steering wheel shake after 50 mph

[fuzze]

Hi all ,as you all know I rebuilt the front end just like everyone else here including poly bushings all around except for the t\c , which is half rubber \ poly . Cut to the chase , I just put new speed rated h , 14 inch federal fomoza tires on my original shelby libres , computer balanced . New outer tie rods , ball joints , end links and tokiko lowering springs and blue tokiko struts . The car drives straight as a arrow but the steering wheel shakes after 45- 50 mph to the point where i will not drive it beyond city speed driving .

My suspicions are that I did not torque the ball joints to the proper setting and i think that the steering rack needs a professional to look at it . As well front and rear brakes are fully serviced and new as are the front wheel bearings .

Any help or suggestions are appreciated .

thanks

Chris

[soundmasterg]

I got my car after it was sitting for 20 years, and I replaced the struts and springs but nothing else yet. I am sure it needs bushings at the least, however my steering wheel didn't shake at all until I put on a set of used swastika wheels. It shakes when one of the wheels is on the front and otherwise doesn't. Are you sure your wheels are ok>? Are you sure the wheels and tires are balanced well? The only times I've had wheel shakes are bad rims, out of balance tires, or completely loose bushings on an old Volvo.

Greg

[Bonzi Lon]

Mine did the shakes also, turned out it was the ny-lock, self-locking nut on the top of the shock had come loose, or was not properly torqued, wearing a groove in the shock rod and rounding out the 'D' in the insulator, large rubber mount.

Bonzi Lon

[Travel'n Man]

I had a shake and just had my wheels / computer balanced by the same location that had been doing my tire work for years - I decided to take it and get a second opinion - ended up being .5 to1.0 oz out of balance - now..............I have a new tire man! Go with the newer equipment - not a old tire guy that does not update his equipment. Not saying this will fix yours but it got 99.5 of the shake out of mine.

Best of luck - keep us posted!

[jaltman]

Or, another alternative tire man theory. Find a really really older guy, one that doesn't use the computer balance, but, balances the wheels and tires ON THE CAR. I got a tire shop that does that, one guy in the car hands on wheels, another hand on fender. Spin the wheel real fast, adjust till no vibration. Absolutely, positively the smoothest ride I have ever felt. Balances not just the wheels and tires, but everything that spins, the axle, brakes, etc.

Takes a lil longer, costs a lil more, but, as I said, absolutely, positively the smoothest ride known to man.

Then find someone to balance the drive shaft.

Edited June 12, 2011 by jaltman

[mgood]

I had a similar problem for years, cars wheel shook at 50 to 55. It ended up being the outer barring outer race on the passenger side. I had hit a pothole many years before that blew out the tire. At the time the dealer did not know what it was and blamed it on the aluminum wheels. I found that it was the barring and the wheel was just a tad bent and that fixed it. Try putting the front wheels on the back, might help.

[fuzze]

Thanks for all the help and suggestions . Next week I'm going to take the z out to a a front end specialist shop and I will see what they can come up with besides money out of my wallet . I like the idea of balancing on the car . just to be sure of myself I will also tear down the front end and check my torque on the ball joints . What should the correct spec be for this setting . As well I will switch the wheels from front to rear to see if there is a difference .

Thank you everyone for your continued help .

Chris

[Pop's Z]

I second the wheel bearings. Check the tightness according to specs.

Cheers, Mike

[ZCurves]

I second the thought of finding a 'newer' tire guy. Some things to think about: Sometimes you will loose a weight, sometimes the tire will not be completely round -they will develop a hop if they are slightly egg shaped or wobble side to side. The next thing to look at closely is the rims. I am not sure what you are riding, but the older aluminum rims tend to get egg shaped with age and start hopping or they get a lateral shift moving side to side. Ask for the tire to be removed from the rim and then watch the rim spin on the machine. Look to see if it moves out of round. Understand that tire stores will try to compensate by using weights and or shifting the tire on the rim looking for the 'Sweet spot' and make the wheel/tire run true on the balancing machine - this is OK for a lot of cars, NOT a ZCar !

[FastWoman]

Chris, I bought a '75 Z long, long ago, during my college years. It had a very beat-up front end and some hard-as-concrete rally struts. I soon replaced the rally struts with KYB gas struts, and that made the ride much more comfortable, but the front end was still very sloppy. The more work I did on it to take slop/play out of the system, the worse a shimmy I got at higher speeds. I had a really good mechanic work on the car, 'cuz I was over my head. He did a lot of head scratching and then "borrowed" a set of wheels/tires from another Z to test my front end. The ride became tight and smooth as silk.

My tires were new (and good). The culprit was actually the cheap rims, whose lug holes were slightly off center. When a tire shop would spin them up to balance them, I think it was by the center hole. When they went on my car, they were centered (differently) by the lug nuts. The reason the problem felt worse, the more I corrected problems with the front end, was that there was less "forgiveness" with less slop/play. The jury was out regarding what caused the front end to be so beat up. It might have been hard driving with the concrete rally struts, but my guess is that the off-center rims resulted in the hardest long-term wear.

[Pop's Z]

I also agree with Sarah. My car had the typical "bean" aluminum wheels of that era and although I replaced all the front end parts it still had an annoying shimmy at high speeds. Fast forward to last year when I bought a set of 15" Rota RBs. Shimmy vanished. The car runs at speeds of 130+ with rock-steady steering. Just sayin'.

Cheers, Mike

[olzed]

My guess would be rims no good or tyres out of round. Iv'e had the latter, and they can't be balanced properly.