Vibration driving me nutz!

[idavid76]

Okay guys I am back again with another problem i have had since i bought my 95' Tercel six months ago. I have relentlessly tried the following and have had no success:

new KYB shocks
new Sumitomo tires
new American Racing wheels
new Goldline lowering springs
new front brakes pads
new front brake rotors
balancing of wheels over and over at different places
checked all joints in suspension for sloppy fit or movement

The problem is that at speeds over 70MPH my steering wheel/column shakes up and down. It doesnt shake in a rocking form (circular motion) as in unbalanced wheels. Can it be a bent axle? the right side axle is brand new, but the left side looks to be old. Please help!!

[sectorz]

did you do an alignment when you replaced your tires?

[idavid76]

I have not aligned my car since I got it. It seems to go pretty straight though, it doesnt pull. Although, I have noticed that if I let go of my steering wheel it sowly tracks to the left, and my sterring wheel is slightly cocked to the right, meaning that if I straightened out my steering wheel the car would travel to the left. But, would an alignment create such a vibration?

[NickR]

It could indeed be caused by a bad axle/CV joint. Try grabbing hold of the axle, and seeing if there is any play in it, if you pull it up and down.

I wonder if it would be safe to try this test: jack up the wheel with the suspect axle, chock all the other 3 wheels very securely, start the car, put it into gear, and press the gas until the speedo reads 35 mph (so that the one wheel will be rotating at 70mph, because of the open differential). If you feel the vibration at 45mph, you know that it is indeed that wheel, or its axle, and has nothing to do with the alignment or any other suspension component. DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS TEST IF YOU HAVE A LIMITED SLIP DIFFERENTIAL!

Edit: then repeat the test with the wheel removed. If it still vibrates, you would then know for sure that it's the axle, not the wheel.

[Tercel GTS]

Have you bought and install centering rings for the hubs? The 4 lug pattern makes a sloppy fit for aftermarket wheels and it's too easy to get the wheel off center while tightening the lugs. I found some of those rings on ebay but I haven't put them on yet. Currently I seem to have mine centered and locked down tight enough they shouldn't move however I'm sure it's bad on the rotors/hubs. I can run at any speed with no vibrations currently.
The way I tighten them is by hand. I turn the lugs a couple turns each taking turns and wiggling the wheel as I go.

[Donald]

If you do the test suggested by "NickR", make sure that you have run-off space in front of the car to stop, just in case something goes wrong.

Another idea, is to jack the front wheels up, one at a time and find some way of measuring the clearance between the wheel and the ground or some object. Maybe just get it to touch lightly. Turn the wheel slowly by hand and see if the clearance changes. If it does, then "TercelGTS" is correct about the centering rings (hub centric rings). The difference in clearance might be very minute, so you will have to be very precise in your measurement.

[idavid76]

I do have centering rings on the aftermarket wheels, and before replacing the factory black steelies with the aftermarket wheels, the vibration already existed. So I know for sure that it is not the wheel not being hubcentric. Lifting the vehicle and runnning it to 35MPH seems a bit dangerous, so I will get under there and trying checking for a sloppy/wiggly joint or axle. I will also lift the wheel and maybe just iddle on 1st or 2nd gear to see if the axle looks bent or sloppy. Thanks guys!

[Donald]

Check your engine mounts too while you are under the car. A bad mount can cause vibration.

[idavid76]

I just thought I would resurect this thread to conclude the vibration issue. I bought the driver side axle (passenger side was new) and minimized the vibration but did not cure it. So I did the last thing I was gonna do to fix the issue and low and behold...IT IS FIXED! Took it to my buddy's shop (Tire Pros) and they rebalanced my 4 wheels and tires because the morons at the tire shop where I installed my tires either did not know how to balance tires or were learning with my car. My buddy also suggested an alignment and sure enough the car was out of alignemt BIG TIME. -1.80 degrees, meaning both of my front wheels were turning opposite to each other pointing outward to the sides. Like this... \ / So now there is no vibration at all, I am happy! We will see what is next on the list...

[Donald]

Great!!!