Steering Wheel shakes 80km/h + WH Stato

[BADNWS]

Hey all,

Just wanted to find out if anyone could help me out?? When ever im doing over 80km/h my steering wheel shakes like mad enough that it makes ur arms sore.. Ive had about 5 wheel alignments and balances, along with a set of 4 new tyres in the sapce of a month an a half. I have also had all bushes replaced in the front end. Ive been screwed around and spent alot of money to no avail. I have also been told that the 19 inch wheels ive got on the car are the problem which i do not belive. So if anyone who has a stato with 19 or 20 inch wheels have any problems like this could you please let me know.
I hope someone can help me out!!
Thanks.

[VTLS1]

Try checking all the joints in the steering coloumn to the steering rack,maybes sometings loose or broken. Normally if you have shakes its a tyre or wheel alignment problem but you have done these a few times. Maybe also have a look at your power steer pump,could be not supplying enough fluid. Also check your front rotors,wheel bearings or hub assembly maybe somethings not right there causing your shake probs. good luck & hope this helps dude

[vn_v6]

funny that, my mate bought a white vn commodore today, and put vs caprice wheels on it, as soon as he went over 100kmph, it was uncontroallable, he was almost sideswipping cars on the fwy, no joke, if it was wet road, if woudve got sideways, just from the tyres, change to stockies, swap backs with fronts, but its better to do all 4 off a mates car, or even, get ur rims, put on another car, see if it shakes

[Sabbath']

Could be a buckled rim, get them checked out at a tyre joint.

[VTLS1]

Could be a buckled rim, get them checked out at a tyre joint.

funny that, my mate bought a white vn commodore today, and put vs caprice wheels on it, as soon as he went over 100kmph, it was uncontroallable, he was almost sideswipping cars on the fwy, no joke, if it was wet road, if woudve got sideways, just from the tyres, change to stockies, swap backs with fronts, but its better to do all 4 off a mates car, or even, get ur rims, put on another car, see if it shakes

Good suggestions but,if the blokes been to a tyre shop they should have picked up a buckled rim when they balanced the tyre,on top of that hes been through a couple of sets of tyres & still got the same problem,so logically it should be some other problem. Throw on a set of stockies if you can though as was suggested then see what happens. If it still happens,there will be issues elsewhere

[BADNWS]

Thanks for all you help Guys.. i will look into some of these once i get a bit of money together... im thinking about going to peders to get one of those $14 28 point steering and suspension saftey checks done to see if they can find the problem. There are a few tyre joints im not going to in Canberra anymore as they are crap!!! Thanks again guys.

[BlackVXGTS]

Rule of thumb. Vibration under 80kph - problem with front end. Vibration over 80kph - problem with rear end. Check rear wheel balance.

[BADNWS]

Will keep that in mind, Have you got any suggestions on what it could be with the rear end??

[calais24/7]

I have exactly the same problem, got balance and alignment but nothing has changed, it comes and goes but always over like 90kmh and sometimes it makes your arms go numb. Where in the act have you tried so far iv been to goodyear in erindale and no such luck

[BADNWS]

I have exactly the same problem, got balance and alignment but nothing has changed, it comes and goes but always over like 90kmh and sometimes it makes your arms go numb. Where in the act have you tried so far iv been to goodyear in erindale and no such luck

Yeh tell me bout it, try driving from Canberra to Melbourne and having the whole car shake it almost put me to sleep.. Where i have been..... I started off at Quick Fit ib Belco after a while they just gave up on the car then i was going to Bob Jane in Fyshwick, then after i kept taking it back to them after they said the problem was my tyres so i brought $1000 worth or tyres it still didnt fix it and they pretty much said well they couldnt do anything and not to bring it back. Good year in Braddon several times, they told me my wheels are rubbing against the struts, and they took a big chunk of paint off the front of the car, currently im going to beaurepaires in Braddon they seem to be ok they fixed the problem a little bit but its still there. What ever you do dont go to Bob Jane in Fyshwick if you wanna look after your rims, cause my dad took his stato there and they broke the centre wheel cover on his 2inch Incubus rims. I hope one of us can work out what the probelm is soon cause its definatly ANNOYING!!!!!!

[calais24/7]

Couldn't agree more its annoyinfg, dangerous and f***in expensive, im going to give ozzy tyres a go in fyshwick after i get a free 40 point safety check from nrma but i dont think they'll find the problem even if i mention it to them.

[BADNWS]

Well if you get Ozzy to look at it and they fix the problem let me know. ive got mine getting looked at 2morro from jax in belco the owner is going to have a look for me and see if he can find anything, ill let you if he does....

[calais24/7]

Yeah sounds good, Ill organise nrma to look at it first seeing as they aren't charging me anything and then if they cant find it ill try ozzie out and let you know how it goes. Well nrma can't look at it until end of april since its a free inspection, which i can understand. So ill try organise ozzy to have a look at it as soon as i can

[razza717]

i have a VTII calais with 245/35 R19's and get a wheel shimmy even after a wheel balance at about 120 and higher. you should get your wheel bearings checked out or the rubber mount on the steering rack can cause wheel shimmy if it worn.

[codeunknown]

also check the links on the swap bar...and the rubbers...its been known that original swap bar links can come loose or fall off....i know....
replacement upgrade are like 20 each ...and worth every penny...or a visit to the wreckers.

look at the wheels stud holes....if there a little egg...there is a problem...
what can you do to fix it ..wll you can replace the rims..or ...have someone weld washers inside and our wheels with the rim on a holden stud plate...so the washers will now centre the wheels via the stud mount...
then have the wheels rebalanced....sometimes inside bal falls off or outside or both..
so check that too....
every wheel is a little out...about 1 or 2 mm...but...its when you get to 3-5 and higher you notice at the matched vibration point...the frequency of virbation and speed...and when that matches ..total uncontrol....

hope this helps you

[BADNWS]

alright i will check into it thanks for you post

[showbags]

wheel vibration like you describe is definately a front balance issue. if your running cheap chinese wheels or cheap tyres you will get shakes, same goes if your using spacers on the front wheels. go to your tyre place and tell them you want a "on car wheel balance" they all have the equiptment to do it,but they dont like doing it because it's time consuming. if you get no joy there go to a tyre place that specializes in truck tyres and they'll do it for you.

[BADNWS]

wheel vibration like you describe is definately a front balance issue. if your running cheap chinese wheels or cheap tyres you will get shakes, same goes if your using spacers on the front wheels. go to your tyre place and tell them you want a "on car wheel balance" they all have the equiptment to do it,but they dont like doing it because it's time consuming. if you get no joy there go to a tyre place that specializes in truck tyres and they'll do it for you.

My Rims are ANZ Tasers, and the tyres are Maxxis which arent cheap Chinese tyres. Plus it was doing this before i got these tyres put on. but i will look into this on car balance.
Thanks alot

[Longman]

I agree that something else may be going on. I have the same problem over 80km/h. I have factory 16" S alloys, new Goodyear Eagle LS2000 tyres, balanced, alignment, new nolathane sway bar links, new sway bar D rubber, nolathane casters, new shocks, springs, strut bearings, brake pads, rotors etc etc etc. Makes no difference. the front feels like it's floating and if I brake at speeds over 80km, I can barely keep the thing on the road. The only thing left for me to check is the steering system, it has a small leak from the pump as far as I can tell. I'm putting a new pump and hose in shortly, that'll just leave the rack.

[BADNWS]

I agree that something else may be going on. I have the same problem over 80km/h. I have factory 16" S alloys, new Goodyear Eagle LS2000 tyres, balanced, alignment, new nolathane sway bar links, new sway bar D rubber, nolathane casters, new shocks, springs, strut bearings, brake pads, rotors etc etc etc. Makes no difference. the front feels like it's floating and if I brake at speeds over 80km, I can barely keep the thing on the road. The only thing left for me to check is the steering system, it has a small leak from the pump as far as I can tell. I'm putting a new pump and hose in shortly, that'll just leave the rack.

That sounds like it would have cost alot money.. Well let us know how you go with that and if it fixes the problem.

[TI3VOM]

Has any body checked the brake rotors I'm sure I have read that if they are warped that can cause a shudder in the steering wheel at high speeds unless that is only when braking I will try to find out.

Warped brake rotors for cars with front disk brakes. The rotor hits the caliper every tire rotation causing a small bump in the steering wheel each time.

(EXTRACTED FROM EBC BRAKES WEBSITE) To determine if the brake vibration is from the front or rear of the car there is an easy check. If you experience steering wheel shakes it is obviously the front rotors that are at issue. If the brake vibration can be felt through the brake pedal or the seat/bodywork of the vehicle then it is a rear brake rotor issue. Obviously you only need to solve the problem on the rotors that are causing brake vibration and NOT the other brakes on the vehicle or you could be back to square one with bed in times etc.

I AM NOT SAYING THAT THIS IS DEFIANTLY THE ISSUE BUT A LOT OF SUSPENSION PLACES WILL DEAL WITH WHAT THEY THINK IS THE ISSUE THE SUSPENSION AND TAKE MONEY FOR TIME SPENT SEARCHING FOR THE PROBLEM AND WHEN THEY CANT FIND WHATS WRONG THEY SEND YOU ON YOUR MERRY WAY.
Cheers Glenn.

[BADNWS]

Has any body checked the brake rotors I'm sure I have read that if they are warped that can cause a shudder in the steering wheel at high speeds unless that is only when braking I will try to find out.

Warped brake rotors for cars with front disk brakes. The rotor hits the caliper every tire rotation causing a small bump in the steering wheel each time.

(EXTRACTED FROM EBC BRAKES WEBSITE) To determine if the brake vibration is from the front or rear of the car there is an easy check. If you experience steering wheel shakes it is obviously the front rotors that are at issue. If the brake vibration can be felt through the brake pedal or the seat/bodywork of the vehicle then it is a rear brake rotor issue. Obviously you only need to solve the problem on the rotors that are causing brake vibration and NOT the other brakes on the vehicle or you could be back to square one with bed in times etc.

I AM NOT SAYING THAT THIS IS DEFIANTLY THE ISSUE BUT A LOT OF SUSPENSION PLACES WILL DEAL WITH WHAT THEY THINK IS THE ISSUE THE SUSPENSION AND TAKE MONEY FOR TIME SPENT SEARCHING FOR THE PROBLEM AND WHEN THEY CANT FIND WHATS WRONG THEY SEND YOU ON YOUR MERRY WAY.
Cheers Glenn.

Hey thanks for that, Yeh the rotors have been looked at, its only the rotors if hte wheel shakes while braking.... thanks man

[codeunknown]

Gc ...you made a great point.....!

and the point is go looking for anything wrong....be open..and have a list of plan of attack...
a check list...

i like firms with the no fix no pay rule !
which i take as ..if your not the so sh#t hot specialist you claim...you wont be charging me for your lack of understanding !

[TI3VOM]

^^agreed^^

[jazza15]

I got charged for the local mechanics to do a whole lot of test drives, rotate the front wheels with the back wheels (despite me telling them that they have been definetely ruled out as the source of the problem and then they didn't rotate them back, ended up just doing it myself as it is easier than going in there and getting them to do it right away).
They said that the fronts were slightly warped, hence the lack of brake shudder but there was a high speed shudder. So i gave them the go ahead to get the rotors machined.
$150 later, for that and the labour for test drives and 'checking' and the shudder was still there.
It seemed only slightly at first, but it is back again, indicating to me that they haven't found the true source of the problem.
The mechanic actually said that they undercharged me a bit for labour considering how much they did, but at the end of the day, they did sweet FA for me.

As for my history: MANY Wheel swaps, balances rotations etc. All suspension bushes changed bar sway bar bushes. Nolathane front sway bar links already in when i bought the car. Steering rack changed. Front and rear shocks changed. Front left hub changed.
I think I may have found the source of my problem though. Despite changing the front left hub, the car still makes a noise from the front left.
I spin the front right wheel and it rotated smoothly, no worries, i spin the front left and it rubs against the brake pad, not smooth at all. Could something be bent there? The knuckle is a pretty solid unit, but after all the work I have done on the car, have I and the mechanics who checked and lubricated the pads missed something?