Front end & steering

[intrigued00]

The last time i got my oil changed the dealership told me both front bearings were really loose and needed replaced. At the time the front end was not making any noise and the car had no symptoms of having bad front bearings. Recently i have been noticing the steering consistently vibrating at around 55mph and up. i can feel it and also visible watch the wheel vibrate back and forth. The vibration stops when accelerating. The steering is still very tight, but am also noticing more vibration through the wheel at lower speeds. It almost seems as though the front end has a LOOSE feeling to it. I am still not noticing any clicking noises when i turn the wheel, and am wondering if everyone thinks it is the wheel bearing before i go and get it replaced. Also what are the key features of having a steering rack go bad. I have been reading many posts about it and really hope OLDS got the problem fixed in the 2000's Thanks for the replys

[kmohr3]

I don't think you have bad wheel bearings.

Most likely your steering shimmy is a wheel balance problem. Have your front tires balanced by someone that has a good computerized wheel balancer. This would be the first step in diagnosing a steering shimmy (and shouldn't cost that much).

A bad wheel bearing will make a droning or humming type of sound. A bad CV will usually make a clunk-clunk-clunk sound with wheel rotation and probably be worse when cornering.