Shaky steering wheel

[myweecar]

I have an '86 N/A and the steering wheel is shaking. I have had a 4 wheel alignment done and wheels balanced twice. Still no improvement! I also tried rotating the tires just in case one was out of round, still no dice. I am at a loss here. The car has 2" lowering springs and Tokico blue shocks. I have debated getting the Prothane full bushing kit, but I'm not for sure if it's a sway bar bushing problem, or something more. Please help!!!

[kim0663]

could be centre rings? do you run stock rims

[myweecar]

They are American Racing rims. 15"

[muffinman]

when exactly are you getting the shake? Have you checked you bearings?

[TechX]

Whose doing the alignment, if you have been in more than once and they havent recommended bearings or they havent checked out the tie-rods and such, then I'd find a new place to get my car checked out. If your paying for a service and it isn't working the first time then there is another issue. Instead of taking your money to do it over and over and not getting anything out of it, they should be giving you solutions and options. If you can do it yourself, I'd recommend you check the bearings and eyeball the suspension yourself. With the tierods and such, look for blown seals at the linkage points. Bearings are a little harder, and inspect any ujoints while your checking. The bearings are about $50 each at an advance auto near you. If you felt like driving to Morgantown, WV I can get them for about 40 each, and if you need any other parts at the same time, and I can get them, I can hook you up.

[myweecar]

The tie rods and ball joints are fine. I have checked the wheel bearings and no slop in the wheel. I got the balance and alignment for free at Tire Discounters. The shake happens around 45-55 mph, and goes away as I get near 65-70 mph.

[kim0663]

wheel balance.

[muffinman]

Originally Posted by kim0663

wheel balance.

or bad tire. Check for uneven tread wear or out of round or maybe you just lost a balancing weight off one of your rims

[Milfords87MR2]

Do you have wheel spacers on your wheels? I had the same problem, it turned out the spacers were not on correctly, I just took the spacers off.

[myweecar]

No wheel spacers, and I've moved the tires around and get the same issue. It has to be suspension related.

[E T Haggis]

i have wheel shake the same problem but is worse when braking

[NJMR2Fan]

Wheel bearing would be my first guess. Maybe the race is worn or maybe one or more of the ball bearings has flat spotted. had this happen on my Mazda MX3. I changed the bearings and all was good again.

[muffinman]

Originally Posted by E T Haggis

i have wheel shake the same problem but is worse when braking

ethaggis - sounds like your rotors are warped try having them cut and your shake will definately go away.

[tjmr2]

Over torquing of wheel nuts is a common problem on MR2's leading to shake during braking. Tire shops are famous for using "Calibrated Torque Sticks". Meaning they run them in with their impact until it won't turn any more then check with the "Stick" and make sure that each nut has enough torque on it.

Haggis, loosen all your wheel nuts and torque to 76 ft lb. front and rear (BGB) your brake shimmy might go away.

Myweecar, I'm inclined to say tire balance. Were they balanced on a bubble (static) balancer or spun balanced? Have them rechecked at the RPM for 45-55 MPH.

[nitrate]

strut rod bushings ??? and dont just look at them pry on them with a big pipe or something and with the car in the air. ive seen people put new racks in there cars over this one little part that never looks bad

[2restomod]

And you might check out your bearings in your steering rack http://opc.mr2oc.com/online_parts_ca...g/steering.GIF 45541A&B in the pic

[NJMR2Fan]

Ive been thinking about this... Are you sure of the condition of your ball joints?

[SteveAW11]

its either in your rack as bad inner tie rods,

Or even better in your case you have a bad strut, seriously Tokico Blues are OEM replacements, they are not ment for lowering, those are really POS shocks on anything other than stock springs and or ride height.

get better struts like KYB AGX's or Koni's and it will all go away. If you ride like that with those bad struts IT WILL screw your tires up badly.

[Gairloch]

Bad struts aren't going to cause this kind of vibration. They can bounce like crazy over uneven pavement but not speed dependent vibration. Even if that were the case AGX dampers aren't going to improve anyone's ride.

With speed dependent vibration it has to be some sort of rotational mass or associated part. This means half shaft, wheel, tire, wheel bearing, ball joint, control arm or tie rods. The most common cause of this is a tire out of balance followed by the other wear items; ball joint, tie rods and wheel bearing. If you're still having the vibration problem I would take it to another place that specializes in tires. Have a conversation with whoever does their tire balance and ask him to explain what he does to make sure he has a clue.

Too bad you're not local to me. I have a really good tire guy.

[nitrate]

yet another guy that looks for a bigger problim. been working on cars for 35 years. and just exp the same problims from a strut rod bushing. car felt un safe to drive till you got up to 80. just replace every thing. you should every 4 or 5 years any ways.