Ok so here's the story. I have an 08SS. I've had some weird vibrations with the car since winter. I have had it at the dealer several times now and I'm beginning to get real annoyed with this.

The car will shake pretty bad at 60ish and it bounces the steering wheel around. Here is what I've found/done so far:

1) I have 2 sets of wheels - winter wheels with snow tires and stock wheels with summer tires. The car shakes on both sets of wheels so I don't think it's a wheel balance issue.

2) I recently changed pads/rotors/fluid and the issue is still there. So I don't think it is a brake issue.

3) The dealer replaced my intermediate steering shaft and steering column. The problem is still there. Not quite as bad but the steering wheel still bounces around and you can still feel the shakes. They said they went through the front suspension and didn't find any other issues besides the shaft and column (they said they checked the tie rods, CV joints, axles, bushings, etc).


I don't want to keep throwing money at this without knowing what it might be. The problem only comes in around 60ish and seems to get a bit better after 75ish. It seems to get worse when I am accelerating. If it is shaking around 60-65 and I let off to coast the shaking greatly reduces.

What are your thoughts? Could it be the wheel bearings/hubs? Alignment? If they really checked all other suspension components and everything was ok I'm just not sure what else it could be? Please help me out CSS!!

 

How does the wheel shake, side to side or just vibrates. Does it do it around a corner, right or left handed. Does it do it when you hit the brakes? How many miles on car, ever changed sway bar end links or front rear control arm bushings? Is the steering tight other than shakes on the wheel?
We're your wheels road force balanced and are you sure they are balanced properly and not bent? How old are your tires, do you have any busted cords? Have you put lowering springs on or had the front suspension apart. How long has it been since you had an alignment.
Sorry but all of these could effect it. I ended up finding that the wheel weights on the driver front tire on 2 different sets of wheels had been thrown off ( probably a 2nd gear burnout at the track) and didn't figure it out till I saw that wheel moving around when my car was being dyno'd.

 

I have a similar issue after a clutch job I had done at a shop i noticed vibrations at like 70ish+ after about 5mins of driving nothing crazy but i notice it had my shop check wheel balance and they said it was good. Its annoying they might not have tighten the mounts in the order they needed to for a powell s1 mount idk I need to Figur it out. Mabe axles or a caliper sticking there's lots of stuff it could be...

 

Did u make sure ur wheels are clear of dirt in the inside of the rim. If it has dirt around it unevenly it will throw them off.

 

Does it vibrate more when under acceleration? Or just vibrate at all times when driving? High speeds or low speeds?

 

Find an empty quite parking lot, roll your windows down and turn right full lock and do a couple slow speed circles listening for a popping or clicking, then turn left full lock and do the same thing. This will give you an idea if it's the axles, which can cause an issue with steering wheel vibration.

 

The wheel shimmies left and right. It will shake going straight or around corners. Hitting the brakes doesn't change it. The car has about 66k on it. The dealer had replaced the end links last year. The control arm bushings have not been done, but the dealer indicated everything looked good with them, as well as with the tie rods/CV joints/axles/etc. Since the dealer replaced the intermediate steering shaft and column, the steering is nice and tight besides the shaking. The wheels were not road force balanced, but the car shakes the same speeds on both sets of wheels and tires so I do not believe it is wheel or tire related (I have 17" SS wheels with snows for winter and the stock wheels with Nexens for the good weather months). I have not done anything to the suspension. It has been about 6 or so months since my last alignment.

I clean the wheels when they come off the car. So when the winter ones went on they were all clean and fresh. The vibration was still there. When the winter ones came off the summers went back on and those were all nice and clean too. Problem still persists.

It seems to be worse under acceleration. If it is shaking around 60-65ish and I let off, the shaking/vibrations lessen. If I'm at those speeds and I accelerate harder, the shaking/vibrations get more intense.

Ah good to know. I will give this a try and see what I can hear.

Any other ideas/input? I know people say the control arm bushings are garbage in these cars. I mean the dealer said they were fine, but who knows if they actually checked them. Is there something I could do to test them? Could busted bushings cause speed-specific shaking/vibrations?

 

Ok update bump...

1) Drove the tight circles in a parking lot - no weird clicking or popping noises.

2) Jacked the car up and wiggled the wheels. 12 and 6 wiggle, then a 9 and 3 wiggle. Everything seemed tight and no weird noises. The axles had some in and out movement but no up and down movement. Is this normal?

3) Looked at the brakes again when it was in the air. Didn't notice any strange wear on the rotors or dragging when spinning the wheels.

4) Turned the wheels full left and full right when up in the air. The strut nut had some movement but it seemed to correlate with rotating the wheels. Should the nut and stem have movement?

I tried to see if the control arm bushings were torn but it is hard to tell back there. I didn't have a pry bar to move it around to see if there was excess play.


I am taking it in for an alignment next Saturday. I doubt that is going to help but the alignment is covered under a 6 month warranty so I figured why not try and see.

Any other thoughts or suggestions?

 

I think you have play in the axle cv joints. Probably gunna need new axles.