Car shaking at speeds above 95km/h

[keza87]

Hi all

I have a VN S1 Wagon that is running great but have one small annoyance.
At any speed above 95km/h the whole car shakes! Including the steering wheel.
So far I have had 2 different sets of wheels and tyres on it, the steering is aligned and working properly.
I have had the drive shaft out of it once before due to a noisy diff but all is fine with the shaft and centre bearing.
I have crawled under the car with a set of spanners and tightened about 2-3 bolts that were loose but it still shakes.
My suspicions are either the drive shaft off balance, harmonic balancer, torque converter or somthing to do with the steering. The reason why I suggest the balancer is that the bolt wobbles with the balancer, but its tight.
I do a bit of highway driving and it annoys the hell out of me.
Also the spark plugs and leads have been replaced as my dad suggested a small miss in the engine could be causing it, but have ruled that out.

Any help or suggestions is greatly appreciated

[Not_An_Abba_Fan]

Get all the wheels balanced, this is what causes a vibration, not the alignment. Rear uni joint can cause a vibration too but it has to be totally f***** and almost falling out.

[keza87]

Sorry, forgot to mention that the wheels have been balanced twice as well

[MyVPIsFasterThanYourVP]

maybe the airbags are loose?

[keza87]

Bump

I am really getting annoyed with this problem. Everything I can check myself seems fine. The car has had its steering rack replaced in the past but don't know how long ago. The wheels are balanced and the steering is aligned.

Every other speed is fine unless it is over 95km/h.
As well its had 2 different sets of wheels that were both balanced. The stock wheels and mag wheels
It has its stock suspension. The shocks have been replaced.

Any suggestions????

[Zuicider]

looked at the condition of the front suspension bushes. evil monkey has a stato that use to shake at more than that speed. and his radius rod bush on the front right was missing.

[ephect]

engine and trans mounts id check.. or something to do with 4th gear.. does it shake if u leave it in 3? or does it disappear? maybe get ur trans serviced..

or when u had the center bearing replaced, they didnt align the driveshaft properly and its out.. when did it start occuring? anything changed? or just gradually started getting worse?

[keza87]

i'll check the front suspension tomorrow for your suggestion Zuicider.
The car shakes in 3rd and 4th, tried it the other day coming home from TAFE. the center bearing wasn't replaced as it was still good. The car has done it since I have owned it. I bought it about 10 months ago, it had been unreg. for some time but don't know much about the previous owners

[sleek_vp]

had the same problem i had to drive at 90 on a highway a wheel balance solved that maybe your steering is faulty

[terry]

I have the same problem I have 19,s 245 35 mags new springs and shocks allined and ballanced nothing seems wrong but it still shakes at 80 to 100 no answers but would like to know why as well

Hi all

I have a VN S1 Wagon that is running great but have one small annoyance.
At any speed above 95km/h the whole car shakes! Including the steering wheel.
So far I have had 2 different sets of wheels and tyres on it, the steering is aligned and working properly.
I have had the drive shaft out of it once before due to a noisy diff but all is fine with the shaft and centre bearing.
I have crawled under the car with a set of spanners and tightened about 2-3 bolts that were loose but it still shakes.
My suspicions are either the drive shaft off balance, harmonic balancer, torque converter or somthing to do with the steering. The reason why I suggest the balancer is that the bolt wobbles with the balancer, but its tight.
I do a bit of highway driving and it annoys the hell out of me.
Also the spark plugs and leads have been replaced as my dad suggested a small miss in the engine could be causing it, but have ruled that out.

Any help or suggestions is greatly appreciated

[keza87]

I have gone through the front suspension and steering but cannot find anything wrong. All the bushes look good still, the engine mounts are still fine. Next time I am at the wrecking yard I will see if I can find a drive shaft and try that. At the moment I am still annoyed that I cannot find anything wrong!
The wheels are correctly aligned angd balanced so it cannot be a wheel/alignment issue

[Zuicider]

has the car been in a major accident in the past, the chassis may be outa aline or slightly buckled

[keza87]

I can tell the car has been in an accident in the past but don't think it was that bad. The only damage to the car is the rear right panel. Looks like it had been rear ended. The car still aligns correctly.

[Burt_vn]

Yeah this is a tricky one, you say its been doing this since you bought the car? It is definately possible that your chassis has been bent slighty, but i dont see how it could cause your whole car to shake at 90k's and above. Does it go away if you keep speeding up, or is it constant from 90km/h onwards? I'll have a think about this one later.. i better get back outside, gotta finish doing these lifters before the sun goes down :P

[greenfoam]

If the wheel is shaking but the rest of the car isn't it wont be a balanace issue with the driveline, it will be most likely a wheel alignment (take it to a better/smarter place next time) or a worn bearing/rubber/tie rod but I'm going to take a guess that it's running too much toe in and that makes them very nervious at speed, if you are floating all over the road when its wet then that will be the problem

If the car is shaking and the wheel isnt then it will be a driveline issue. If it's both then I dunno throw it out and get one that's not bent ?

[keza87]

Apart from this annoyance this car has been the best car and buy I made. I bought it for $200 unreg. and have been slowly fixing it up and (touch wood) has not broken down in the 10 months I have had it! I have 2 other cars as well that have been trouble since the word go! (not holdens). This has really got me stumped as well.
The vibrations are from above 95km/h and have only taken it to 140km/h and still shakes at that speed.
While looking at it today I have noticed the rack has the slightest play in it but don't think that would cause the issue. Or maybe it could be the problem but just don't want it to be

[greenfoam]

The rack should have zero play in it and so should the tie rods, even 1mm would make the wheels wobble, if you decide there is movement in the rack there are good people on ebay that will send a rebuilt rack to your door for 200 something dollars

[keza87]

Maybe I should look into getting a new rack then!
Also I am supprised that it is possible to get a new rack for about $200, I thought it would have been more!

[porscheboxster]

I reckon u need to balance yr wheels

[Fu Manchu]

worn shock absorbers will cause that.

[ephect]

another thought.. maybe get ur rotors machined, or if there worn badly, change ur rotors.. does it shack/wobble when u brake?

just throwing ideas round..

[keza87]

All wheels are balanced.
All shocks have been replaced recently.
No wobble or shake when breaking plus the the breaks have been done when I bought the car as they were shot.
Tomorrow I am going to see if it is the drive shaft causing the problem to either rule it out and point the blame to the rack.
The rack and the drive shaft seem to be the only thing that sould cause it at the moment. Everything else seems to have been ruled out so far

Thanks for all the suggestions and help so far as well

[alcheringa138]

May sound odd but I work at a wrecking yard and one of the
local mechanics had a VS wagon (NON IRS) that had the same problem.
He came and borrowed some wheels and tyres that had been balanced.
He then tried a tailshaft.
He replaced engine/gearbox mounts. But it still vibrated.
It turned out to be the LHR axle.
Banged a second hand one in. Problem solved!

[[JUDGE]]

my mates car used to shake pretty bad, he told me one of his cylanders was out and had to be put back in. was fine after that :S

[keza87]

Thank you for all your help
I have narrowed down my problem to the drive shaft/axles.
Today I had the rear end jacked up and let the car idle while in Drive and it shook while the wheels were up in the air rotating.
I know my diff is on its way out so next time I am at Pick n Pay less I will take the diff assembly out of one there.
Thanks alcheringa138 for the suggestion as that could most likely be the problem. Whilst rotating the left rear wheel I can hear a noise coming from the axel so it could be one of the few problems with the diff.