micali

I've replaced the inner/outer tie rods, center link, idler arm and I still have a vibration. At 45 I feel a little in the steering wheel and then at 70 I have a noticeable vibration. I've balanced the tires and the tires look good. The shop didn't say anthing about them. I haven't taken the car to the alignment shop do you think that would help? It doesn't pull any or the steering feel loose. I'd really like to figure this out. I did all this work because of a vibration. Why didn't this work? It's better but still annoying as all get out. What about the wheel bearings? What do you think? Also, what about the ball joint? is that hard to replace? I had wal-mart blance the tires I hope they did it ok. I'll take it back and have them try it agian if i need to. I've read so many stories about this and it seems like no one can figure it out. I can't imagine that it is this hard to find. Thanks

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UNCLE TOM

could be several things , jack car under A arm , try and rock tire/wheel in and out from top and bottom . should be able tell if balljoints or bearings are bad . also don't forget upper strut tower mounts . they do crap out after 20 years . then a good alignment shop . a shop that knows how to set caster/camber . many shops do not , they set toe in/toe out send you on your way . good luck .

micali

I don't have any play top to bottom. I still have a minor side to side but everything has been replaced. I can replace the upper strut tower mount without replacing the strut? How do I know if they are bad?

Setting alignment shouldn't have anything to do with the vibration should it?

micali

I didn't replace the pitman arm cause it was fine. I don't have any wheel bearing issues. I wonder how much play should there be in the wheel after everything has been replaced? I have a very little. It is not completely solid but it is 100x better.

I noticed that my sway bar bushings are bad. I wonder if that could be causing some of it.

The front tires are different from the ones in the back and one of the front tires has a plug in it. I don't remember a vib at 45 until I put these tires on. I might switch the front rims out for my old ones and see what I get.

I bought the Irock rims and tires from a guy her on thirdgen. I'll check the trans mount and see what it is like. I've been reading about these kind of issues other members are having and they have tried almost everything and nothing works.

I have some options:
motor mounts- last option
tranny mounts
flex plate
torque converter
ujoints--not spending the money on a drive shaft.
sway bar bushings

I'll sell it before I dump awhole lot more money into it. Just easier to find one that is in good shape then deal with this crap.

titan

While you're doing the u-joints it may be a good idea to have the drive shaft checked for balance. I've been chasing a vibration in mine too man, I feel ya' on the aggravation... The drive shaft is my next stop...

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GodSpeedGTA

I would check those rims for being bent. Inexperienced tire techs have a tendency to not watch the wheel and tire spin while it balances. You can "balance" a bent wheel/tire but it will still vibrate horribly.

Of course as you know, with it being in the steering wheel it has to be in the front end of the car. How old are your struts? Typically, what I find (working at a tire shop) is that when ppl come back and say they are having vibration troubles after we have balanced their tires is that the tires were improperly balanced. Another more rare case, is that the tires have manufact defects that are noticeable unless on a balancing machine!

Good luck

jstuart83

since you said it was in the steering wheel and not in the rear of the car or the whole thing take your rotors off and have them turned more than likely they are warped so bad to where it rubs the pads all the time or warped bad enough to through the tires out of balance a tire may be balanced on a machine but if you bolt a warped piece of metal to the rim and put it on the machine agian it will be off agian, thats why you turn rotors to for the most part balance them, think about it if you never warped rotors or wore groves in then what would be to point of turnning them, third gen cars are bad about the rear brakes not working so well expecially if they haven't had much attention, causing the front to do most of the stopping, I to had this problem took the rotors off and had them turned and redid the braking system and problem solved

micali

you know it only seems in the steering at 50 mph. After that it is felt all over. It could be in the rear of the car. I'll have to do some checking.

dirtywhiteZ28

My car had a ball joint badly bent, stessing the badly part. It let the car drift all over the road and made driving on the freeway REALLY scary, but it did not make the steering shake. Now I have gone through a couple sets of shocks and struts by now and can say that when those get to where their just going along for the ride they can let that tire get a bit unruly even on smooth pavement. Fornt wheel drive cars will definatly pick up a shake,but rear wheel drives not so much. Now a worn out U-joint or out of balance drive shaft will normally become first noticable at speeds where the drive load is lightest,ei. 45+mph. By then the rotational forces are under less forward drive stress and more frequency loading. Now a bent rim is definately gonna shake, and the faster you go the worse it will be, and I have seen a lot of tire techs let a warped rim leave the shop without ever saying a word. Especially one with apparent curb rash from its past. Aluminum rims will get out of shape by just driving on a flat tire, but usually handle the curbage o.k., but a steel rim can usually handle flat tires to a reasonable point but don't take to rubbing very well. If the rims are wack don't freake out, just look up a wheel straightening company in the phone book, ususally they charge from $15-$30 a rim for staightening, check out some of they're photos of repaired alum. rims while your there. If you decide to take that drive shaft to some one for balancing don't forget to put a pan under that tail shaft when you take it out. If your wheel bearings were going out it won't be too long before the culpruit begins to loudly beg for the trip to end.

compuwiz1937

You probably don't want to hear this, but take your car to a dealer. They (should) have tools that can nail what the problem is. Just make sure you explain to them what you've already done.

Do you have GOOD tires on the car? Crappy tires can still vibrate even if the balancer says they're balanced. The tires may also need to be forced matched, where they match the high spots in the tire to the low spots in the wheel.

jstuart83

on my gta I have rear disk if you have rear disk and they are warped it will aslo cause vibration but like i said this is unlikely because the rear brakes on most of our cars with disk didn't do so well, unless they have had some serious attn.

rv1890

uh hello.....he said he replaced tie rods, centerlink, and the idler but hasnt taken it in for alignment yet.....Im no genuis but thats where I would start

micali

yeah your probably right about the alignment but I don't see how it could cause a vib. It could but I don't see how. Thanks for all the input.
I am going to swap out for my old rims and see what happens. Then slowly try the others. The vib is not that bad but it is there and annoying. I paid more attention to it and found that it starts at 50 and then gets a little more worse at 70-80. Now that I think about it even with the bad front end I had the car up to 95 with the old tires and I didn't notice much of a shake. It had a little but I don't think it was like it is now.

How did you know the ball joint was bad? I do not have any top/bottom play. How hard are they to replace? Everything else was so bad worn I imagine they are not to far off.

The tires up front are diff from the oens in the back. I have 205 50 16 in the front and 225 50 16 rear.

Thanks agian I let you know what I find.

compuwiz1937

You need to get an alignment. Even if the tires are out of balance or whatever you need an alignment. If you have too much toe out, the tires could be dragging on the road causing the vibration.