspension bushings
Ball joints

Check shocks carefully. They are what controls spring movement, and if they're worn out, all sorts of odd things happen.
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Old Oct 7, 2010 | 07:18 PM
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Mine starts to shake at 213 mph.
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Old Oct 7, 2010 | 08:12 PM
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Originally Posted by kimmer
Mine starts to shake at 213 mph.
That's about where mine shakes. It must be normal.
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