ok recently i bought a 1987 firebird off ebay from penn...yeah i how stupid can i get. well anyways all the pics the guy gave me the car looked good new paint interior was cherry because it was from penn i asked if there is any rust and he answers absolutly no rust anywhere when the car finnaly arrives i look underneath the car to find nothing but rust everywhere spray painted over to cover it up. since the first time i've driven the car there has been a shaking in the steering wheel the shake is constant but from 40-45 mph it becomes so violent it feels like my whole front suspension is going to fall apart and i think it might be something serious because one time when it happened one of my friends was driving next to me and said that the two front wheels were shaking back and forth could this be the result of rusted out front suspension parts? the weird thing is that after about 45mph the shake isnt as violent any info would be greatly appreciated

 

i'd say your tie rods were fubar

rebuild the entire front suspension, center link, tie rods, idler arm, and balljoints

 

before I would get into all of that i would check your tire pressure, or perhaps your tires will just have to be balanced. My Eclipse used to do this when I would top speed race it. The car would top out at 157, around 80 I would get a violent shake in the steering wheel. It was just the balancing was off. Hope this helps

 

yea balancing can really get you.. and most places only test the balance up to about 80 anyhow.. (whats the point to go faster since there are not any roads with a faster speed l;imit right) But also definitely take that thing in and get the front checked out... Could be a bad tie rod end, and if that goes when you are runnin down the road you will be SOL in a hurry depending on what it decided to do, but reguardless it will not be pretty (worse case it snaps, you loose your brakes, and then all of the sudden you are spinning out of control.. it is not fun, i know from experience).