General Shack elimination question...

[anonymousmoose]

Some of you guys have already posted in replies on the VY forum, so if you have, I'm not naggin', I just wanted to post in the general forum in case someone else see's this.

I've got a funny situation on my WK Caprice V8.

When I drive on the freeway at 100km/h the following happens;

• Car steering wheel shakes quite a bit at 29-34psi tyre pressure
• Its noticeably better at 36-37psi (yet understandably its a rougher ride)
• At 36-37psi I get the same shake on certain section of the freeway and other sections its almost no shake

Tyres are Goodyear (not in bad condition) 17' on Standard WK Caprice rims.

Things that have been looked at;

• Mechanic says suspension is fine
• Rotated front wheels to back didn't make a difference
• Wheels balanced twice but no joy

Mechanics have said that its one of them things they need to do to eliminate factors. And it could get expensive.

Are there any things I can do easily? I've been suggested to swap the wheels with another car but I haven't found one with my size rim who will let me try. Also, wouldn't swapping the front wheels to the back make a difference if it was the tyres/rims?

[davway]

swapping from front to back might not make a difference if all of the tyres have worn unevenly.
like i suggested before, swap with someone else who doesnt have this problem.
you dont have to have 17s for the test either, if 16s fit over the calipers then use them, if you can only get 19s for the swap, then use them.

until you do this, i wouldnt bother trying anything else.
eliminate whats on the car first before spending money on things that arent needed.

[anonymousmoose]

swapping from front to back might not make a difference if all of the tyres have worn unevenly.
like i suggested before, swap with someone else who doesnt have this problem.
you dont have to have 17s for the test either, if 16s fit over the calipers then use them, if you can only get 19s for the swap, then use them.

until you do this, i wouldnt bother trying anything else.
eliminate whats on the car first before spending money on things that arent needed.

Ta, I went to meet a fellow with a Caprice last week. But he had 18' wheels so they didnt fit :-(
My VX has bad tyres too so this will most likely not be a good test.

If anyone in Perth has some wheels I can try just for a quick run down the freeway please help.

[ashbox]

your caprice should be able to take 18's so i don't quite get what you mean by not fitting

[anonymousmoose]

your caprice should be able to take 18's so i don't quite get what you mean by not fitting

This fellow got customer rims on his car, aftermarket with an aftermarket suspension system. Sorry, should have mentioned it. It was a nice ride he has too.

[anonymousmoose]

I just realised I got a brand new spare in the boot. So all I need to do my own test is find one more wheel, preferably new too for a test. I went to the local holden dealer and asked a salesman (no machanices there) if they could help me by giving me a spare wheel for a few hours.

I just was pretty much told to take a hike in a nice way. They said they dont have any spare wheels anywhere. I said what about in the cars and he just told me to go to a tyre shop. Gone are the days were people actually try to help you. And to think I got my last service done there too.

I just bit my tong and walked away displeased looking. I noticed all the sales staff looking at me when I drove off and the guy I spoke to pointing to me. Who knows what there were talking about.

So if anyone in Perth, particularity has a new spare 18' Rim & tyre I can borrow for a short time I would be so happy. The fellow I saw 2 weeks back, who had custom rims that didnt fit my car, might still have his spare. He's in Sydney on business so maybe he can give me a hand when he gets back.


I also noticed today when I hold the steering wheel very very tight, the shake goes away...


.

[Flat_White]

I just realised I got a brand new spare in the boot. So all I need to do my own test is find one more wheel, preferably new too for a test. I went to the local holden dealer and asked a salesman (no machanices there) if they could help me by giving me a spare wheel for a few hours.

I just was pretty much told to take a hike in a nice way. They said they dont have any spare wheels anywhere. I said what about in the cars and he just told me to go to a tyre shop. Gone are the days were people actually try to help you. And to think I got my last service done there too.

I just bit my tong and walked away displeased looking. I noticed all the sales staff looking at me when I drove off and the guy I spoke to pointing to me. Who knows what there were talking about.

So if anyone in Perth, particularity has a new spare 18' Rim & tyre I can borrow for a short time I would be so happy. The fellow I saw 2 weeks back, who had custom rims that didnt fit my car, might still have his spare. He's in Sydney on business so maybe he can give me a hand when he gets back.


I also noticed today when I hold the steering wheel very very tight, the shake goes away...


.

LOL are you for real??

Of course they wouldnt let you use a wheel, its holden, not a charity!

All jokes aside, from what i can tell, you describe the exact symptoms to what i experienced in my old VY Senator (also on LPG FYI) in my case the car had suffered alot of country driving, hence heating the tyres - hence increasing tyre pressure - hence wearing unevenly - hence creating the described noise.

Buddy, you have two options, replace the tyres or live with it.

Stop flooding the forum with the same question, move on and deal with it

Lastly, dont bother going to holden, they are unlikely to help you in anyway without pulling out the cheque-book, if i had been working at holden at the time i would of made you the laughing stock of the whole showroom myself.

Furthermore, enjoy the australia day weekend.

Regards,
-Whiting

[anonymousmoose]

LOL are you for real??

Of course they wouldnt let you use a wheel, its holden, not a charity!

All jokes aside, from what i can tell, you describe the exact symptoms to what i experienced in my old VY Senator (also on LPG FYI) in my case the car had suffered alot of country driving, hence heating the tyres - hence increasing tyre pressure - hence wearing unevenly - hence creating the described noise.

Buddy, you have two options, replace the tyres or live with it.

Stop flooding the forum with the same question, move on and deal with it

Lastly, dont bother going to holden, they are unlikely to help you in anyway without pulling out the cheque-book, if i had been working at holden at the time i would of made you the laughing stock of the whole showroom myself.

Furthermore, enjoy the australia day weekend.

Regards,
-Whiting

I didnt expect them to give me a brand new spare wheel to test but I expected them to at least say they will have a look if there is one in the workshop.

The way I see it is that if a potential future customer comes in you shouldn't tell him/her to take a hike even if not in those exact words. At least offer the customer that you'll check with the workshop when its open or something like that.

I work in I.T. I do private jobs for people when not in my government office. Sometimes I give them a little something for free or if I do a job and they ask for a favour I'll do it without charge. I find I retain clients like this more then just tellin' 'em no, even if its said nicely.

Last time I went to a PC store to buy a $5 cable. The guy said he doesn't have any new ones. I told him I'll buy a pre-used on from his work area for the price of a new one (I really needed the cable to fix a clients PC). He handed me the cable, said 'no charge'. He is most defiantly getting repeat business from me.

Perhaps I'm just old fashioned. But heck, I've been giving my doctors free I.T advice each time I visited his office for medical reasons (he likes to tinker with computers) and now his giving me a project maybe worth $500 profit. And I didn't even have to 'sell' my services to him.

I'll stop posting [on this topic] now as I appears I'm annoying people. And thats understandable. Next time I get the digital camera out I'll take some pics of my car and post them for you guys who want to see it. Not relating to this topic

If I post about this topic its only cause there is a major development or if its been fixed.

[anonymousmoose]

Ok, I promised to only post if I had a major development. Well I though it ok to report that I changed the VX tyres onto the WK and; same shake on same sections of freeway, even worse now. So I then changed the wheels back again.

The fact I got the shakes getting worse on the same freeway sections leads me to believe its not the tyres. The fact it shakes more on the VX tyres I think is because the VX wheels are not balanced to suit the WK. Stop me if I'm wrong... I'm only guessing.

[Not_An_Abba_Fan]

If a wheel is balanced, it is balanced, it doesn't matter which car it is on.

On to your problem, have you had the wheel alignment checked? If it is out it can cause steering vibration. Also, what happens when you hit a rough patch in the road? Does the steering shake or jump if you hit a bump? It would explain it vibrating on the same stretch of freeway if the road surface there was a bit bumpy or rough. If this is the case it would most likely be your front struts that are worn.

[anonymousmoose]

If a wheel is balanced, it is balanced, it doesn't matter which car it is on.

On to your problem, have you had the wheel alignment checked? If it is out it can cause steering vibration. Also, what happens when you hit a rough patch in the road? Does the steering shake or jump if you hit a bump? It would explain it vibrating on the same stretch of freeway if the road surface there was a bit bumpy or rough. If this is the case it would most likely be your front struts that are worn.

The newer sections of the freeway I find shake more then the older rougher sections. But no, when I hit a bump etc there are no noticeable bump, just the same shake. I hope WA suspensions can sort it out. I will make me a very happy man.

[anonymousmoose]

Ok, this will [hopefully] be my last post on the subject.

I took the car to WA Suspensions today. The gentleman there talked me into doing another wheel balance (the 3rd one now).

Car drives MUCH better now. Still a tiny amount of shake on some freeway sections yet I think that could just be the road.

They did an off car wheel balance. Looks like the other to [jokers] who did my wheel balances either A) didnt give a crap and wanted my $40 B) didnt know what they were doing C) didnt have good equipment.

Thanks for everyone who PM'ed me their recommended tyre/mechanic workshops. Please dont take offence that I didnt choose your recommended workshop. WA suspensions was my choice based on convenience to get there and a the freeway close by to test drive the car. Plus the train station allowed me to get out of the workshop reception area to the city

[Flat_White]

Ok, this will [hopefully] be my last post on the subject.

I took the car to WA Suspensions today. The gentleman there talked me into doing another wheel balance (the 3rd one now).

Car drives MUCH better now. Still a tinyamount of shake on some freeway sections yet I think that could just be the road.

They did an off car wheel balance. Looks like the other to [jokers] who did my wheel balances either A) didnt give a crap and wanted my $40 B) didnt know what they were doing C) didnt have good equipment.

Thanks for everyone who PM'ed me their recommended tyre/mechanic workshops. Please dont take offence that I didnt choose your recommended workshop. WA suspensions was my choice based on convenience to get there and a the freeway close by to test drive the car. Plus the train station allowed me to get out of the workshop reception area to the city

Great to hear, glad you got it sorted.

how much was the wheel balance if you dont mind me asking?

[anonymousmoose]

Great to hear, glad you got it sorted.

how much was the wheel balance if you dont mind me asking?

Thats the best part, $40!!! Even the mechanic who didn't get it sorted charged me $50...

[Flat_White]

Thats the best part, $40!!! Even the mechanic who didn't get it sorted charged me $50...

i might have to get mine done aswell then, are you allowed to watch the process while they do it?

i dont like letting my pride and joy out of my sight.

[anonymousmoose]

i might have to get mine done aswell then, are you allowed to watch the process while they do it?

i dont like letting my pride and joy out of my sight.

I didnt ask, but the waiting area has a glass door to see the workshop. I asked for if I could grab a glass of water and they let me walk into the office area no escort. Very good guys. Call Brad. I dealt with him as per someone's recommendation. Nice guy. Ask him about watching the car.

Oh and as a standard they test drive the car before and after. Other places they didnt even drive it at all without me making a special request.

[VR38]

Sorry just glanced over the thread but have you had the ball joints checked correctly?
Just checked a mates car with the same complaint and the right hand ball joint was shagged.

[anonymousmoose]

Sorry just glanced over the thread but have you had the ball joints checked correctly?
Just checked a mates car with the same complaint and the right hand ball joint was shagged.

They just balanced it, the shake is pretty much gone now... only a very very tiny shake on certain freeway sections. If it stays that way, I'll leave it as is. Its really not bad at the moment.

[anonymousmoose]

Sorry guys if this thread is getting a bit long... yet I've got to post another edition to this crazy saga.

I've noticed that after the wheel alignment I got done Monday the car drove great. Then on some days the shake comes back and some days it's good again. I know it sounds crazy yet I'm 99% sure its intermittent now.

For example; Yesterday I drove at about 10:45am from the Burn Beach end of the Mitchell Freeways to Joondalup (WA). The car drove pretty close to perfect. Today I left for work at 7:30am, drove along the same stretch of Freeway and the steering wheel shook quite bad again.

I've noticed this lately... on some trips the car would be fine and others it will be almost as bad as before the balance. Usually I can tell pretty much when I drive out of the garage. The car feels smoother on a good day and although at low speeds it doesn't shake, I usually can tell there is something's wrong as the handling isn't the way it should be even at low speeds.

What a pity, after the balance last Monday I was so happy the way the car drove and now its intermittently happening again. I'm the only person driving the car and I can honestly say I haven't hit any curbs, not gone fast over any speed humps or anything like that.

Has anyone heard of anything like this before?

[davway]

ball joints or tie rod ends.

whereever your taking it to - take it somewhere else.

[anonymousmoose]

ball joints or tie rod ends.

whereever your taking it to - take it somewhere else.

WA Suspensions. The other guys I took it too will never see the car no move. WA suspensions said did a balance and asked me to get back to them again if problem persists. So I will get back to them when the gentleman I spoke to gets back [thing he is on leave right now].

[anonymousmoose]

This is the most bizzar thing ever... I really am at a loss. I just spoke to WA suspensions and they say besides balancing on-car, all 4 wheels, there isnt much they can do. They check for ware are tear and didnt find anything last time.

They way it makes no sense that it happens one time and doesnt the next time... I agree with him, it doesnt make sense but its happening and I'm not on any meds :-P

[StevenzZ]

maybe warped rotors? just putting it out there

[anonymousmoose]

maybe warped rotors? just putting it out there

Thats yet its come up before... new rotors have been installed and it did the same thing before they were changed.

[Zuicider]

lower control arms and shitty strut housings