Smooth ride at 75mph ?

[91metallicblue]

Hi all,
my 91 1.0 has 93k miles on it, and I do a lot of freeway driving. When I hit 75 or so, the car vibrates. It doesn't shake violently, just vibration that starts from the front and moves it's way to the back, like a wave. I just forked over some major moolah for new tires, and the ride was gotten a bit smoother, but the vibration is still there. Here's my question:
does anyone here get a smooth ride at 65 mph or above? I am considering changing the struts, but the tire place told me that wouldn't make a difference. They also said an alignment(around $70) might not fix the problem either. One idiot had the audacity to tell me a smooth ride for my geo was 'impossible' due to it's age. My rear struts are still good, fyi.
any suggestions?
Thanks!
ps, I just passed the smog test yesterday, had the car tuned too

[Tominator2000]

My '92 with almost 200,000 miles on it is fine at 75.

I'd shop around and get that alignment done. If it is indeed out of alignment it will wear those new tires pretty quick.

How were the old tires? Cupped or worn on the inside/outside more?

[91metallicblue]

I had the 'cv boots' changed on both front tires about 6 months ago, and the 'boot' changed for the driver side rear tire a bit earlier than that. And guess what, the old driver side rear showed wearing on the inside. The rest of the tires showed even wear. I bought 3 tires(2 front, 1 driver side rear), the passenger rear was still good.
Here's the dilema: the guy who sold me the tires said the problem 'could be' my rims(stock geo). When I went to the guy he recommended for the rims, he said even new ones need to be balanced. So, on the one hand I can pay $100 total for the new rims, or $60 for the alignment. I wouldn't mind spending the money IF the problem was assured to go away. I just don't like the feeling that none of these 'experts' can give me a definitive answer. Heh. It's like working on the computer, and when something goes wrong, ya take out each input device one at a time until you find what's wrong, instead of being knowledgable enough/having the right equipment to diagnose what the problem is outright.
You wanna hear something funny? Initially my Geo didn't pass the smog test. It was knocking, so I knew it needed some tune-up work. So, I took it to a shop, and I paid for a 'diagnostic' exam of the car, where they promised 'all that needed to be fixing' would be identified. Well, they did some checking, and the guy said he left the idle at 850. I took it back to get it re-smogged, and the sucker was idling at 1500 rpm...LOL!!!
Needless to say, I took it back to the same shop just to get the idle down, and thanks to my handy dandy manual, I knew it was just turning the screw on the intake manifold. So I get there, told the guy what he did/didn't do, and asked him to adjust the idle to the level he said he orginally had left it. He didn't look to pleased. I reminded him it was just about turning a screw, but I didn't do it cuz I lack a tach. Get this(hehe), he said my car didn't have an adjusting screw! So I pulled the cover, showed him where it was. So this incident just threw my faith in mechs for a loop,ya know?
Here's the ultimate fear: paying for the new wheels, alignment, then having the problem remain, followed by another recommendation to renew the suspension
PLEASE EXCUSE THE LENGTH OF THIS RANT!

[Tominator2000]

I'm missing something. Did the guy that mounted your tires balance them? All of them? Spin or bubble? Are these new tires or used? A slipped belt might cause the vibration. A bubble balance would not show the slipped belt, but usually a spin balance will.

If they were balanced properly you do not need wheels.

Possibly the one worn tire was on the front of the car and someone rotated the worn tire to the rear. How long have you had the car?

[geojim]

My '93 1.0 has over 310K miles on it and it rides smooth at 70-75mph. Had both front lower control arms changed to pass inspection and eliminate the clunking sound on turns, but I believe the rest of the suspension is original.

[crazyinkc]

I had a 92 a few years ago with a similar problem. I found my inner CV joints worn out. This caused a vibration when I was cruising. I did not get the vibration under acceleration or deceleration just while I was on a flat surface rolling down the road. This would happen at speeds between 60 and 75 mph.

[91metallicblue]

Thanks, all, for your replies.

Tominator, thanks to your advice, I 'shopped around' and
found a tire shop that checked out my tires at no charge.

"If they were balanced properly you do not need wheels."

This is what the shop guy told me Don't need new rims
after all *phew*

Possibly the one worn tire was on the front of the car and someone rotated the worn tire to the rear. How long have you had the car?[/quote]

I've had it for close to 10 years, but 3 of those were in storage. Turns
out part of the problem is the freeway I'm using - it's 'wavy'(shop guy's
words). There's a bunch of quick up-n-down sections of pavement
helping to cause the shaking. I know this now after using a different
highway to get to the shop on Sunday, the ride was smoooth at 75.
I asked the tire guy whether new struts(my 91 has stock struts) would
help the smooth things out on the 'wavy' highway - he said no. But aren't shocks/struts supposed to do just that? Hmmm. Autozone will sell me struts for $54 a piece. Looking at the Hayes manual, I could install
then myself. Or perhaps I could look at the control arms, like Geojim, or lube a part of it? Hmm.
Another thing the tire guy said was: you want your best wheels in the front of your car, and any questionable ones on the back.

GeoJim, you're geo has 300k on it? LOL!!! How'd you do it? Regular oil
changes? After getting the repair manual, I had the guts to remove the
flange, and test out as many hoses as I could myself. The flange was totally clogged with carbon! Just like a clogged heart artery. The hose connecting the air filter housing to the pcv valve was just as bad. Needless to say I cleaned 'em out. I'm doing what I can to ensure my Geo will put me through med school

[geojim]

Yep, it just turned 314k. I got it from my mother-in-law at around 290k. Shortly after that it developed some major oil leak problems and I had our shade tree mechanic do a limited rebuild. The Geo lived just about all it's life at highway speeds and had it's oil changed every 3K miles without fail. The inside of the engine was very clean. I don't know how much longer it will last, but then again I said that about myself after bypass surgery.

[geoshuttle]

I had my tires replaced and alighnment done on my 96 Geo a couple of months ago and can attest to the huge difference that made in the ride when hitting 75 and 80mph, but there are some freeways out there that still can make it "wiggle waggle" a bit and I just attribute that to the size and weight of the car. I've noticed some streches of freeway have verticle grooves carved into the pavement and that's what causes mine to get a little bumpy.

But overall, nice tires and a proper alighment are well worth the money. Before I had put cheapy $19.99 Wal-Mart tires on the car and not only did they only last me like 4 years (only 25k miles w/ aweful wear), the car was always bumpy and very noisy when going high speeds on freeways. I now have nicer $45 Good Year tires that I had installed by Sears and it's like driving a new car compared to the ride I had before (they also charged me nearly $300 compared to Wal-Mart's $100 or so--you get what you pay for I guess).

Lermanuel Dias

[MetroN00b]

My 95 Metro with 121k miles on it seems to do a LOT better at high speeds (60-80mph). I can zip around corners free of any rattles. In my opinion the Metro is a quite horrible car for making quick trips around town. I prefer it for long drives at high speeds. The best is passing SUVs as they stop at each and every gas station, HAHAHAHAH THOSE NUBS (If they're going to destroy the planet they may as well have to pay more for it.) Anyways I'll stop with the off subject response.

[91metallicblue]

geoshuttle, yep these new tires have made a big difference. They come with a 40k mile warranty(does this mean if they wear out before they run 40k, that they'll be replaced free of charge? Or will the tires have to pop before they're replaced)

> metronoob: I feel the same way about those SUV's. Guess they're the station wagons of our eras. Once I get my career going I plan on having a work car(like my Geo) and my plaything.

I may have to get an alignment, though. I noticed if I let go of the wheel, the car starts going left. Oh well, there goes another $60!

[geoshuttle]

Originally Posted by 91metallicblue

geoshuttle, yep these new tires have made a big difference. They come with a 40k mile warranty(does this mean if they wear out before they run 40k, that they'll be replaced free of charge? Or will the tires have to pop before they're replaced)

> metronoob: I feel the same way about those SUV's. Guess they're the station wagons of our eras. Once I get my career going I plan on having a work car(like my Geo) and my plaything.

I may have to get an alignment, though. I noticed if I let go of the wheel, the car starts going left. Oh well, there goes another $60!

The Goodyear's I bought had an insane 75k warranty, but I honestly think those numbers are all gimmicks. There's probably pages and pages of conditions where the warranty won't apply and by the time 75k rolls around the majority of people don't even care at that point as it's most likely been years. I believe the warranty only applies for normal conditions, no blowouts due to glass, nails, etc.

I need to go get my alignment looked at again also, I'm starting to hear a knock knock sound when I turn right. I believe with sears I get free rotations for life and alighnment checks may also be free within the first year.

[91metallicblue]

Originally Posted by geoshuttle

I'm starting to hear a knock knock sound when I turn right. I believe with sears I get free rotations for life and alighnment checks may also be free within the first year.

Uh oh! That might be the wheel bearings *gulp*. Apparently it's not a
huge job, if you have the right tools. The guy who installed the 'cv
boots'(which house the bearings), said that instead of just re-installing
the bearings, they buy the whole cv boot, then just replace it. Cost me
around $300 total to change both front boots.

good luck, matey!

[geoshuttle]

Originally Posted by 91metallicblue

Uh oh! That might be the wheel bearings *gulp*. Apparently it's not a
huge job, if you have the right tools. The guy who installed the 'cv
boots'(which house the bearings), said that instead of just re-installing
the bearings, they buy the whole cv boot, then just replace it. Cost me
around $300 total to change both front boots.

good luck, matey!

Oh no! Don't say that! I'm already freaking out over how much it will cost to fix my AC..I hope this isn't the beginning of a snowballing of problems for my geo. I have it trouble free since 1997 and I would hate to give up on it now and I'm fairly attached to it at this point and was hoping I could get at leat 5 more years out of it.

I didn't have the knocking sound until I had the new tires and alighnment done , I hope they didn't mess something up to cause it to do this now...

[mcalvo]

Originally Posted by geojim

Yep, it just turned 314k. I got it from my mother-in-law at around 290k. Shortly after that it developed some major oil leak problems and I had our shade tree mechanic do a limited rebuild. The Geo lived just about all it's life at highway speeds and had it's oil changed every 3K miles without fail. The inside of the engine was very clean. I don't know how much longer it will last, but then again I said that about myself after bypass surgery.

Geez man.. 300K+ Awesome to me, if you ask. At this point I feel really great with my 125K 1996 metro

MC.