I have a 95 LT1 coupe, which has a shaking problem when I'm driving between 55 - 65 mph. The shaking / rocking of the steering wheel is so bad that the steering wheel actually shakes / moves very fast left to right about 1/2". I can feel the entire car rocking or shaking really bad between the stated miles. It's almost like driving really fast on a gravel road. She drives smooth as smooth can be under 55 mph, and has only very minor shaking going on when driving above 65mph. I installed 4 new rims, new tire, 4 new wheel hub bearing assemblies, and the front wheel suspension ball points. I checked some bushings around the steering area, and they all look ok, but they are all 22 years old now, which could be also an issue?

But for now, where should I check next for possible worn parts? This shaking has been going on now for a good while, and I think that I am going to damage other steering components sooner or later if I don't get this issue fixed. My next step is to take here to a suspension shop, but that could cost possibly big $$$

And feedback would be great.

Andy

 

If it is good below 55 but better about 65, you need to have your wheels/tires rebalanced. Someone goofed. Coming and going steering wheel shimmy is typical unbalaned wheesl/tires.

Might even be helpful to find a place that has a road force balancer and have that done as well. Make sure whereever you take it, knows what they are going.

I never fail laugh at how many "tire shops" cannot do their "specialty" correctly at ALL. FAIL.

 

I had a tire shop put new tires on my Mustang. I had taken the car back three tires for rebalance because it had a bad shake in the steering wheel. They never could get it right. I took the car to another tire shop and they got it right the first time. Sucks that I had to pay someone to do the job that someone else was supposed to do.

I see shoddy work in just about everything these days. People are getting lazy.

 

I went through this also. I had a vibration between 60 - 70 mph. I had my tires balanced three times. I even broke them down and checked the rims. I also changed all the U-joints. In the end it was my slip yoke damper. The damper was collapsed. I bought an aftermarket slip yoke and had my drive shaft balanced.

Just my experience...good luck

 

A frozen u joint could cause the vibration.

 

OP - I believe the first "to do" would be a road test by a competent tech and you point out (with him driving) at what points you have concerns. I don't believe you just start with a second/different shop to check balance etc. without giving the next service shop the opportunity to drive. If their decision is to rebalance have them "check" before removing existing weights - say "show me"!!

"93Rubie" is very likely correct - someone goofed.

I don't know that it requires a "suspension shop" - just a talented tech. You mention tires/wheels are new but then mention it's been going on for a while. How old are tires/wheels. If you bought the tires/wheels as a "package" and they've never been confirmed as balanced "locally" then it would certainly maybe be the first check.

Brand and tire "date codes"?

 

It sounds like balance to me also.

Does the vibration tend to go away after driving 15 or 20 miles? Just wondering because I have a set of Cooper tires that flat spot when sitting for a while. The shaking is very slight until I get to highway speeds then it shakes the wheel like you describe. After a few miles it goes away and drive smoothly again. You said you changed tires, so that is probably not it, but just checking.

Good luck.

 

OK - The good news is that you have a problem that is not intermittent - which makes the diagnosis easier.

My first thought is tire balance / runout. So - I would take the car to a different tire shop (try to ask around and find one that has a good reputation), and have them rebalance your wheels/tires. (Short aside - many years ago - I had some snow tires mounted and balanced at a local garage - after installing them - the car vibrated pretty badly. I took the tires off and brought them to a different place and had them put them on their balancer - but I first asked them to run them the way they were (without pulling the weights off). The tires were horribly out of balance - they pulled the weights off and ran it again - the tires were closer to in balance with the weights removed than with them on. The first place never bothered to calibrate their balancer !!!) It's frighteningly easy to check to see if a balancer is in need of calibration - balance a tire - rotate it somewhere around 90 - 180 degrees, and rerun it - if the machine is good - it should still be in balance...). While the tires are on the balancer - take a look to see if the runout is reasonable - some runout is pretty much inevitable - but it should be a small amount - not half an inch !

If the tire balance is not the issue - it could well be slop in the steering system. Start by getting someone you trust to turn the wheel back and forth while you go under the car and look at the steering components. You're looking for any relative motion in the tie rod ends, steering rack etc. Outer tie rod ends tend to take a beating with the pot holed roads we drive on. If you have a bum tie rod end it would easily explain all your symptoms.

If you still don't see the problem - I'll make one more "cheap" suggestion. While it's somewhat unlikely - it's possible that you have a couple of really weak shock absorbers. With the sway bars that come on the Corvettes - the push on one corner test is utterly useless. The best way I know of to evaluate shock absorber performance is to get your car out on the road - and get a gearhead friend to follow along then to pull alongside you and watch the motion of your cars wheels as the car negotiates rough roads. Do the wheels seem dell damped - or is there a significant amount of rapid movement on "less than pristine roads". (You could let someone you trust drive, and you do the looking - but that requires trusting someone else to drive your Vette...)

If you still don't see anything wrong - I would head to a shop that does front end work and pay them to look things over.

 

Had the same problem same speed
Both tires and couple of the wheels had too much runout had to send them all back and get new ones.1 wheel wasnt even round!
It blows my mind how OEM stuff can be perfect or close to it and aftermarket stuffs version of "ok" is way off.
2 sets of rallyes and 2 weld wheels. in 50 miles tore the tires up good too started coming apart.

 

Thanks for all the good advices! The Nitto tires are three month old, and the rims are about a year old. Either way, it turned out that one of the straps used for the tire air pressure sensors on one of the front rims was loose. The shop who installed my new rims broke one of my original GM straps, so they used a new strep from a (I think) Cadillac. This strap was not 100% tight (or came loose in time somehow) on the rim. So, the shop fixed the strap and re-balanced my tires. She now drives without shaking me around at any speeds again!

Thanks again for everyone advice!

Andy

 

Nice!