View Full Version : Steering wheel shake
Sentinel
11-30-2005, 11:39 AM
I have a slight shake in my steering wheel, almost like a wheel is out of balance is this normal? its very slight and only some times i dont know if this because of the 20 inch rims or not.
Vince
11-30-2005, 11:44 AM
Maybe you lost a wheel weight?
Blulytes
11-30-2005, 11:46 AM
Wheel shake could be a number of things...
1. Check your tire pressures.
2. Check the balances of the tires.
Where did you get your rims mounted and balanced?
If the place that did them is not familiar with balancing a 20" rim that is probably the cause.
I originally had Goodyear mount and balance my 20's. Had huge shaking issues. Went to a "customs" shop and they rebalanced them all for me. What a difference. Goodyear had the weights in all the wrong spots.
Sentinel
11-30-2005, 11:48 AM
Stock wheels shaked of the lot pretty much
Envoy Fan
11-30-2005, 12:17 PM
I have a slight shake in my steering wheel, almost like a wheel is out of balance is this normal? its very slight and only some times i dont know if this because of the 20 inch rims or not.
I would not think a shake in steering wheel would be normal. Have a dealer that has a Hunter GPS 9700 balancer do a road force balance. If you do this, make sure that the technician doing the balancing knows what he is doing. While this balancing will tell if a tire or wheel is out of round or cannot be balanced, it is sometimes still up to the tech to visibly catch a bent wheel while it is spinning.
TrailblazerSS
11-30-2005, 03:50 PM
Is it worse when you brake? Warped rotors can cause this also.
homertime
11-30-2005, 04:24 PM
yeah along with bluelyte's suggestions with tire and balance try this:
Go to an empty parking lot and try the following:
drivng forward on a level surface without holding the wheel to reproduce the problem, more wiggle to one direction, or wiggle overall?
Then do the same thing (not super fast, like 10mph) but brake hard to see if your car pulls to either direction
give that a shot, see what happens
also...
If you just experienced a weather change and haven't checked your tires in a while I imagine that's going to be your problem
It's amazing what a few pounds over or under can do
02redhawk
11-30-2005, 04:54 PM
Wheel shake could be a number of things...
1. Check your tire pressures.
2. Check the balances of the tires.
Where did you get your rims mounted and balanced?
If the place that did them is not familiar with balancing a 20" rim that is probably the cause.
I originally had Goodyear mount and balance my 20's. Had huge shaking issues. Went to a "customs" shop and they rebalanced them all for me. What a difference. Goodyear had the weights in all the wrong spots.
Um, I am pretty sure he's talking about his stock 20" SS wheels, of which they were installed and balanced at the factory.
homertime
11-30-2005, 05:03 PM
Um, I am pretty sure he's talking about his stock 20" SS wheels, of which they were installed and balanced at the factory.
That doesn't mean that they couldn't have screwed up by putting in too much pressure or having lost a wheel weight
Sentinel
11-30-2005, 07:50 PM
Ill check the pressure i havent touched them.
ScarabEpic22
11-30-2005, 07:56 PM
That doesn't mean that they couldn't have screwed up by putting in too much pressure or having lost a wheel weight
Exactly, do you really think GM employees at the factory hand tighten and torque the lug nuts to the proper 100ft/lbs? No, they use an air gun with the proper socket and am them on as tight as they can and as quickly as they can. I would loosen and retighten all the lugs to see if that fixes your problem.:m2:
Sentinel
11-30-2005, 08:03 PM
Why dont they?!!
Steerign wheel doesnt feel like it has any play, I will say though over pot holes there shake in the wheel which seems unusual.
zamar
11-30-2005, 08:19 PM
Could your tie-rods be loose? Check where the steering connects to the spindle. :undecided Maybe it was built late shift on a Friday and didn't get torqued.
TrailblazerSS
11-30-2005, 10:10 PM
Exactly, do you really think GM employees at the factory hand tighten and torque the lug nuts to the proper 100ft/lbs? No, they use an air gun with the proper socket and am them on as tight as they can and as quickly as they can. I would loosen and retighten all the lugs to see if that fixes your problem.:m2:
Actually it's most likely the plant has a multiple head wrench that torques all the lugs at the same time. And it is set to tighten to factory specs. They are not put on one at a time.
Odds are its a balancing problem. Have the balancing checked. If that is not the problem, double check the tightness of the wheel nuts and if OK, rotate the tires to see if it changes. If it changes significantly or especially if it goes away, it is probably the tires/rims. It could be a defective tire, warped rim or other. Next is rotors and front end problems like tie rods etc. I would be surprised if pressure is the problem unless it is significantly high or low.
Envoy Fan
12-01-2005, 12:01 AM
Sometimes new vehicles are tightened down more than enough for shipment. It could be possible the front end is out of alignment enough to cause the vibration you are feeling.
Any luck in finding your steering shake Sentinel?
Sentinel
12-03-2005, 01:50 AM
Nada yet trying to find the time to go to the dealer, kinda shoots a day.
02redhawk
12-03-2005, 08:14 AM
Actually it's most likely the plant has a multiple head wrench that torques all the lugs at the same time. And it is set to tighten to factory specs. They are not put on one at a time.
Correct, OEM lugnut installs are most certainly torqued to proper specification, and in the overwhelming majority of cases torqued to even a tighter spec than what your manual calls for.
Sentinel
12-03-2005, 12:24 PM
Got to love dealers
T-Blaze SS
12-03-2005, 10:14 PM
I haven't noticed anything with mine. It is straight and true and wheel feels solid. I don't think its a design issue, your dealer should be able to fix it.
Bergie
12-10-2005, 01:34 PM
Yes I get a slight steering wheel shake at +/- 75 mph. It has diminished somewhat as I've put miles on it. At 200 miles it was much more noticable than now (700 miles).
Its certainly not worth taking it to the stealer for service as they will likely break more than they fix. And I don't trust the monkies working on my ride at the stealership unless absolutely necessary.
mbopp
12-10-2005, 01:46 PM
It sounds like wheel balance to me. And yes the Hunter 9700 is the last word when used for Road Force match balancing. I used to work in a shop that had one.
http://www.gsp9700.com/index.cfm
TonyGXP
12-10-2005, 02:31 PM
defective tire can make the same symptoms as out of balance, broken belt, defect, take it back, make sure you find road near the dealer and reproduce the effect, then ask the Tech who'll work on your car to go with you, so he can see what it's doing..I had this problem on my lincoln Conti, sadly the problem was never fixed and I traded it in..
Fishhunter911
12-14-2005, 03:14 PM
defective tire can make the same symptoms as out of balance, broken belt, defect, take it back, make sure you find road near the dealer and reproduce the effect, then ask the Tech who'll work on your car to go with you, so he can see what it's doing..I had this problem on my lincoln Conti, sadly the problem was never fixed and I traded it in..
sadly??? it is a furd product!! :laugh: :rotfl: :raspberry J/K
blautens
12-20-2005, 12:31 AM
No shake in mine...only had it up to 90 MPH, though. More road feel than the rather disconnected steering in our Lexus RX330 - and a little more "trammy" than my old Honda CRV with its skinny tires, though. All in all quite good, though.
As someone who suffered through a previous GM shaker, though, I will second the opinion on finding a Hunter GSP9700. It's great for fixing some problems, but also very good at letting you know when something is just too out of spec to ever be right.
It found 2 rims out of spec on my 99 Alero GLS - GM went through 4 replacements to find 2 decent ones. The dealer said the highly polished 16 inch rims that year were problematic. Ummmm....ok.
Find a shop with the GSP9700. It's worth it.
Dirtkicker
01-02-2006, 11:35 AM
Mine started shaking after I had new tires put on. I took it back and they found out the technician forgot to put the weight on the rim. They fixed it and now it drives fine.
blautens
01-02-2006, 01:42 PM
Mine started shaking after I had new tires put on. I took it back and they found out the technician forgot to put the weight on the rim. They fixed it and now it drives fine.
Wonder what else he forgot to do? :duh:
I'm sure the wheels were torqued correctly, right?
JD-Detroit
01-05-2006, 01:52 PM
I've got a very slight shake at highway speeds also. hasn't been enough to really bother me yet, but if other trucks are not shaking at all, it may be worth a trip to the dealer. I also hate to be without the truck and feel like 90% of the time I go to a dealer for a subjective issue during warranty they always tell me there is nothing wrong and they can't fix it.