Well Crap...

[88FestivaLX]

All of my new parts came in today (control arms, bushings, tie rod ends etc.). Just put them all on and took it for a drive. It still does the same exact thing as before.....steering wheel shakes and it feels like crap. Steering is tighter though, ha. What could it be?! Wheel bearing? I have no idea.....

[mechanicaldj]

bad tires

[jglutz]

^^Yep bad tires....out of balance...separated belts.

I had a steering wheel vibration that got progressively worse...repaired mine by replacing the 'inner' tie rod ends.

[bugbor]

Maybe wheel brearing, but check for tires out of balance.

[88FestivaLX]

I was kind of wondering about that too.....I have a new set in the garage, but I don't want to put them on until I get some struts on it.

I also have a cv axle on the drivers side with a boot thats all torn open.

[mechanicaldj]

Maybe wheel bearing, but check for tires out of balance.

even balancing the tires can't detect a broken belt or separated rubber inside the tread of the tire

still my answer :

bad tires

[jrbauerjr]

Shimmy Shake

Just had the same problem, horrible shake started at 55 and got worse, went away at about 75..... Had the front wheels balanced, still there. Pulled the wheels off and examined them and found that two of them had some bad scalloping. Blew the budget on 4 155R12 and a front end alignment....

$250 for the tires and $56 for the alignment......

I now have a beautiful ride, guess I'll keep it for a while longer (as an aside, we only paid $300 for the car in 2005, try explaining the tire bill to the better half)..

Jim Bauer

[88FestivaLX]

How are the inner tie rods supposed to feel? When I did my outers, I felt the inners and they felt good and tight. I guess I'll just have to wait a little longer and put struts on the front and the back and then put my new tires on. I just don't want to put the new tires on and have them wear funny because of worn out suspension. I guess my stock springs are ok. Didn't see anything broken anywhere, just areas where the paint/coating is peeling off. I figure when I take them off I'll just sand them down and paint them.

[piratewilly]

if u dont want to put ur new tires on yet u could at least try balanceing your old ones, it would probably help out a lot

[Levitan]

The key thing I read was: Shake in the steering wheel.

Move the front wheels to the rear and the rear to the front. If the shaking stops in the steering wheel, and vibration is in the seat, then you have isolated the tires. If you swap the tires, and the steering wheel still shakes, then you know it is in the suspension parts.

[FB71]

or more bad tires....

[88FestivaLX]

Ha, I thought about doing that, but the struts are original with 150,xxx miles on them so I figure they need to be replaced. I'm just going to put some monroes on it, get the new tires mounted and balanced and get it aligned. With all the new front suspension and steering parts I have a feeling its gonna ride a lot better, ha. Oh, and get the steering wheel straightened too. That hasn't been straight since I bought the car, ha.

[88FestivaLX]

Oh, does anyone know if new struts come with boots, or do they need to be bought separately?

[25Horseplay]

Oh, does anyone know if new struts come with boots, or do they need to be bought separately?

Normally seperate.

[lessersivad]

All of my new parts came in today (control arms, bushings, tie rod ends etc.). Just put them all on and took it for a drive. It still does the same exact thing as before.....steering wheel shakes and it feels like crap. Steering is tighter though, ha. What could it be?! Wheel bearing? I have no idea.....

Could be the brake rotors are slightly warped. Does the shaking get a little worse when gently applying the brakes?? Just a thought.