wheel shuddering

Got a question for you guys. I just drove up to NY for the day, as soon as I got on the highway I got a nasty wheel shudder. For a second I thought I was going to lose a wheel. Pulled over checked everything out in the rain. Tie rods looked alright, no normal signs of bad wheel bearings. Wondering if it had simply been ruts in the road, I started driving again and realized that it only happened when coasting. It stops the second I accelerate. :screwy:

So I start thinking that if it were tie rods, ball joints, wheel bearings, etc...it would happen all the time. I ended up driving 170 miles with no trouble other than teh fact that it would shudder whenever I let off hte gas. At the end, it seemed my braking power was reduced more than normal. Now that might have been the fact that the brakes were hot from a highway drive and the fact that it's raining....but I'm wondering if it's a warped rotor...or if i lost a wheel weight.

Any thoughts? I'm gonna go look at it again and drive back home in a few hours.

did it happen on all4 wheels or just the front ones?

Hmm, I sure would not think it would be a wheel weight if you say it felt like a wheel coming off. Are you sure it is a wheel and not a motor mount that is broken?

I'd think it was a wheel weight, actually. When mine popped off, thats pretty much what it felt like.

so you only felt the shudder while coasting? check the lugnuts, make sure all are torqued down tight. sounds dumb, but it has happened to me. quick fix!

did you notice any shuddering or vibration when braking? if so, then check your rotors/calipers/pads.

are you sure this shuddering isn't fuel related, seeing as you probably still haven't found those electrical gremlins? :D

CV joints / axles is what I would guess.

They have presure on them all the time except for when you are costing.

^^^ good call. i was waiting for Talskinyguy or 2Old to chime in. best to have the veterans solve it quick rather than making this another "brake pulling" thread. hahaha.

Good call. I'll check the cv joints later, it was on teh Subaru. Rear passenger wheel. Definantly not fuel or anything like that. While accelerating or braking its fine, as soon as you let off the gas you feel it. Only really noticeable at highway speeds though...but definantly noticeable.

The plot thickens. I haven't gotten a chance to really look at anything in much depth over the weekend. However today I drove my brother back to school and found some interesting things.

First off, whereas on friday it was clearly the passenger side rear wheel. Today it almost felt like it was the drivers side, possibly even both. But alot harder to distinguish.

Second. It is very intermittant. On the highway it was rattling away like crazy, even at speeds as low as 30mph. Now in town, I can't get it to happen even at 50mph.

Third, this is really weird. Ok, so I think it's related somehow to the engine being turned off, or the car cooling down. Because I was flying along doing 90mph on the highway and it was going nuts, took it down to 60mph, still going nuts, at all speeds pretty much. I stop for gas, when I pull out, I can't get it to happen. I mean teh car didn't have much time to cool down, 5 mins tops and I'd been driving hard for 90 minutes...so it was hot. But like I said, I couldn't get it to shake. I took it up to 90mph again, let off the gas, it was fine. Tried 3 or 4 times...normal. 5th time a couple minutes later and it starts happening again, and doesn't go away until I parked the car in my driveway at home for an hour. Very intermitent.

Fourth, I'm not 100% sure, but I wanna say when it's shaking like crazy, it still occurs while braking now.

Lastly, I was experimenting when it was happening at varying speeds and I wanted to see how much gas I needed to give it to stop it from shaking. Basically I had a really hard time staying at a constant speed. To stay at a constant speed (no cruise control) I'd give it just a bit of throttle...it would still shake. Basically to get it to stop shaking I would more or less have to accelerate (even if it was ever so slightly)

So yeah, just weird. Wondering if that extra info spawned any ideas. What really baffles me is the third thing...when I stopped for gas and it went away for a few minutes.

driveshaft/carrier bearings??? does it have a 1-piece or multi-piece shaft?

that is a tough one man. good to hear its not the 3/s though.

I was having the some problems wiht this mistery shudder.... It was agravating meee sooo bad... Mostly did it when I was slowing down or coasting.
Then my output shaft started sliping, so I did a tranny swap for the 93 five speed with the 25 spline transfercase and harden out put shaft and new center dif. (rebuild and upgrades = $4000) BUT THE shudder was still there!!

I finally found out (after a broken tail shaft after 160mph, after being pissed and desided to drive out my problem)
that one my U-joints had siezed up, and it was cause the drive shaft to flop around because it had no bend to it on part of the turn. But sadly the damn u-joints are welded in, and mitsu wanted $800 for a new shaft so I got a 1 peice Carbon fiber ($1200) and my problem went away,

I hope this helps!

I was having the some problems wiht this mistery shudder.... It was agravating meee sooo bad... Mostly did it when I was slowing down or coasting.
Then my output shaft started sliping, so I did a tranny swap for the 93 five speed with the 25 spline transfercase and harden out put shaft and new center dif. (rebuild and upgrades = $4000) BUT THE shudder was still there!!

I finally found out (after a broken tail shaft after 160mph, after being pissed and desided to drive out my problem)
that one my U-joints had siezed up, and it was cause the drive shaft to flop around because it had no bend to it on part of the turn. But sadly the damn u-joints are welded in, and mitsu wanted $800 for a new shaft so I got a 1 peice Carbon fiber ($1200) and my problem went away,

I hope this helps!

interesting...sounds like a likely culprit. Its strange that it doesnt do it all the time though....?

cant wait till i get my 1-piece. Hurry Up GTpro!!!

Mine didnt either... Just very random at when it did it...

I would take the drive shaft off and check the U-joints, I know its a pain in the ass, but if that is the problem it was cause alot more dmg to the drivetrain.