Major Vibration...

Deep6

Registered User
Ugh. I'm traveling on the highway last night and I get the car up to speed and I start feeling a vibration in the car at 50mph. It got really bad at 60-65mph. It actually felt like a wheel was wobbling and it was going to fall off. I wasn't hearing any grinding or slapping noises. When I let the clutch in, the vibe continued, it is vehicle speed related.

I parked the car and Complained about it to my friends. The next morning I went to work and got the car up to 55mph. I didn't really feel the vibe as bad as it was the night before. Although I didn't get it up to 60-65 where it was really bad.

I know my tires are old, but can they all of a sudden vibrate really bad like that? I mean the whole car was shaking I couldn't even make out the numbers on the dashboard!!!

Could it be my 11 month old Aluminum Driveshaft with spicer U-joints?

Or maybe it could have been that there was some snow packed in my wheel well and rim that threw it off balance and when it melted things got back to nomal?

I hope it's not the driveshaft. Is there a way to tell if the vibe is driveshaft related different than tire vibe?
 
Snow - Yes. Very much could be
Tire - Yes. A belt can seperate in a radial and act like that

I guess make sure there is no snow in the wheels and if it still vibrates, swap tires, front to rear. See if the vibration moves. If it does, it's the tires.
 
Easiest things first...

Joe,
If it's not the frozen snow on all the suspension parts, I'd start with new tires and a dynamic wheel balance first, then I'd go after the driveshaft and see if it fell out of balance.

I had a mild case of shakes at 65mph a few years back and eliminated it with new tires and a wheel balance. For others it was their driveshaft.
 
Thanks guys...

Just to update you, I think it was snow in my rims after all since the next day I did take it up to 65mph and I couldn't tell if there was any significant vibe any more. It just happened all at once that it freaked me out.

I did get a Hunter Dynamic wheel balance over the summer. It corrected my slight vibe at 70mph for about 2 weeks. Then the slight vibe was back again. I know I need new tires badly. I was going to get them back at sept 2002 but decided I could soldier on through the winter, since I bought a Saturn for my wife. Then I got it into an accident and have been forced to drive the t-bird agin.
 
correct!

I've been working at Discount Tire Co. for 3 1/2 years now and that sounds like, your belt on your tire or a bent rim! or just out of balence!

Jerry V.
 
I wanna Talk to YOU Jerry V.!!!!

You might just be the guy that I need to talk to. I'm looking to obviously replace the rubber this spring/summer on my car (preferably BEFORE Carlisle 2003).

In my freverish search for tires/rims, I have concluded that rather than replace, I might as well upgrade at the same time. And thusly it has brought me to the point of choosing rims.

I have settled on purchasing a 17" rim, since I've read in a motortrend a few years ago that the handling difference between a 17" and 18" rim were negligable, one offering a tighter aspect ratio while the other offering slightly less unsprung weight.

Although 18"s would look great on the T-bird, I'm more for the performance specifications than all out looks anyway.

Now... the rim. The good news: After seeing that Centerline offers their new Rotary Forged Aluminum rims. I found that their 17" offering will fit the thunderbird in 42mm offset. Weighing in at a paltry 13.5lbs per rim, this would be an excellent bid to reduce unsprung weight all around, as well as increase my contact patch and reduce my aspect ratio for more responsive handling. The price was reasonable as quoted to me around $265 shipped per rim from a place in arizona.

The bad news: Centerline is catering to the import Front wheel drive market and the 17" rim only comes in 7" width. Although the stock t-bird rims are 7" in width, this offers no upgrade in prodiding a wider contact pactch.

I was hoping to run a size like 245-45ZR-17 all around.

So.... I have been looking into the rims being offered by discount tire (and the tire rack if you must know). Some of the rims advertised are so called "Lite wieght" rims. However, when I called and asked for shipping weights on those rims, they were significantly heavier than the centerline rims, for just a little bit less in cost.

I'd like to maintain the t-bird bolt pattern as many have suggested I convert to the mustang pattern, however, the cost and time spent to try a set of exotic rims is beyond my meager means.

Other's have suggested that I just go ahead and get the "standard" 17x9" Corbra "R" knock off rim and call it a day. But I'd like to be just a little 'different' and still run a rim that I feel is significantly lighter than the stock rims, while increasing my contact patches.

Oh, and to be just ever more anal, I'd like to run a ALL-Season Z-rated tire. I don't want to be swapping tires all the time. And I do understand that they are somewhat of a compromise from a true summer tire and winter tire set up.

Of particular interest, I'd like to know what the weight of the Fondmetal Type 6500, type 6900, Konig Toxxin, and Voxx/Mak Matrix. All the rims I mentioned are 7.5" width (a little bit better) and the Voxx/mak is 8" width (which is even better).

What size tires would you recommend?

Please respond or write me a private e-mail at "jtrosi@hotmail.com", as, like I said, I will be purchasing in the spring.
 
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