New Wheels, New Tires, Car Still Shakes (F**king Pissed)
05-02-2014, 02:13 AM
#33
OK, everyone has come up with good input for you but we need to narrow it down if possible.
What kind of vibration do you have actually?
-Is it a constant parasitic thing throughout the car?
-Is it under braking mostly?
-Is it at a certain speed only, without touching the brakes?
-Is it like a fast rocking vibration from left to right to the steering wheel and ONLY, the steering wheel... again, at a particular speed?
The last two scenarios are mostly steering rack symptoms.
Other than that, you have to trace back what you did since stock set up.
The hub rings (or lack thereof) are a major concern if your rims aren't against your hub like the factory intended so.
If you think that the lug studs by themselves are good enough to center the rim perfectly, you're sadly mistaken.
Don't fall in that trap because you'll replace/alter all kinds of things to no avail and it seems that you already went down that path to some extend...
What kind of vibration do you have actually?
-Is it a constant parasitic thing throughout the car?
-Is it under braking mostly?
-Is it at a certain speed only, without touching the brakes?
-Is it like a fast rocking vibration from left to right to the steering wheel and ONLY, the steering wheel... again, at a particular speed?
The last two scenarios are mostly steering rack symptoms.
Other than that, you have to trace back what you did since stock set up.
The hub rings (or lack thereof) are a major concern if your rims aren't against your hub like the factory intended so.
If you think that the lug studs by themselves are good enough to center the rim perfectly, you're sadly mistaken.
Don't fall in that trap because you'll replace/alter all kinds of things to no avail and it seems that you already went down that path to some extend...
It has never been a vibration, it's a straight up left to right shake. It does it at practically any speed, sometimes stopping for no apparent reason. It has been doing this on multiple set-ups, tracing back it never started after I installed anything. Some things helped initially, like installing the new strut mounts and wheels and tires, felt great. Now a month later it's back again, the car in full alignment. Braking doesn't particularly affect it, although it's worth looking into. Also, it's starting to make some noise in the front end over every little bump, possibly the end links.
My old wheels didn't have hub rings, and they were half *** Lorenzos.
I would more than gladly take a look and try and figure it out myself, but I've done that so many times my jack is now broken. I work 50 hours a week, and I have to drive the car every day. I'll drive it to work tomorrow and let it sit till Monday when I can drop it off at the shop all day.
05-02-2014, 06:08 AM
#34
I'm leaning towards a motor mount .... The motor at Idle... things will appear normal.
Then at a rough Idle or any turn or acceleration or deceleration things go wobbly.
I've even had the same symptoms with a screwed up universal joint on my former Durango's drive shaft ....
It's referred to in both these cases as harmonic vibration and it causes the steering "feel" to freak out .
Also, on my SRT4 there were 2 other things that cause wonky steering "feel".
First was a bubble on the inner sidewall of my front passenger BFG's. I must have hit a hard edge on a pothole somewhere, but since I didn't see anything on the outer side of my tires I drove for a bit frustrated over it ... Until I could get a full visual under the car when on a lift.
Second was when I caught a flat on the front driver side and just sealed It with a can of fix flat. Drove it that way thinking I could survive a while until I could either get the tire patched or replaced .... The liquid gunk in the tire played havoc with the wheel balance and would give a progressive type of Shake under different driving conditions. Over 60mph the car shook like it was trying to self destruct.
From what I learned ... The motor mounts or the universal joints can fool a lot of Class "A" mechanics into thinking its a steering rack problem. Which if they get you to commit to the work... It's a real drain on your pocket to not resolve the problem...
Compared to a few bucks to remedy a harmonic vibration issue.
Mounts will need to be tested old school.... With a long bar and some leverage to see if either side of the motor will lift an unusual amount....
The U-joints will need to be visually inspected on a lift and the shaft checked for a lot of play.
Then there's the tranny mount while you're there. Again tested with a pry bar and some leverage.
In any case before you let a Mechanic suggest the Steering Racked which is a huge expense...you should suggest they inspect the Mounts and the u-joints... I hope you nail the problem.
---
Then at a rough Idle or any turn or acceleration or deceleration things go wobbly.
I've even had the same symptoms with a screwed up universal joint on my former Durango's drive shaft ....
It's referred to in both these cases as harmonic vibration and it causes the steering "feel" to freak out .
Also, on my SRT4 there were 2 other things that cause wonky steering "feel".
First was a bubble on the inner sidewall of my front passenger BFG's. I must have hit a hard edge on a pothole somewhere, but since I didn't see anything on the outer side of my tires I drove for a bit frustrated over it ... Until I could get a full visual under the car when on a lift.
Second was when I caught a flat on the front driver side and just sealed It with a can of fix flat. Drove it that way thinking I could survive a while until I could either get the tire patched or replaced .... The liquid gunk in the tire played havoc with the wheel balance and would give a progressive type of Shake under different driving conditions. Over 60mph the car shook like it was trying to self destruct.
From what I learned ... The motor mounts or the universal joints can fool a lot of Class "A" mechanics into thinking its a steering rack problem. Which if they get you to commit to the work... It's a real drain on your pocket to not resolve the problem...
Compared to a few bucks to remedy a harmonic vibration issue.
Mounts will need to be tested old school.... With a long bar and some leverage to see if either side of the motor will lift an unusual amount....
The U-joints will need to be visually inspected on a lift and the shaft checked for a lot of play.
Then there's the tranny mount while you're there. Again tested with a pry bar and some leverage.
In any case before you let a Mechanic suggest the Steering Racked which is a huge expense...you should suggest they inspect the Mounts and the u-joints... I hope you nail the problem.
---
Last edited by Cruzinaround; 05-02-2014 at 06:13 AM.
05-05-2014, 10:37 PM
#35
Update: took it to the shop today, turns out whoever did my alignment last didn't tighten the bolt down on the bottom of the struts well enough. The shop looked at it for about 5 hours and tightened them down for me, cost me fifty bucks but they also pointed out that a bushing on my real LCA was bad and also the control arm that controls front to back movement on the diff, forgot what that one's called.
I'm taking it to the place I had the alignment done at tomorrow morning for a new alignment and a road force balance, I'll let y'all know what happens.
I'm taking it to the place I had the alignment done at tomorrow morning for a new alignment and a road force balance, I'll let y'all know what happens.
05-06-2014, 11:47 AM
#36
Well, here we are again.
Went and got a full alignment today, was going to get a road force balance but apparently these people don't know what a road force balancer is, went and looked at the machine and it was standard. I asked Discount Tire if they had one a couple months ago and they said they did, called them today and they said they didn't.
I feel like these idiots are clowning me on my own dime here. I've now spent $150 dollars in two days to accomplish abso. lutely. nothing. Car feels just as awful. Toe was the only thing off on the alignment, nothing else had changed except my left toe was -.13 now it's .04, and the right .21 now at .07.
Looks like I'm not driving to see my mother this weekend.
Edit: Found a Discount across town that will take care of it first thing tomorrow morning, let's see how it goes.
Went and got a full alignment today, was going to get a road force balance but apparently these people don't know what a road force balancer is, went and looked at the machine and it was standard. I asked Discount Tire if they had one a couple months ago and they said they did, called them today and they said they didn't.
I feel like these idiots are clowning me on my own dime here. I've now spent $150 dollars in two days to accomplish abso. lutely. nothing. Car feels just as awful. Toe was the only thing off on the alignment, nothing else had changed except my left toe was -.13 now it's .04, and the right .21 now at .07.
Looks like I'm not driving to see my mother this weekend.
Edit: Found a Discount across town that will take care of it first thing tomorrow morning, let's see how it goes.
Last edited by whosniffedme; 05-06-2014 at 12:36 PM.
05-06-2014, 02:15 PM
#37
2nd Gear Member
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: new york
Posts: 242
I have perhaps a solution that is too simple. All Fords come from the factory with a thin wafer clamp that holds the rotor on during assembly. All Ford wheels have cut outs to account for this clamp. Most aftermarket wheels do not and therefore cause the car to shake at speed. Found this out the hard way five years ago with an Escape. Could not stop the shake after I took delivery of a set of wheels and tires balanced by Tire Rack. A very smart mechanic spotted the clamp, took them off all four wheels and bingo, no more shake.
05-07-2014, 01:26 PM
#38
I have perhaps a solution that is too simple. All Fords come from the factory with a thin wafer clamp that holds the rotor on during assembly. ...........yada yada......... A very smart mechanic spotted the clamp, took them off all four wheels and bingo, no more shake.
that was not the problem.
With everything loose top and bottom and LCA bushings worn in the back there are definitely a LOT of central alignment hunting issues in play with your ride "Sniffy"... Lateral and vertical forces basically fighting with each other as your car gains momentum and even changing at different speeds and during pitch and roll as you drive.
Its the same as a harmonic type vibration. So you're basically looking at process of elimination here. Tighten and check one thing...test the ride. If nothing worked...then go to the next item and tighten and check then try again.... and again ...and again....until you hit the nail on the head.
Also...wasn't your rear axle bent at one point? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I remember a while back your wheels or the axle was mentioned on a thread as taking a hit....so was that shaft replaced? Is the shaft housing straight? Etc etc. I'm as frustrated as you just reading about the problems you're having..... Hoping you nail it and we can all learn from it.
05-07-2014, 01:49 PM
#39
We touched on this many posts back in this thread....
that was not the problem.
With everything loose top and bottom and LCA bushings worn in the back there are definitely a LOT of central alignment hunting issues in play with your ride "Sniffy"... Lateral and vertical forces basically fighting with each other as your car gains momentum and even changing at different speeds and during pitch and roll as you drive.
Its the same as a harmonic type vibration. So you're basically looking at process of elimination here. Tighten and check one thing...test the ride. If nothing worked...then go to the next item and tighten and check then try again.... and again ...and again....until you hit the nail on the head.
Also...wasn't your rear axle bent at one point? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I remember a while back your wheels or the axle was mentioned on a thread as taking a hit....so was that shaft replaced? Is the shaft housing straight? Etc etc. I'm as frustrated as you just reading about the problems you're having..... Hoping you nail it and we can all learn from it.
that was not the problem.
With everything loose top and bottom and LCA bushings worn in the back there are definitely a LOT of central alignment hunting issues in play with your ride "Sniffy"... Lateral and vertical forces basically fighting with each other as your car gains momentum and even changing at different speeds and during pitch and roll as you drive.
Its the same as a harmonic type vibration. So you're basically looking at process of elimination here. Tighten and check one thing...test the ride. If nothing worked...then go to the next item and tighten and check then try again.... and again ...and again....until you hit the nail on the head.
Also...wasn't your rear axle bent at one point? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I remember a while back your wheels or the axle was mentioned on a thread as taking a hit....so was that shaft replaced? Is the shaft housing straight? Etc etc. I'm as frustrated as you just reading about the problems you're having..... Hoping you nail it and we can all learn from it.
Fortunately I have the next couple days off so I can take it places. It's been very hectic this week I just finalized a house yesterday and I'm about to have to work 10 days in a row so I'm gonna use this time while I got it.
05-07-2014, 02:29 PM
#40
2nd Gear Member
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: wi
Posts: 163
steering wheel shake. There can be a couple of causes. since it doesnt seem to be related to braking or certain RPM's I'd say it aint a tire balance or Brake rotor issue. Have seen caliper slide or calapsed brake hose cause an intermittant shake.(which will also give you some hot spotting on the rotors. Also could be in the rack. If you jack it up. have someone sit in the car and hold the wheel. Then try and move the tires and see if theirs any play in the rack or inner tie rods. And i thought you mentioned you had the outers inspected. Also check you steering shaft and joint make sure it isnt binding or worn. Just a few other things to look at. hope you get it figured out. You mentioned it started a few months back and not related to any parts change, how about the accident? when did that occur??