Re: [tech help required] steering shaking

["Jonas K." <jkarlsso@metabolex.com>]

On 12/17/01 8:28 PM, "ATS - Patrick Bureau" <pbureau@attbi.com> wrote:

> Alright, I have had this problem for a while and I will bore you with
> details in hopes someone out there has a clue ..

OK, try this;

Jack up the front of the car, grab the wheel and pull/push at if in every
direction you can think of, try to see if anything moves that isn't supposed
to. Check the following:

Ball joints
Control arm bushings (front and rear)
Control arm bolts. 
Wheel bearings (i.e. The wheel moves, but the steering knuckle does not)
Tie rod ends (both)

Check the other side too.

If nothing pans out, try rotating the wheels front to rear (just because
it's the cheapest thing), if it changes at all, have the wheels balanced by
a competent place (I'd avoid wal-mart)

Lastly, I've had a similar wobble that disappeared when I replaced the wheel
bearing. For me there was no groan from the bearing. It would shake between
70 and 75 mph, sometimes. Never below or above that speed, and sometimes
hitting a seam/bump would bring about/eliminate the shaking, while within
that speed range. Very weird.

So if you've eliminated everything else, keep the bearing in mind.

Things I've noticed:
  When Ball joints go bad, they make clunking sounds when going over bumps/
rough roads.
  Bad control arm bushings/loose C.arm bolts will cause the car to pull to
one side under acceleration. They can also cause shaking while high speed
steering. Vague steering too.
  Bad Tie rod ends cause a similar pull. More of a steering "delay" if
anything.
  Out of balance wheels are strictly speed dependant. The faster you go, the
worse the shaking, independent of coasting/accelerating/turning.
  Bad Wheel bearings usually groan, but can also cause wobble. Usually if
they'll wobble, then there will be some play in them when you pull on the
wheel. 

Hope all that helps,
Jonas


--
Email LIST problems to: scirocco-l-probs@scirocco.org.
To unsubscibe send "unsubscribe scirocco-l" in the message to majordomo@scirocco.org