Lots of steering wheel wobble/shake @ high speeds

[chris fralee]

I got a 94 suzuki swift a few months ago, its in good shape other than the vibration of the steering wheel, especially at high speeds.

I’ve replaced the left cv axle as the orignal one was clicking and I thought that could be the cause of the vibration/wobble. The new axle has the same wobble/vibation (of the whole car but mostly felt at the steering wheel). So i think i could safely rule out cv axle as the culprit.

The outer edge of the left front tire is wearing very badly and unevenly. The tire has the appearance of camber wear and the steering pulls to the left more and more as the tire wears more seemingly.

I had the suspicion that the a arm ball is bad but when i jack up the front of the car and accelerate to +50 mph the car shakes very badly. With no load on the a arm, I have doubts that’s the issue.

Another thing that I noticed, freeways with guide lines cut into them the car vears with thoese lines excessively, I thought it was due to my skinny tires (4.5 inces wide or so) but I’m not sure if it could be related to the wobble/vibration issue.

Thank you for any help, i appreciate it

Topic

[college man]

Usually when driving and not touching the brakes and the steering wheel is shaking,
Your wheels are out of balance or you have a tire issue. see if this helps more.

https://www.ericthecarguy.com/faq/determining-the-causes-of-vehicle-vibrations

[chris fralee]

I did throw the back tire on the front left and jacked it up ran it to about 50+ in the air and the same shake, Ill try putting both rears on the front, hopefully its just the tire out of balance issue.

thank you

[Rob]

[quote=”the.tetrix” post=172684]I did throw the back tire on the front left and jacked it up ran it to about 50+ in the air and the same shake, Ill try putting both rears on the front, hopefully its just the tire out of balance issue.

thank you[/quote]
how to check if your tires have a boldge…
take your tires off… roll them on a flat area… they should roll on there own for at least 3 rev… if they keep falling to one side they can be uneven if they keep falling in the same spot you have a problem in that spot of the tire.. and need to check it out… in perfect conditions you could roll the tires a block and they would keep going…
that will tell you if you have any problem in your tires
I would laso chekc your shocks… they are common to start happening problems at higher speeds…
while you have your car up check all your spspention.. ball joints, tie rods, sway bars and cv axle

[chris fralee]

Good info thanks for that. The tire was out of round for sure so i put in the back and threw the back up front. Much better but the vibration is still bad at high speeds, I cant tell if its the old bad tire in the back causing this, If it is its making the whole car shake. Its just a much tighter vibration going 65 mph+

I think my wheel bearing where the old bad tire was is toast. Marbles sound from normal acceleration. I heard marbles sounds sometimes with the old bad tire up front but now with the good back tire upfront its very prominent especially at acceleration.

Could bad bearings cause a tire to go out of round and make vibration occur at high speeds?

[Rob]

[quote=”the.tetrix” post=172750]Good info thanks for that. The tire was out of round for sure so i put in the back and threw the back up front. Much better but the vibration is still bad at high speeds, I cant tell if its the old bad tire in the back causing this, If it is its making the whole car shake. Its just a much tighter vibration going 65 mph+

I think my wheel bearing where the old bad tire was is toast. Marbles sound from normal acceleration. I heard marbles sounds sometimes with the old bad tire up front but now with the good back tire upfront its very prominent especially at acceleration.

Could bad bearings cause a tire to go out of round and make vibration occur at high speeds?[/quote]
if the tires are bulging that is the first sign of them before they pop…
you can try using the donut and see if that makes a diffrence on the bad tire..
are both tires bad or just one???

[Shaun Flichel]

Please don’t use the donut to test a vehicle, especially at 65+ miles/hr. If the tires do show bad, replace them of the same size or what the manufacture has listed

[Author]

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