Taylor822

I have been experiencing a lot of steering wheel shake at 50+ mph on my S13 Silvia. I have searched and tried what other have said and it is still happening.

The weird thing is that it is intermittent. One day it’ll be fine, the next day it’ll will shake for 30 seconds at highway speeds, stop shaking for 30-60 seconds, then start to shake again. It doesn’t seem to matter on the road condition. It can be perfectly smooth and still shake.

I know the wheels are balanced, I also recently had it aligned. Ball joints look and feel good and while the front end is jacked up, there is no play in the wheels or anything else. I replaced the inner and outer tie rods, tension rods, steering shaft bushing, and steering rack bushings and it still shakes.

It’s driving me crazy! Any input is much appreciated!

Thank you in advance.

jkleinschrodt04

my buddy's car used to do this. he replaced the ps pump and it went away

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Taylor822

Thanks for the info! I can’t find a power steering pump locally. But I’ll try flushing the fluid first and see if that helps. It is very dark and old.

NashT

Have you check the wheel bearings?
Did you recently do a 5 lug swap? If so did you torque to correct spec?

Taylor822

I did not do a 5 lug swap. And there doesn’t seem to be any movement when I try to shake the wheels while it’s jacked up. So I believe the wheel bearings are not the cause of the problem.

onehundredoctane

Are you by chance running cheap or old tires? The steel belts in them can flat spot from sitting parked and cause all kinds of steering vibrations that are pretty much impossible to pin point.

mechanicalmoron

A lump of mud or slush on the inside of a wheel can cause a temporary (or not so temporary) balance problem.

Taylor822

I did recently get new wheels and tires from a friend but I don’t recall his car having this issue. And it did do this with my old wheels and tires too. It has just been seeming to get worse lately. I do plan to get some tires soon though. And there is nothing on the inside of the wheels, they are very clean.

Taylor822

The shake seemed to be less after flushing the power steering system. I’m wondering if I pull the belt off the PS Pump and take it out for a test drive, if that’ll help pin point whether it’s the pump itself or something else.

NashT

If you really have checked the front end, joints, bushings, bearings, etc.
If its not a bad tire or bent rim, the only other thing I can think of is that rubber steering shaft rag joint. Know what im talking about?

You running stock castor arms? If so are the bushings blown?

Taylor822

Like I said in the original post, I replaced the tension (castor) arms and the steering shaft bushing a while back. That did not fix the issue.

S14rebuild

Take the ps belt off test drive and let us know

NashT

Does the vibration happen when you brake at all? If so then your rotors are warped.
One thing alot of ppl do that warp rotors is putting wheels on with an impact instead of torquing them, which creates an uneven load variance on each wheel stud.

IvoryWhiteS13

I had an issue similar to this and it ended up being a cracked front subframe


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jdmgtom

+1 on warped brake rotors

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Taylor822

It’s probably not the rotors. It happens while cruising at 50+ mph, not only while braking. And I don’t use an impact to torque the lug nuts.

Taylor822

I will inspect the subframe tomorrow. How’d you end up fixing it? Welding it? Or replacing it?

mechanicalmoron

As far as that kind of damage goes, you might also inspect the strut tower tops, and upper strut mounts. The epoxy "welds" can rip out, or the bearings get loose, respectively.

jedi03

the rule of thumb I was given if below 60 is either alignment or suspension, above 60 wheel balance...if problem existed before then definitely check the suspension components, use a prybar to simulate load on the wheel while you have it in the air, check inner tie rod condition too...lots that could cause this issue...

FaLKoN240

You mentioned new wheels from a friend. Are these wheels actually new?

A bent but balanced wheel will still elicit a shaking steering wheel. I would try getting actual "new" or different wheels before you surmise that your wheels are not the culprit.

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Taylor822

I wasn’t meaning that they are brand new. I meant new to me. But I know they were well taken care of and his car did not shake and I had this issue before I got these wheels. Also if it were a wheel balance or bent wheel, wouldn’t the steering wheel shake constantly? It wouldn’t come and go.

kyral

are they alloy wheels with sticky weights?

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IvoryWhiteS13

I ended up replacing it


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Taylor822

Taking off the PS belt did nothing.

Taylor822

Yes. I am going to bring them somewhere to get rebalanced this weekend.

NashT

Just an idea, but rotate your tires front to rear to see if the shake goes away.

Check all your hardware/ fasteners on the front end, make sure all nuts and bolts are tight.

If you do end up having a cracked subframe, you could always send it off to bink industry's and have them repair and modify it or street faction makes an aftermarket subframe that has an adjustable rack feature.

I dunno what else to tell ya bro, the front ends on 240s are very simplistic.

One last though, I have seen wheel bearings that are going bad but dont exhibit play on a shake down, lift the front up and see if there is any resistance when turning the wheels as that would be a definite sign

kyral

those can be finicky, wheel weights can fall off. if the tire guy didn't care he might not have balanced them very well or didnt clean the area for the weights off with brake cleaner

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NashT

Also, random idea, but check the 4 column bolts in the cab under the dash.

And are you rocking an aftermarket wheel? If so have you checked the hub but and wheel hardware? Blue loctite is your friend there

Taylor822

Went through and checked all bolts up front. Everything is tight. On second inspection I noticed very minor movements when pushing/pulling on top and bottom of wheel and tires on both sides. There is some resistance but it seems like my brakes drag a bit. I will be doing brakes and lower ball joints soon, and will inspect whee bearings further then.

Also I’ve had three different sets of wheels on this car and the shake had always been there. I really don’t think it has to do with the wheels.

Taylor822

I do have aftermarket wheel, I will check that.