Vibration in steering wheel at high speeds

T

tmh620

Registered User
Ok, I know this is going to be a free for all with answers, but I am lost as to what might be causing this. Here is the situation.

On the highway, at speeds of 75 - 90 mph I have a rythmic vibration in my steering wheel. So much so that you can see it vibrate the steering wheel. It vibrates for about a second, every three and a half to four seconds. As I said, very rythmic, very odd.

It happens on several different strecthes of different highways, so I fairly certain it is not the road way. I had the front tires balanced, to no evail.

Any ideas? :confused: :confused: :confused:
 
If the frequency is 3.5 to 4 seconds, then I don't see how it could be a tire or wheel since the wheels rotate more than once in this time, unless you have a combination of problems. I once had a steering wheel vibration only at a certain speed which was caused by a bad tire. You could try switching the front wheels to the back to eliminate the wheels and tires.
 
J.D. said:
If the frequency is 3.5 to 4 seconds, then I don't see how it could be a tire or wheel since the wheels rotate more than once in this time, unless you have a combination of problems. I once had a steering wheel vibration only at a certain speed which was caused by a bad tire. You could try switching the front wheels to the back to eliminate the wheels and tires.
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I do not really think it is the tires/wheels either, but, I will try that. It is the damnedest thing, and difficult to describe in text.

Thanks JD, I appreciate the input.

x182dan-the wheels and tires have been balanced, I thought that might have something to do with it, but the vibration is still present.....
 
J.D. said:
If the frequency is 3.5 to 4 seconds, then I don't see how it could be a tire or wheel since the wheels rotate more than once in this time, unless you have a combination of problems. I once had a steering wheel vibration only at a certain speed which was caused by a bad tire. You could try switching the front wheels to the back to eliminate the wheels and tires.
Click to expand...

I do not really think it is the tires/wheels either, but, I will try that. It is the damnedest thing, and difficult to describe in text.

Thanks JD, I appreciate the input.

x182dan-the wheels and tires have been balanced, I thought that might have something to do with it, but the vibration is still present.....thanks though
 
Combo

Sounds to me like its a combination of rotating mass thats giving you the pulse. If all four wheels are balanced, and rotating them doesnt help, check your driveshaft for missing weights. Also check the flange at the third member, they are known to work loose. Good luck, JJ.
One other quick thought, possibly the belts are seperating in your tires????
 
Hunter Balance

Try to find a place with a Hunter Road Force balancer, they can measure rim run-out and tire radial force. That is the only way to be sure it is not the wheels and tires. Could be belt separations, as was suggested, if that is true you should be able to tell by looking and feeling the tires.
 
OK, let me see if I can hit all of the reply's (thanks by the way for the responses)

90blkbrd - Nope, no shimmy when I hit the brakes, she tracks straight as an arrow under acceleration and braking and the vibrations do not happen unless I am between 70 - 90 mph and they do not increase or decrease with speed either. It just starts at 70 and can be stopped by going 90 plus, or below 70. Seeing as 90 plus is not too safe (fun, but not safe on the roads in Michigan....) I just back off a bit.

JD-the frequency is actually less than two seconds (I timed it last night) and using a one-one-thousand type count, the vibration started on one, lasted through two, and faded off in the one-thousand part of two, just to start again on the one (of one-one thounsand) so it seems to be fairly regular, but still not at the speed the tires (225/60/16) would be roatating, approximately 757 times per mile, much faster than the frequency of the vibration.

x182dan-yes they could, but the wheels and tires were balanced together, since this vibration started.


James5275 - that is possible, however they are fairly new, probably less than 10 on them. I will check the D/S and flange, thanks

Clickster34- I will look for a shop with the Hunter as I do not see any evidence of belt separation, or other tire issues for that matter.


Thanks for the suggestions all. I will check these out and see what happens. Will let you know :cool:
 
Had a similar problem after installing 17"X 9" Cobra Rs and new tires. The standard balancing equipment at most tire places can't do the job. I found a place that had the Hunter machine mentioned earlier and that fixed it.

If the tires are already worn, they won't be able to do much about it. My 93 SC does the same thing your describing and since the tires weren't properly balanced when new, they are now slightly out of round and can't be balanced correctly. The road force reaction balancing helped, but didn't fix the problem entirely.

David
 
David Neibert said:
Had a similar problem after installing 17"X 9" Cobra Rs and new tires. The standard balancing equipment at most tire places can't do the job. I found a place that had the Hunter machine mentioned earlier and that fixed it.

If the tires are already worn, they won't be able to do much about it. My 93 SC does the same thing your describing and since the tires weren't properly balanced when new, they are now slightly out of round and can't be balanced correctly. The road force reaction balancing helped, but didn't fix the problem entirely.

David
Click to expand...

Thanks Dave, I am going to track down a shop with one of these balancers and see what happens. If it doesn't work, I guess I will live with it. It is not really severe, but I am anal about noises, vibrations, ticks, nicks and so on so I was just looking to see if anyone had any ideas, and as this post shows, there are a great many things it could be.
 
cowtown said:
Dragging brake caliper maybe?
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Nope, brakes just done (within last 1000 miles) all good there. My guess is and out of round tire or rim, hopefully the Hunter balancer will show something...
 
If you can locate a place that sells/installs 20" and bigger aftermarket wheels, they will probably have the Hunter machine.

David
 
tmh620 said:
90blkbrd - Nope, no shimmy when I hit the brakes, she tracks straight as an arrow under acceleration and braking and the vibrations do not happen unless I am between 70 - 90 mph and they do not increase or decrease with speed either. It just starts at 70 and can be stopped by going 90 plus, or below 70. Seeing as 90 plus is not too safe (fun, but not safe on the roads in Michigan....) I just back off a bit.
Click to expand...


If it only happens between 70-90 speeds. I would put money on a slipped belt in one of the tires.
 
what about what was said earlier the weights on the driveshaft or even the u joints on the driveshaft,maybe even ball joints
 
Dave-I happen to know of one, and I think they have the Hunter, thanks.

Shoe-The ball joints might be it, but I think that a vibration that is the result of a rotating mass, would increase or decrease in intensity as the rpm's increased or decreased, thus making the vibration stronger at certain speeds, and this does not happen, but, I am only a science major, and not in physic's... ;)

Honestly, I do not think it is the tires, an out of balance/vibration situation there, I would think, would get more violent as the speeds increased, and less as it decreased.....but, I will still have them checked, just in case....

My old man has a 97 Mustang GT convert and his GY Eagles were out of balance, took him almost three months to get someone's attention at GY. He met a field rep/engineer, took him for a ride and the guy had his dealer replace all four of them. Rep said the tires were bad. Dad said same thing happened with the next set on the very first drive. He was not happy and the GY rep popped for a new set of Michelin's for him, ain't that the sh$!

The old man was a happy camper, at least until he knocked the rear end out from underneath the car on a rainy day in SW Florida.....took off from a light, goosed it, spun out into the curb and knocked the rear end out the passenger side by 4 inches....and he says my SC is unpredicable in bad weather.....lol, he'll never live that down...

Thanks for all of the advice fella's, hopefully I can track this thing down and get rid of it....
 
Honestly, I do not think it is the tires, an out of balance/vibration situation there, I would think, would get more violent as the speeds increased, and less as it decreased.....but, I will still have them checked, just in case....
Click to expand...

My 93 starts vibrating slightly at 70 mph and will get a lot worse at 80 and then smooths out between 85 and 90 mph. The vibrations are somewhat inconsistant and depending on the road surface may happen every few seconds or every few minutes.

I drove the car from Denver to St. Louis last December and there were times it shook so bad the steering wheel and my hands were a vibrating blur. Normally hitting the brakes will stop the shaking if the tires are out of balance, but it didn't help on my car. I had to either slow down or speed up.

When I got back home I took it to a place with a Hunter machine and the said the wheels were fine but the tires are out of round and they did the best they could to balance them. When I drove the car to Ohio a couple months later for the 5.0 engine conversion it was much better but still had a little vibration at those same speeds.

So I have good reason to think it is your tires. To get the small vibes your describing all that would have to happen is that one balancing weight would have to fall or get knocked off of a front wheel or a cord has shifted slightly.

David
 
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