micdjunior

Just a few days ago, I was driving at highway speeds (60-70mph) and noticed that the steering wheel was beginning to shimmy a bit. It went away after a minute, and I thought it might have been the deep parallel grooves on the new road surface.

Next day, highway, same thing. Steering wheel starts shimmying, car is shaking between 60-70mph.

NEXT day, it goes from a perfectly smooth ride, for 20+ miles on my commute to a slightly violent front end shake, steering wheel shake and accompanying noise (that can only be described as something shaking violently at 65mph). I drove two miles and was getting ready to pull over when it magically returned to a perfectly smooth ride.

This has happened every day now for a week. Is this common? Is there a particular area, bushing, etc. I should check first? It's mysterious how it comes and goes. Braking does not make it any better or worse. When it goes into harsh-shake mode, it shakes even at 35mph, or 80. Speed doesn't seem to lessen it. When it stops shaking, it's smooth as silk at every speed. I'm fairly new to this car, so I thought I'd ask here before poking around. Search revealed a sticky piston on one of the calipers? Thanks guys.

AzNbOi2626

i would first check the tires.

AnonymousG

iTrader: (2)

Also I would check the motor and transmission mounts.

JDMmuscle

iTrader: (9)

Wheel baring, OR a bad balljoint

INTIMAZY

iTrader: (5)

I vote wheel bearing x 1 million especially if accompanied by a low "rumble-like" noise.
The wheel bearing noise will be 1/2 the speed of the RPM's of the actual wheels. If you're math savy you can calculate the rate of the noise at speed and pretty much nail down the diagnosis 100%. No other drivetrain component spins at half speed relative to the wheels themselves.


Ball joints tend to "pop" more especially over bumps and brake use similar to end links but it could be possible.

micdjunior

I'm taking all of your guy's recommendations into account... I've had bad ball joints on cars, and that was my first thought - although I noticed those are a little more consistent when they are on their last leg. There's no shaking/noise when braking, firmly or not. There's no popping when covering speed humps or driveway inclines.

As far as it being a wheel bearing - I'm not so sure. I've heard plenty of bad wheel bearings, and they usually give a howl or rumble, accompanied with a vibration. However, when I say there is an accompanying noise with the steering wheel shake, it matches exactly the movement of the steering wheel. The noise is sort of a 'thwap thwap thwap" sound, with the steering wheel jerking with each "thwap". Technical, I know.

The tires are only two months old, and the wheels are balanced properly.

I'd normally crawl underneath and diagnose this stuff myself, as I have all of the tools for any major service, but it's darn cold outside. I'm just trying to rule things out, but as with suspension/steering components, it's not always easy to do without actually digging in.

wes459

I had the exact same thing happen, mine was caused by a crappy brake line on the left front. Does the vibrating start after you have tapped the brakes, even gently?

micdjunior

::UPDATE:: I finally got around to taking a look at the issue I was having. I jacked the car up and could NOT turn the passenger side wheel. So, I pulled the wheel off and attempted to see if a bleed would free it up. Nope. Ruled out a bad line. Called around, got a reman. caliper, threw it on and bled it out. Test drive says... sticky/frozen caliper WAS the problem. Everything is A-OK, now.

Thanks, guys!