[golgiaparatus]

I have a little compact car that is shaking at about 65 mph. The car itself vibrates a little, but its the steering wheel that is the crazy part. That thing shakes from side to side like mad sometimes.

I've had this problem for a while and I'm starting to think it will never be fixed. I took it in about a month ago and had the dealer mechanic look at it. He said nothing was wrong with the suspension so he wanted to do a wheel balancing job. This seemed to improve the problem slightly but it returned to 100% in a week. I took it back to the mechanic and they noticed that my front left tire had uneven wear (not from alignment) but it actually had a spot with much less tread than the rest (flat spot). So I took it to Hibdon and had 2 new front tires put on. This fixed the problem completely for about 2-3 weeks. But now its back. So I took it in to get the wheels balanced AGAIN and it helped a little but within 2 days the problem came back to 100%.

AnnNybody want to take a stab at this. What should I do? Any ideas? Should I suggest something? BTW The car is still under warrantee.

 

[SkaredShtles]

Take it to a different mechanic to get a second opinion.

 

[clancy98]

I would get a second opinion on the alignment issue. Its really the only common thing that'll kill tires like that.

It also could possibly be a bent rim. Switch it to another side and see if the problem changes....

 

[manhattanprjkt83]

buy an H3 those things are DAWESOME

 

[jacksonpt]

Could be a bent rim, could need an alignment, could be cupping (though not with the new tires). Make sure they are balanced correctly - some wheels are hub-centric, some are lug-centric, and it matters how they are balanced. I'd definitely say try a new shop. Are you running decent tires? Could they be out of round (yes, it does happen)?

 

[LOOnatic]

Are you sure the problem goes away and comes back ?
I have seen cars that shack the wheel real bad for a variety of reasons but never off and on.
Could be the shocks, bent wheel,tire out of round,problematic brakes that could drag-then heat up and do funny stuff to the steering.Also,bushings .....

 

[Westy]

Ball joints could be worn out. Even if they aren't go to a mechanic and see how many times you can say ball joints. He he he, ball joints, ball joints.

 

[MTB_Rob_NC]

MY E-mechanic guess is a bent rim or something along those lines. That would explain balancing and new tires making the symptoms go away. But with time, either the counter weight is being thrown off, or the bend in the rim is wearing the tire in an odd way, which would result in the bad wear and the shaking to return.

 

[golgiaparatus]

Are you sure the problem goes away and comes back ?
I have seen cars that shack the wheel real bad for a variety of reasons but never off and on.
Could be the shocks, bent wheel,tire out of round,problematic brakes that could drag-then heat up and do funny stuff to the steering.Also,bushings .....

I can say that it gets better with the balancing and then comes back, no doubt. With the new tires, it absolutely went completely away, but then came back (no doubt).

There may be some merit to this as the shaking increases (at high speeds over 50mph) with anything but very light braking .

I havent taken it to another mechanic because my car is under warrantee. If something is broken the dealer will fix it for free.