My steering wheel shakes back and forth like crazy on the highway. Mostly from 65mph and up. The faster you go the worse it gets and its driving me crazy. New parts are wheels and tires , wheel bearings , shocks struts, steering damper shock . rotors and pads, inner and outer tie rods and alighnment. Tires have been balanced 4 times with no reduction. The car ride smooth if you let go of the wheel so its not a balanceing issue. The stablizer shock did nothing so this leads me to belive that the problem is behind the stabilizer shock. Could it be the rack and pinion where it hooks up to the steering shaft? I'm tired of spending money on things that don't fix the problem. HELP!

The stabilizer will have nothing to do with the problem. You have got a wheel or tire problem.
Don

You said you have new wheels and tires. Are these OEM wheels or aftermarket? When did you first notice the problem? before or after the wheels/tires?

I would suggest you swap the front wheels/tires with other known good ones. Any Fiero friends nearby that can loan you some wheels/tires for a quickie test??

Its not a wheel or tire problem. Had the problem with the stock wheels to when I got the car. The tires have been balanced numerous times and the wheels spin up true. I have sawped out and its still there.

quote Originally posted by C-5: My steering wheel shakes back and forth like crazy on the highway. I'm tired of spending money on things that don't fix the problem. HELP!

Are the control arm bushings good? How about the ball joints? If not, replace them, and have it re-aligned.

Did they do a 4 wheel alignment, or just front end?

[This message has been edited by Frizlefrak (edited 07-07-2005).]

i once had a similar problem, car would start to shake about 45, smoothed out at 60. tried alignment, tires, balancing, no luck. it was a loose front wheel bearing.

Have them jack up the front and spin the tires like they use to do when they balanced them and I will think you will find the problem
Don

Just a thought take it seriously or not. On one of my buds camaro's he had some vibration so he took it in for a balance and alignment, then same thing. Took it back did it all again still same problem. Then took it to a different place had them do it and it turns out the first place was off by .2 of a degree. If your having all your work done at the same place you may just want to give a different place a shot to see, maybe the place your going to has a small calibration issue. Some cars are more touchy then others to things like that so the place just may not know.

I know you don't seem to think it's tires, but I'm just throwing more tire junk around. Maybe try to find a shop with a road-force balancer. Then they can measure road-force variations in each tire and match mount them to correct.

i got same problem

Put the car up on jackstands and grab the wheel, yank it back and forth, up and down and look for slop.
I had a wheel bearing go bad and that is exactly what it felt like.

quote Originally posted by C-5: Could it be the rack and pinion where it hooks up to the steering shaft? I'm tired of spending money on things that don't fix the problem. HELP!

Yes, but I imagine that you would notice more than just a wheel vibe at speed. Worn steering column u-joints, or a failed coupling in the jackshaft would contribute to a general looseness at the steering wheel. But chances are that you would be able to notice this looseness at any speed, by virtue of being able to turn the wheel a degree or two in either direction before the front wheels react.

Try a different tire shop--seriously. Out of four local shops in my area that I've tried, there is only one which can balance a tire perfectly the first time, every time. The others are usually good, but I have sometimes had to pay them repeat visits before getting it right.

quote Originally posted by Frizlefrak: Are the control arm bushings good? How about the ball joints? If not, replace them, and have it re-aligned.

quote Originally posted by lurker: i once had a similar problem, car would start to shake about 45, smoothed out at 60. tried alignment, tires, balancing, no luck. it was a loose front wheel bearing.

I would check the above three items, but my vote is ball joints. Bushings and wheel bearings would be felt before highway speeds are reached usually.

quote Originally posted by dguy: Try a different tire shop--seriously. Out of four local shops in my area that I've tried, there is only one which can balance a tire perfectly the first time, every time. The others are usually good, but I have sometimes had to pay them repeat visits before getting it right.

So I'm not just the only one that has encountered this.

I have the exact same problem. I believe it is worn bushings as I can see the slop when I jack the wheel off the ground.
Good oppertunity to do poly or nylon bushings

Tires have been balanced at 4 diferent shops including the dealer. I have jacked up the car and checked for slop. Top and bottom and side to side. Everything is good. Wheel bearings are new. Alignment was 4 wheel . I can't find anything wrong with the front end and neither can the shop doing the aliagnment . The car has done the same thing no matter what wheels or tires I put on and there has been no reduction in Vib.at all with all the new parts , rebalancing , or wheel changes. The car was like this when I got it and I replaced all the stuff listed above trying to eliminate the problem and it hasent gotten any better.

I only have one more thought and that would be that you have got a problem with the brakes and they are rubbing like a warped rotor. I would say warped rotor but you said you changed those. so I would check out thoes calipers real close. good luck
Don

I'm as stumped as you guys.

my 88 does the same thing, 65mph and up is hell, 120 to 140mph feels like im going to viberate right out of the car, i have a friend that just bought a 87 duke notchy 5spd, and it does it also 65 and up. steerring wheels shakes bad until extreme speed is obtained then whole car shakes., mabey its cause theres no power steering to take up the bumps in the road??

I don't know what it is. The roads down here are pretty smooth. It really sucks because most of my driving is 75 to 80 mph.

I can't believe an alignment shop can't find the cause. It should be pretty obvious once the wheels are off the ground.
My passenger side wheel can wiggle up and down a disturbing amount.

Thats the worst part. Everything checks out ok. I wish its was that easy. I would rather they said ok this is what you need to fix. But instead Its a guessing game and I'm throwing good money after bad with no results.

I still cannot understand If you jack up the front end and spin one wheel at a time up to 60 or 70 mile per hour that you cannot see the shacking. Don't make sense.
Don

If your stopped and sitting still, do you have any slop in the steering wheel?
The rack may be shot.

Just something to keep in mind: it's important to get this fixed, not only for your tires/rims and suspension...If your steering wheel vibrates like that, it may eventually cause four small interior screws to loosen up, then ya hafta fix them, too.

No slop in the steering.

I had the same on my 88L4, and now on my 86 gt.Icouldn't find the problem for ages...until I had to remove the lower control arm.I tried everything I could, to check that joint whilst it was on the car, and it looked perfect...until I took it off.There was play in the joint, which wasn't apparent when the car was on the jack.

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quote Originally posted by C-5: How could you spin the front wheels to 70 mph on jack stands? You got me with that one.

You will have to find a shop with a older type Hunter Wheel Balancer. This was the way the wheels were balanced before the new take the wheel off and put on electronic balancer. When you balanced the wheel on the car It was better because it balanced the hub and wheel bearing also the brake drum if equiped. Some of the older balancer's even had a electronic probe that you put on the A-Frame and it would pick up all the vibrations and really do a good job.
I have not seen one of these balancer's in some time, but surely someone still has one.
Don