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View Full Version : you guys got the shakes?


mellojoe
02-28-2004, 10:45 PM
I guess its time for a balance (again).

My steering wheel has got the shakes between 65 and 75 mph. It starts to shake around 50, and still shakes above 80, but its most pronounced between 65 and 75.

I've also got the vibrations to go through it.

Drove 800 miles between Thursday and Saturday morning, and my ass is still vibrating.

Will a regular wheel balance fix the steering wheel shake, too? I can't think of what else might be causing it.

Projekt_Sil80
02-28-2004, 10:49 PM
I would say Balance first, if your steering wheel and car vibrates and increases as speed increases, then yeah

240Stilo
02-29-2004, 12:54 AM
I remember when my struts blew that it did the same thing. Freeway turns were the worst because the car would get pretty wild; at only 65mph! Well I replaced struts and the stock ones were dead. Just so you have an idea of how crappy they got, imagine how you would pump a super soaker. Not even like the last pumps where it gets harderto pump, I'm talking about the first few pumps.

Well, yeah ranting a little but it could also be that. This occured like 120,000 miles on the clock I think.

Chernobyl
02-29-2004, 01:50 AM
Hopefully you don't have bald spots. Have you locked up the brakes hard on these tires?

INeedNewTires
02-29-2004, 02:09 AM
thats wierd, mine shakes too but its from 50-40 and its basically only on decelleration. I know its not the brakes b/c i got them replaced/turned.... but it IS exaggerated while braking.... anything else that could cause this besides rotors? (bc i know it isint them)

iknowyoulike
02-29-2004, 06:51 AM
my car had the shakes. I was wondering why for a while too. Turns out a couple of my lug nuts were just loose on my snow tires.I tighten that up and everything was perfect again.

Mikes14240sx
02-29-2004, 07:04 AM
I had very similar shakes at the same speeds. I changed the stock tc rods to aftermarket rods with pillow balls and the shake went away.

93DRIFT
02-29-2004, 08:33 AM
ive had the smae problem with my car, same speeds, same everything, only happened for a few days and just went away

Natty
02-29-2004, 11:45 AM
There are literally about thousand things that can cause this.
T/C rods, various bushings, tire balance, bald spots, struts, brakes, wheel bearings, that steering rack spring. Run a search, I know I left things out...

YellwMonky
02-29-2004, 01:00 PM
i had a similar problem. alignment was my problem.

old_s13
02-29-2004, 02:13 PM
8 years of experience says its a balancing issue.. make sure you have good quality wheels and make sure they are properly balanced.. let the tire installer know that you are having issues and that this car is VERY sensative to balance or else you get the infamous 55mph shimmy.

Also check your front suspension for looseness in the ball joints and TC rods.

- mike

kapower
02-29-2004, 02:56 PM
I have the same problem, at 60 mph+ I have a vibratiuon in the steering wheel. I replaced the TC, and LCA bushings with whiteline polyurathane. The struts with KYB AGX's, the springs with RSR race springs, Tein camber plates, moog ball joints, moog inner and outer tie rods, the front wheel bearings. ARP forged studs, new lug nuts, z32 30mm 4 piston calipers and brembo rotors, and new wheels and tires installed 2 days ago. The only thing I have not tuched is the sway bar and Rack. I'am going to check the spindles tomorrow at school. Any I deas!!! BY the way I also have the infamous clunking sound And I think It's coming from the front!!!!!!!! Hey Natty, I'am asuming the rack spring is in the steering rack. What is it's purpose? Could that be my problem?

twitchy
02-29-2004, 03:07 PM
my steering feels sharp and crisp, no problems with that although my tires still wear down on the insides more than the outsides... i hope when i get new shocks it will help fix this

Natty
02-29-2004, 07:22 PM
The rack spring is indeed a small spring in the steering rack. Search for "steering TSB" on the freshalloy advanced forum.

mixxamike
02-29-2004, 10:05 PM
Try tightening your lug nuts. I bought my s14 in Vegas, drove it all the way back to Illinois and it was shaking slightly the whole way home. I took off the center cap of the aftermarket wheels, and there were only 4 lug nuts holding the wheel on!!!

I had a Nissan dealership tune up my 240 before I drove it home, but they didn't put enough lug nuts on when they put the wheels back on!!! :eek2: :bash:

YellwMonky
03-01-2004, 02:03 PM
when is the last time you got an alignment done?

mellojoe
03-01-2004, 05:49 PM
I got an alignment about 4 months ago when I bent a tie-rod end and had to replace it (stupid curb).

I'm gonna do the easy things first: balance all 4 tires and an alignment (again). I'm gonna stay there with him and make sure they do it right, too (too many of these guys around here are just willing to get it close and call it a day. I guess its from too many 4x4 offroaders that really don't care, since they wack them out of alignment every weekend.)

I need to do the suspenion, too. I guess I can use this as an excuse to go ahead and get the springs and shocks/struts now.

andrave
03-01-2004, 07:03 PM
get it done at a national chain and they guarantee your allignment for a year or whatever, and they will realign it for free anytime within that period

INeedNewTires
03-01-2004, 07:05 PM
Alright, just installed new TC rod bushings from whiteline. ALL shimmy is gone, but my tie rod ends are still crappy, as well as my ball joints. I replaced the springs to but dont think that matters. it was kinda wierd how braking exaggerated the shimmy, but now its all gone, even under heavy braking.. Im convinced it was the TC's

Natty
03-09-2004, 11:48 AM
Alright, just installed new TC rod bushings from whiteline. ALL shimmy is gone, but my tie rod ends are still crappy, as well as my ball joints. I replaced the springs to but dont think that matters. it was kinda wierd how braking exaggerated the shimmy, but now its all gone, even under heavy braking.. Im convinced it was the TC's
Oh man, that makes me feel so much better. I have the shimmy and it gets worse with braking. I'll try the TC bushings.
Did you press them yourself, or did you get the entire assembly? Was it a simple install?

INeedNewTires
03-09-2004, 01:11 PM
yea i just removed the TC rods, went and got em pressed, i dont have a press but its pretty straight foward, you need a tapering adapter to do the whiteline busings cause their different than OEM bushings. i dont know about ES or NISMO brand bushings though. very simple to install, remember to clean the housing so the dirt doesnt corrode into the new bushings.

nissantuner22
03-09-2004, 06:18 PM
My 93 coupes got the shakes hardcore style when braking. its more pronounced the higher the speed im braking at. Though I'm fairly sure I have warped brakes. Brembo rotors are on the way, so hopefully that will take care of that. my TC rods looked ok from a visual inspection stand point.

Natty
03-09-2004, 06:37 PM
My 93 coupes got the shakes hardcore style when braking. its more pronounced the higher the speed im braking at. Though I'm fairly sure I have warped brakes. Brembo rotors are on the way, so hopefully that will take care of that. my TC rods looked ok from a visual inspection stand point.
Yeah, I suspect the rotors as well, but ti does shake ever when not braking. I'm redoing the brakes this weekend. My TC bushings look beautiful. The tierod ends are a bit tired though. I think the bearings are good too. If new bushings, brakes, tierod ends, and bearings doesn't fix it, I'm driving the damn thing off a cliff.

citizen
03-09-2004, 06:55 PM
One more thing to check: Be sure its not you quaking in fear of the immense power of the stock KA!

nissantuner22
03-09-2004, 06:56 PM
another thing you might want to consider is the strut mounts. my buddys 240 fastback was completely missing the strut mounts on the front. needless to say it, after new ones, it was a night and day difference, even cured a strange clunk.

240 2NR
03-09-2004, 09:51 PM
My front steering wheel shimmy actually went away just from replacing the upper strut mounts with pillowball camber plates (expected it would have gotten worse) and getting a much overdue alignment (more likely the reason). There's still a little shimmy, but it's far less pronounced than before.

WilloW
03-09-2004, 09:57 PM
My POS started the shake a few weeks ago, I'm just going to wait it out for my new tires and rims. Halfass balancing job!

mellojoe
03-10-2004, 09:34 AM
One more thing to check: Be sure its not you quaking in fear of the immense power of the stock KA!

LOL

Too funny. I'm gonna get an alignment and balance today.

Struts and Shocks coming in the mail. So, I'll do another alignment after that.

Why 2 alignments? Cause this one is free (if I bring it in today), and then I'll get to find out where my problem really is... and what really fixes it.

gfisch
03-10-2004, 10:42 PM
May very well be the tires are bad. I was having some serious problems with my truck shaking when it gets up to highway speeds.

Just replaced the tires today, and it made a world of difference.