Steering wheel shake

[1973Z]

When driving on the highway today (speed did not seem to matter much 65-75mph), the steering wheel was fine (very little vibration) when going straight, but on long sweepers the steering wheel would shake until straighted out again. It did this on both left and right turns. Any ideas on what this could be?

[Bulldog Z]

I believe you car might need inner and outer tie rods. My 73 did the same thing in straight lines and in curves. New tie rods solved the problem. I got mine from MSA. You have to buy both the inner and outer tie rod as an assembly. Hope this helps.

Brad

[dogma420]

Outer tie rods--the 'shimmy' will be more pronounced when braking vs. cruising....also, when front end is off the ground with wheels off, you would be able to shake the rotor side to side if the tie rod is worn out.

This could be any number of things; I would click on 'search' at above, and enter "steering wheel shake or shimmy"--this topic has been created a lot of times on here.

[1973Z]

Thanks guys, I did search, and I could not find the same symptoms I am experiencing. I had the inner/outter tie rods and the rack replaced two years ago and now have approx. 5,000 miles on them. There is no shimmy when braking.

[dogma420]

Get your tires rotated / balanced...sounds like you might have a steel belted tire where the belts are seperating--

A seperated belt is a difficult diagnosis--sometimes you can't tell at lower speeds a vehicle has one, but then you feel it at high speeds--see if you can tell if it comes from one side or the other--have just the front tires rotated to the back--if the shimmy disappears, it might just be a seperated belt.

A sep. belt requires a tire replacement.

A seperated belt tire can sometimes be balanced w/o knowing there's anything wrong with the tire--it's kind of like driving over a small speed bump with one tire--and shows up at high speeds...this 'might' be your problem.

[1973Z]

Thanks Dogma, I can certainly try my other set of wheels/tires (used for Autox) and see if the problem is still there.

[beandip]

Jack the front end up with both front wheels off the ground. Grasp the wheel front to rear and see if there is any play, looseness, and do this to both front wheels. Then do the same grasping top to bottom. the first one will show loose tie rods the second the ball joints. If you do feel movement look under and see if you can see where the play is. If the wheel bearings are loose , this will also show play from both tests. If you suspect the wheel bearings , just remove the dust cover and see if there is play there. If the wheels were out of balance it wouldn't happen just when turning, the same with out of round tires. If there was a tire separating this a different issue , maybe. Check the things I mentioned while the car is up off the ground.

Gary

[1973Z]

Thanks everyone, I will give the suggestions a try this coming weekend.