Weird Steering Issue

[Robby1870]

Alright, heres the deal. The car shakes at any speed over like 55, and it gets worse the faster you get. BUT, it comes and goes. Sometimes its pretty bad, other times it goes away completely. And, when turning left on the interstate, it gets better and when turning right, it shakes more. Last time I had it up on jacks, I grabbed the pass. side front tire at 3 & 9 and tried to go back and forth with it, and the wheel itself would turn before the whole steering would turn, so that makes me think tie rod. BUT, any tires I put on the front will wear very weird. The inside 3in or so of tread will be completely smooth, and the rest of the tread will wear normal, so this makes me think the camber is out, meaning, alignment and maybe balljoint. Any ideas anyone? TIA

[DaveFromColorado]

Could be the bearing going out on ya

 

--Dave.

[THe_DeTAiL3R]

I replaced the tie rod on the drivers side (that tire was wearing too much about 2" off the edge), and the balljoint on the passenger side and got an alignment. I didn't really notice the car driving weird but it LOOKED out of alignment and the drivers side tire was wearing bad. After I did that stuff I had the car put back on the road and got an alignment.

If you go under the car a bit and jiggle the wheel (up and down a bit) you can see if there is any play in the balljoint. Mine was really worn out.

[Guest TurboSedan]

i just replaced my front passenger side wheel bearing/hub. the wheel had alot of play all over when i shook it at 12&6 and 3&9 oclock. i could actually look behind the strut/knuckle at the backside of the hub while my brother shook the wheel and could tell that is where the play was coming from. the front suspension was making really bad knocking sounds and i could tell the wheel bearing was obviously bad after i removed it. it never did vibrate or shake at any speed, it was just a bad knocking sound when going over small bumps at speeds under 45mph or so. on the highway it was always quiet.

 

i would guess your problem is bad alignment and bad tires but that's just a guess. how are the balljoint and tierod end boots?

[Robby1870]

Im gonna check it out better today after classes. A couple of years ago, I was told the driver's side inner tie rod was bad (went to the dealership for an alignment, they said they couldnt do it b/c of this), but I took it elsewhere and they aligned it fine. We'll see

[Slade901]

Our 1994 Pontiac Grand Am 2.3L car also shakes around 55MPH and I think it's the coil spring. The spring might look good but it's probably weak. I'm the in the process of replacing the two front coil spring and replacing the front right ball joint.

 

What I can suggest is that to make sure you re-grease each joints, torque all bolts and nuts to the proper torque specs. If your vehicle his equipped with a steering shocks, make sure it is still good and working. Have your tire re-balanced. If you have purchased your tire brand new, the tire place where you got your tires usually balance and rotate your tire for free around 6 months.