High Speed Shake

Hi all,
I have been having an issue with my winnie shaking at high speed. (60 mph and up)

There is a constant shake when the car starts to hit 60 and gets worse as the car goes faster.

I notice that when cornering at this speed that the car shakes harder when the steering wheel is slightly turned to the right (to corner).

Is this a hub bearing issue? Is there something else that would cause this? Is there a way to check the hub bearing?

Also.. There seems to be a new suspension funk. When going over certain bumps, there is a clunk like a suspension bottom out in the front. (ball joints?) Could this make the car shake like I described?

Thanks for any advice.

Hi
I had my wheel bearing go bad on my '96. The hub nut (30mm) had actually loosened somewhat - I had never removed it- allowing a bit of play and therefore bearing/hub wear. You can look for play in the suspension by jacking up the affected wheel and then looking for play in the wheel with your hands at 12/6 then 9/3. You may want to watch the back side with a light while someone else works the wheel. In the case of the wheel bearing the movement was slight, but visible right at the hub.

As the vibration is only at high speed/load I would lean more toward it being bearing/hub related but that is just conjecture. Be sure and carefully check the tire while you have it off the ground. I have had two different brands de-laminate at moderate/high mileage and cause notable vibration.

What were you symptoms of a bad bearing? Did it make a noise?

I am now wondering if it was a bad bearing if it would make some kind of noise if it was in bad enough shape to cause a noticeable shake.

HI

My symptoms were fairly classic: vibration when I "loaded up" the side in question - right front. If I would round a curve on the freeway to my left, loading up the right side I would feel it. It became more pronounced over time and by the time I did the replacement, movement was visible from behind the wheel as I had my son move the wheel as described above. As I recall I had very little noise, but could feel the vibration through the wheel and floor. Actually my first inclination of it was when riding in the right front seat as my Wife drove. I felt it through the floor.

Regards

Something like this would be worth a trip to a good shop for a front end inspection.
Most shops will look at it for free.....and you can then decide if it is a job you want to tackle yourself.
I like to have mine gone over once each year.
Best yet, it is part of a "safety check", that costs up to about $100, and they give a whole bunch of things a going over.
Well worth the cost in preventative maintenance.....catching things in the very early stages.

Have you had the tires balanced? That would be the first thing I would look into.

I had a wheel bearing go bad recently and it just hummed - it would get worse turning one way or another. I have heard of them getting shaky when they get bad.

Well,

I was going to jack it up and take a look last weekend to see if there was play in the hub, but we had an ice storm.

I figure if I jacked it up I might be able to see if there was play in the hub by seeing if movement was isolated there and was not in some other suspension component.

Hopefully it will warm up and I can take a look. Looks like a pain in the neck to change the hub bearing.

How is this done? Do I need to remove the knuckle and take it to a machine shop to have them press in a new hub bearing? Is there a better way for a do it your self fix?

thanks all.

Well,


Hopefully it will warm up and I can take a look. Looks like a pain in the neck to change the hub bearing.

How is this done? Do I need to remove the knuckle and take it to a machine shop to have them press in a new hub bearing? Is there a better way for a do it your self fix?

thanks all.

Not sure you included the year, but since you are talking about the steering knuckle I'll assume it is similar to my '96. In that case, yes you pull the knuckle and take it in to have the old bearing replaced. The hub has to be pressed out of the bearing race, then the bearing out of the knuckle. Re-assembly is the opposite. I first went to an automotive machine shop that had been recommended, but the folks there indicated that the job required a special jig. I ended up at a Lincoln/Merc dealer as I needed a new hub too and they had one in stock - same as the mountaineer of the time. They charged $40 for the shop work and had it done in a few minutes.