troublesome front end

[bluebuick91]

Hi All,
Have a 91 Buick Skylark, with a troublesome front end...So maybe you guys can help with this one...The passenger front feels like it has a wobble to it. Have changed the wheel bearing spindle, still feel the vibration between 45mph and 60 mph, have had the front tires balanced, the front end was checked for allignment, have jacked up the side, and tried to wiggle the tire around, don't feel any movement. I have even switched the two fronts, still have the problem...Sometimes when driving at 25mph, it feels like the tire is bouncing up and down, then sometimes it feels like it is wobbling side to side, and you can feel it a little bit in the steering wheel. One day getting on the freeway, I got on it hard, and it felt like the wheel was going to fall off, then the next time getting on, I went slower, building my speed up and I didn't get a bad vibration until I hit about 45mph then at 65mph it seemed to smooth out...

Am puzzled what it could be, maybe a cv joint? There are no noises coming from the front, no clicking, knocking, whining, quiet...Any help as to what it may be, let us know...Also, how to check the cv joints, wheel bearings etc...Thanks in advance for your help!

[Madcat455]

Does it happen all the time or just after hitting a bump, or doing a lane change or something??

Have your strut bushings checked... I had an old 94 Grand am that would shake badly like that.. but would drive smooth up to speed as long as I didn't hit any bumps or turn the wheel. Although, If you had a shop check the Alignment.... you'd think they would've noticed if they were bad or not.

[bluebuick91]

does it no matter what, ok i jacked the front end up in the air. put it in gear it still does it at 45 and up but when i get to 70 it stops, took both front wheels off tryed it no vibration i put drivers side wheel on still no vibe,, but when i put the passengers wheel on there it was bad vibration. and having someone turn the steering wheel back and forth i can barely hear a noise in that area, i pulled on the wheel no play i pulled back and forth on the cv joint shaft no play, but i think i can barely feel a little play from the top of the strut not sure, i will try to get the strut off next thank you
jennifer

[maxwedge]

This can be typical symptoms of a bad inner cv joint, when binding it causes shudders and vibration in the steering and drive train. Both axles would have to be pulled and checked for the inner tripot not sliding in and out smoothly.

[Madcat455]

I'm still going with a bad strut mountor strut.... A binding CV joint would've presented symptoms even with the tires off... A bad strut or mount might have needed the extra weight of the tire on in order to present(ie... being just tight enough to handle the spinning rotor, but put the extra spinning force of the larger/heavier tire on and it's too much for it).

Did you also try swapping sides with the wheels while it was up in the air... you could have liquid (usually FIX-A-FLAT) in one of your tires. I've seen people come in to my shop complaining about bad vibrations... only for it to be that stupid F-A-F.

[maxwedge]

Madcat455, a binding inner tripot manifests itself on acceleration and decel as the front of the car changes attitude the joint slides in and out, if binding, the entire drivetrain will shudder because the fixed length shaft tries to move engine on it's mounts, just a thought here with the symptoms.

[Madcat455]

Originally Posted by maxwedge

Madcat455, a binding inner tripot manifests itself on acceleration and decel as the front of the car changes attitude the joint slides in and out, if binding, the entire drivetrain will shudder because the fixed length shaft tries to move engine on it's mounts, just a thought here with the symptoms.

Cool... Didn't know that. Do you think it'd still manifest without any road resistance (like when she had it in the air)??

I was just thinking along those lines that, with the VIB appearing after the addition of the front wheel... the suspension would already be bottomed out and Immobile while airborne, so (with my logic...), the inner joint should've been shaking with or whithout the tire as the shaft would already be extended past its "comfort zone".

Just thinking out loud...lol. Difficult since the car is not right in front of us.

[maxwedge]

Agreed, Madcat455, the axle condition can have symptoms come up under varying conditions, tough to pinpoint in this forum. If I drove it I could tell, we used to take the hood off and watch the engine as the problem occurred, if the engine was moving in synch with the vibration ,the axles were the problem.

[bluebuick91]

hi
all thank you for the help. i went to another tire shop and found the problem with the vibe, the tire guy found a rock the size of a lugnut in it and a lot of soap enough to fill a coffee cup up, after $10.00 no more viberation, just so you all know before this was fixed i went to walmart had tires checked balanced and then went to americas tire company for the same reason, if you are ever in redding ca. i would stay away from these two places for any auto work

[maxwedge]

I don't understand how that tire could be balanced or switched to another position and the problem not move with the tire?

[bluebuick91]

all i know is what i seen the tire guy take out of my tire, he even had one of his workers wash the tire out the kid said thats the cleenest his hands had been in a while.i am just glad it is over and i can drive it,

[Madcat455]

Originally Posted by maxwedge

I don't understand how that tire could be balanced or switched to another position and the problem not move with the tire?

if it was only swapped from RF to LF and never to the rear, I doubt that there'd be much change in the vib. It'd take an experianced Mech. to tell the difference.


Glad you found the problem and it was a cheap and easy fix... some time is actually is the simplest thing that's broken

[bluebuick91]

the car still drives good, the front end seems ok but i noticed that when i am sitting at a stop light and i go to take off i here a noise from the front end on the passenger side almost like a clunk not all the time and it does not clunk when i turn the wheels just on take off somtimes, so does that meen that the CV joint is bad, thank you all for helping me
jennifer

[Madcat455]

What's the engine and Milage??? Being a 91 and only an intermittant clunk at take off, I'd go for a loose or worn out engnie mount (if it's only like a Single Clunk)... If its like a series of 3+ clunks, then I'd vote CV shaft.

But just a single clunk... could be an engine mount, suspensions bushing, Anti sway bar anchoring pin broken(although, suspension noises usually occur while driving too)... Again, hard to tell without being able to hear exactly how hard it sounds, how solid of a clunk it makes, and how hard the engine is working when it takes place.

[bluebuick91]

it used to belong to my grandma bless her soul, but it has 88,000 original miles on it. she only drove it around town a few miles at a time it is a nice car, but the noise is more like a ting not clunk my mistake. sorry for giving the wrong info. almost like somthing is hitting the muffler pipe but up front and on the passenger side