steering wheel shake

xxtomorrowsliexx · #1 03-27-2006, 09:27 PM

I have a problem with shaking in my 2002 grand am gt. My steering wheel, at certain speeds, shakes. For example at around 60 and then again around 70 and above my wheel will shake right and left. I thought at first it might have been alighnment or balancing, so i had new tires put on and an alignment and it still does the same thing. Anyone have any ideas at all id appreciate it!

skibum1111 · #2 03-27-2006, 09:53 PM

Have a different shop check the balance on your tires. I had a balance issue with the last shop I had balance my tires, went to a different shop and they corrected the issue. Before you do that, check on the back of the wheels for dirt or any crud that is caked in there, that will affect the balance as well.

xxtomorrowsliexx · #3 03-27-2006, 10:14 PM

thanks, ill have to check that out, hopefully thats all it is. anyone else have any other ideas or similar situations please feel free to post. thanks

xeroinfinity · #4 03-28-2006, 12:33 AM

Ya I hav had mud or snow in my rims and it will make them jump all over, really hard to hold the wheel sometimes.
Hopfully thats your issue!

xxtomorrowsliexx · #5 03-29-2006, 11:19 AM

right now my cars in the shop getting some body work done but as soon as i get it back im gonna clean the shit out of the rims and see what happens. I realyl hope that is all it is becuse im droppin alot of cash on the body work and cant afford to fix it if its something worse. I just am not sure becuase if ther was crud on the rims woudlnt it have been noticed or corrected in the balancing process? Or possibly they culdnt get them to balance so they did it as best they could and said fuck it.

xeroinfinity · #6 03-29-2006, 04:09 PM

Also 1 other thing to think about is the tires them selves.
Even a brand NEW tire can hav busted/bad belts and that will make the steering wheel dance too.

I knowtice this most often when some one has had a tire on going in one direction, and then turn it around and put it on the other side.
The belts get used to going one way, and when its fliped going the other, the belts twist and break causing the shaking. At slow speeds you will knowtice the car wobbling side to side too.

Good Hunting xxtomorrowsliexx

tommy00gt1 · #7 03-29-2006, 09:10 PM

I had a similar bad experience with the shaking wheel; particularly when I hit exactly 58 m.p.h. .... This was on my previous Olds Cutlass many years ago. But I was going to point out that I did find out what my problem was.
I had bought some (very) cheap tires; some brand called "Stratton". I swear they were some kind of seconds or rejects because I had my car back to the place that I bought the tires four times for spin balancing and wheel alignments. They could not smooth out the problem; and I was told "I must have something else wrong with my front end"; lol.....
I finally bought new tires at a Sears store, and the shakiness went away and my ride smoothed right out. So there was no question that I had gotten factory rejects or seconds. I swear those tires had either bad belts, or were somehow manufactured way out of balance.... probably so bad that even spin balancing could not correct it. Surprisingly the damn tires wore well, lol... but I had to put up with the vibrations though.
So when I need new rubber for my Grand Am, they will be either B.F.G.'s, or Yoko Avid's... no more bargain brand crud for me.....

xxtomorrowsliexx · #8 03-30-2006, 08:16 AM

yea, i had goodyear rsa's on it but they wore out so i ended up putting goodyear assurance triple treads and what got me thinking it wasnt tires was that it shakes EXACTLY the same...i mean at the same exact speeds and the same exact amount of shake even with these new tires...thast what got me thinking it was something mechanical but i have no idea what....and its definatly strange because ill get shake at like 60 mph then it goes away at 62 then comes back at around 72 way worse and from there on up it just gets worse

tommy00gt1 · #9 03-30-2006, 08:22 AM

Wow, that's strange... In your case, you checked your wheel berings and the hubs? Seeing how the new tires didn't coerrect it, it almost sounds like an "out of balance" problem.... but you checked that out already; that's wierd...
I know how maddening that can be too... it drove me nuts when I had it on the ole' Oldsmobile Cutlass. That's why I have some gray hairs in my goatee now, lol !!!!!!! I gotta pluck 'em out....

Grand GT · #10 03-30-2006, 09:23 AM

Have you check that your rims havent been damaged, or maybe it is an out of balance half shaft

tommy00gt1 · #11 03-30-2006, 11:04 AM

That's a damn good idea! I never thought of that........

Feul · #12 03-30-2006, 04:45 PM

I have a 1995 Grand Am, and at around 55-70 my steering wheel would shake like crazy, both stabalizers had to be replaced, its what keeps the steering wheel steady in place, go get them checked out, I changed them myself, fairly simple to do.

xeroinfinity · #13 03-30-2006, 07:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xxtomorrowsliexx

yea, i had goodyear rsa's on it but they wore out so i ended up putting goodyear assurance triple treads and what got me thinking it wasnt tires was that it shakes EXACTLY the same...i mean at the same exact speeds and the same exact amount of shake even with these new tires...thast what got me thinking it was something mechanical but i have no idea what....and its definatly strange because ill get shake at like 60 mph then it goes away at 62 then comes back at around 72 way worse and from there on up it just gets worse

I had this trouble to, it was around 62mph, bad vibrations, I replaced both CV joints and it got better, but still did it just not as bad. Might need checked out on your GA.

The wheel wieghts also dont like to stay on the damn rims for some reason. Be sure to hav them rebalanced every time they rotoate them. It should be free with the tire warnty.
1 more thing, cheap rotors are not balanced worth a shit. Most arent balanced period, Power Slots are supposed to be from what I hav heard.

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