Strange Vibration - 2002 LeSabre

[Hapynzap]

Monday we took a 400 mile trip and I noticed the right front wheel has a vibration between 45-55 mph going strait and accelerating but not decelerating. It got to the point where the hub cap came off - we lost it towards the end of the trip.

I am a little stumped on this. I had replaced both tie rod ends and the left front wheel bearing hub the week before. Neither tire has any play when I jack them up and check. I dont hear any CV joint noise or vibration when turning.
The rim and tire looks normal upon visual inspection.

I had both front tires balanced at the end of October (Firestone all season). The wifey drives this car. Maybe she hit a pothole and knocked the balancing out. I can get the Right tire balancing checked.

I am going to have new front struts put in next week. That should help too.

[imidazol97]

Originally Posted by Hapynzap

I am a little stumped on this. I had replaced both tie rod ends and the left front wheel bearing hub the week before. Neither tire has any play when I jack them up and check. I dont hear any CV joint noise or vibration when turning.should help too.

I assume it was aligned after the replacement of parts in the steering.

My guess would be a bad tire or wheel balance. Firestone needs to check it. You could have a wheel that's bent.

[Hapynzap]

I had all 4 tires re-balanced and rotated yesterday. It's a little better but the vibration is still there mostly. Yes it could be the alignment also.
The game plan is to get new struts and air shock put on next week, then the alignment done. I will up date then.

[dudealex1]

I recently had a problem not unlike yours. My car had a shake/vibration in the rear, and after an alignment and rotation it moved to the front right. It seemed like it was worse accelerating, especially in overdrive (still don't know why). At slow speeds, the steering wheel would move back and forth just slightly, at 55 it started vibrating, by 70 I'd wonder if I had a flat (the vibration varied). I was convinced i had a bent rim, but it ended up being a slipped belt in the tire. You may have a problem with the sidewall or general structure of a tire. Check for that by putting the car up and spinning the wheel quickly by hand... One last thing to check for is mud or snow/ice buildup on the inside of the rim.

[Hapynzap]

UPDATE: Well I finally got around to getting my front Monroe Sensa Track struts and new air shocks installed on the back. The rear shocks were leaking and the fronts badly worn. The front tires show signs of cupping and for now they were rotated to the rear. The vibration is gone from the front and there is a little from the bad tires in the back now but I am going to wait for next fall before I put 2 new ones on for them.

[Hapynzap]

Well crappola - I took the car on a 2000 mile trip and the right cv axel got really bad so I had both axels done plus the bearing in the right side tranny case was getting bad so had that replaced too. No vibrations at all runs like new again. This has sure been a fiasco