Intermittent front end shake

[GT1978]

Hi all,
I have an intermittent front end shake that is driving me crazy. It can appear at any speed and can be a light wobble or and agressive shake. Initially I blamed the second hand wheels I have on the car assuming that they were in poor condition and couldn't be perfectly balanced. My concern is that the shake isn't always there and I figured if it was an out of balance wheel then it would always be out of balance and shake all the time. The wheels I have are not hub centric. Could the wheels be shifting on the hub? Is there something else that could cause the steering wheel to shake sometimes and be fine at others?

Glen

[blacktop]

it may be cause the wheels are not hub centric, but even then I would assume it would be doing it at all times.

does it happen more when the car has warmed up or can it happen any time?

it could be wheels bearings

[GT1978]

Wheel bearings haven't done many Km's and I'm pretty sure it was happening prior to the new struts/brakes assembly going in. I might have to dismantle my work bench and grab one of the sets of wheels holding it up and swap them onto the car and see if I can at least eliminate the wheels as the problem.


Glen

[Admiral coFF33]

is it at a certain speed

and does it fade in and fade out ?

[celicapain]

If the car shakes when your cruising in a certain speed range id say get your wheels balanced(costs F/A) and check your tyres for damage. If its shaking under brakes then your rotors need some lovin.
what you need to do are figure out exactly what the car is doing when the shake shows up, then you should be able to figure out what's causing it-
It doesnt sound like wheel bearings, thats more of a clicking noise than a shake, and once bearings start making noise they slowly get louder until your racing your own wheel.

p.s if you try all this and your still searching its probally bush related, so get under there and have a poke around.
Worn dampers can let the front end bounce around a bit but this wont happen on smooth roads so it should be easy to tick off your list.
i hate wobles. good luck.

[blacktop]

I just remembered what it was that was causing a similar problem on my old 4x4

It was the Uni joint

[GT1978]

It doesn't really ever fade in but it does tend to fade out. When travelling slow (40kph) it can be very agressive low frequency shake up to +/- 5cm travel to either side of top of steering wheel. As the speed increases the distance the steering wheel moves reduces but the frequency increases. Over 80kph it tends to stop and it can be fine for a little while even if I slow down but then just when I'd forgotten about it it returns full shake.
My car is pretty stiffly sprung in the front and the wheels are old Dragway splat rip offs that are attached with the straight edged nuts with the washers underneath so I guess there is a possibility that the wheel may be shifting ever so slightly on the hub when going over bumps? I wouldn't think that it would self right though. I would have thought once it was swinging out of balance it would be trying to pull itself futher and further out of balance.

Blacktop. It's happening to my RA28 so hopefully no one has installed any uni joints in the front end.

Glen

[Rodger]

Have you had a good wheel alignment done?

Low castor settings can cause a wobble, just like a shopping trolly.

Radius rod bushes loose or shagged, causes the shakes as well.

Loose steering box can eccentuate a front end problem. How much free play do you have in the steering wheel?

Regards

Rodger

[GT1978]

Have you had a good wheel alignment done?

Low castor settings can cause a wobble, just like a shopping trolly.

Radius rod bushes loose or shagged, causes the shakes as well.

Loose steering box can eccentuate a front end problem. How much free play do you have in the steering wheel?

Regards

Rodger

Had a wheel alignment about 1000kms ago and there was no change before/after. I'll pull out the alignment speck though as I can't remember how much caster was set. I remember they removed almost all the toe in to reduce outside scrubbing. There was nothing on the report that indicated they found any worn bushes either.
The steering box isn't too bad either. Especially since its 30 odd years old.


Glen

[wa5]

I had a similar thing on a Centura years ago.... the rack was loose on its mounts.

[frostyadonis]

possible causes,
1. worn idler arm
2. wheel nuts too long on round through section(wheel nuts tight,but wheel not clamped onto hub)
throw some stockies on and see if problem goes away
while the mags are off slide a wheelnut through the hole and if the nut pokes out at the other end a little (no good) also the nut should be a tight fit into hole,if its like a cock in a shirt sleeve (no good)
if one of these items ring true it can be fixed without too many headaches.

[Lambolica]

Not sure if this would cause you shakes but check where the steering box mounts for cracks in the Chassis rail as well.

Cheers
Simon

[GT1978]

Through on some other mags that use the tapered nuts when I got home tonight. Looks funny with the wheels sitting inside the guards. Initial test (short drive to the servo to add some air) has shown no signs of shakes but I'll drive it to work and home again tommorow and see if it shows up again.
The nuts for the shaky mags are not as tight a fit as they could be in the holes however I don't think they would be too long as they have managed to cut into the washers pretty good.
If there is still no signs of shaking tomorrow I'll take the wheels down to a tire place and see if I can get them to check/rebalance them. If they come out as being okay balance wise I might see if I can get the boiler makers at work to make up some inserts for centre hole in the wheels. Hopefully then I will be left in peace to drive in comfort.

Glen

[GT1978]

I'm begining to suspect a worn bushing somewhere. First thing this morning after reversing out of my drive I breifly experienced the violent slow speed shake as I coasted down my street. The shake righted itself with some light braking and I had a smooth ride all the way to work. I'm guessing the 205s on the deep dish rims I normally have on are putting more strain on the bushes and aggrevating the issue more than the 185s on there now.

Glen

[Smokey228]

I'd put money on it being the steering box if it still has one..!

I had the exact same issue, when cruising in a straight line for a while (highways or long straights) the car would start to wobble a lil bit, which would progress into a violent wobble if i didnt turn. Turning seemed to tighten it up and get it going good for another few minutes...

Turned out the steering box was rooted, or the bushes related to it. I ended up going rnp so never bothered looking any further then that...

I'd have ur tires balanced anyway, but an unbalanced tire will only cause shake/vibration at higher speeds. Say 80km/h +???

If i were you, i'd start at the first balljoint/bush on the passenger side, and work your way across looking for what looks like worn or damaged steering components... Check your slack in the steering box too!

Cheers,
Jase