Front end shake

[Tommy]

Ok guys Ive got a 93 gl with an auto and stock drive train, I drive highway miles, ok anything over 55 miles per hour the front end shakes and hammers it sounds like cv joints so I went ahead and changed them I thought 170K miles I might as well since they were the original ones before I did I checked the tie rod ends by having my gf turn the wheel slightly back and forth they were fine I dont know how to check the ball joints so I shook the wheel side to side and top to bottom nothing happened. When Im going over 55 I can turn the wheel slightly to the right and it gets worse and slightly to the left and it gets better, any ideas? I know the trans mount is bad.

[sharkstiva]

Im having this same issue. Mine is worse when the wheels are under power. Take it our of gear coasting at 60 ans it dies down some. I replaced bearings, tie rods, cv knuckles, and new tires and still I'm shaking.

[FestYboy]

inspect your sway bushings and LCA bushings, also check for bearing play. to look for ball joint play, place your hands at 8 and 2 on the driver tire and 4 and 10 on the passenger tire WITH THE ENTIRE FRONT END OFF THE GROUND.

[91mcnasty]

my car has an entirely brand new front end and it still has a light shake,i was thingking maybe alignment on my car? because i got it as close as possible but not perfect.

the "hammering" you describe, is it a single clunk or does it happen multiple times in a row? because when my trans mount went bad it would cause a very firm clunk at random times, mostly when coming to a complete stop thou.

[burnt_toast]

Wheel balance? Can have them balanced or if you have more time than $$$ just rotate the tires and see if it changes, though that isn't exactly scientific, just cheap.
My '92 GL 5-spd has always had a little shuddering at just over 70mph indicated, but I assumed it was just because it is a little car. On Socal freeways it can actually get a harmonic so bad it starts to shudder the doors bad enough to break the seals. Only does it when the expansion joints on the road are really hammered, but it's a great reminder I'm only slightly more encased than when on my motorcycle
-toast

[TominMO]

Alignment or wheel/tire balance are the most likely issues, IMO. I'd start there. To eliminate or confirm the tire balance, rotate the tires front/rear to see if it goes away (or moves to the back tire!). I do my own alignment with a long piece of aluminum angle stock (L-shaped if looked at on edge). I shoot for a toe-in of ~1/4 inch. Works fine.

Then I'd check the tie rod ends, or worn CV axles. If the tie rod boots are bad but the ball joint still seems pretty tight, just replace the boots. There is a recent thread here for that.

LCAs shouldn't be a problem. When I bought Casper I drove home about 800 miles and had no issues, altho the LCA ball joints were dangerously worn. I immediately replaced them.

[georgeb]

My ball joints had a scary amount of play before I finally got around to repairing them. Never had any shimmy.

[FestYboy]

I shoot for a toe-in of ~1/4 inch. Works fine.

that's a WHOLE lot of toe-in Tom, you should only be shooting for 1/16-1/8" toe in. if you start running wider tires (like 185), you'll see some significant wear on the outside edges. Not to mention that you're adding friction and a loss of MPG at 1/4" toe.

[sharkstiva]

I had mine balanced before I put them on, and have gone twice since then to have it redone, both times I was balanced. That's not a problem for me.
Checked the lcas, tie rods, and bearings. All that was in really good shape.

I'm starting to think Burnt Toast is right about it just being a tiny tank, because it comes and goes.

[TominMO]

that's a WHOLE lot of toe-in Tom, you should only be shooting for 1/16-1/8" toe in. if you start running wider tires (like 185), you'll see some significant wear on the outside edges. Not to mention that you're adding friction and a loss of MPG at 1/4" toe.

I will take a look at my toe-in, well actually the Festiva's and Aspire's, and adjust accordingly.

[fastivaB6TG25MR]

my rack has alot of play and has similar issues. take the bollows loose at the rack and watch the up/down play.

[sharkstiva]

I have no play in my rack, but I've still got the retainer pins in each end.

[Movin]

Most tire stores will be off too much for a light weight tire and wheel assembly. Use a digital hand powered balancer that can balance to 1/10 ounce. Electric motor powered balancers have to much inherent vibration to get real accurate. Loose anything, especially in sprung weight will make a 1/2 ounce feel like a rag doll in a pit bull pen. I just got new Firestone winter-force tires, awesome in the back country with deep snow but on the highway they polished the calluses off my hands !! It was 1/2 ounce to heavy on one wheel .

[Tommy]

When I replaced the cv joints I rotated the tires to see if that would help I went straight back with the fronts and passenger rear to drivers front with the backs and no difference and it didnt follow to the back, Im starting to think alignment but my tires arent showing wear like its out of alignment. The noise is a steady thumping almost like a helicopter thats what made me think cv joints Ive had other cars make the same noise at high speeds when the joints went bad. Im stumped on this one the only other thing I know to do is start replacing things one at a time.

[sharkstiva]

That's what I did, and none of that took it away.

Talked to some folks who've been doing the car thing for 30+years, they say check our motor/tranny mounts.
You check by setting parked in neutral and have someone rev the engine.
If it *cocks*, then this could be causing our shake.
Tranny mounts are harder to check, but they say that can be done while under power.
If you're 5bangin, get up to 60 where you can coast 60, then drop neutral and see if the vibration persists, if so, you need tranny mount.

Don't know if that helped. It helped me eliminate the bearings, the rack, the tie rods, the lcas, alignment(cause I've had that done a few times), and the other parts that wear out and cause shake.