I've Got The Shakes!

[dalebwilson]

I will preface this post with the fact that I really like Festivas….I own 2 of them. I like the fuel mileage, the ease of handling, parking and the fact that I can work on them at home. I am frustrated however with both of mine. They have shaky/vibrating steering wheels at 55+MPH. I drive a lot of miles to and from work and it simply wears me out. I get frustrated when I want to drive 65-70 and get the death shake that we frequently hear about. The GL has 160K and the L has 300K. The front ends have been rebuilt on both other than the steering racks. I have tried multiple sets of 12” and 13” tires and had them balanced/rotated multiple times. I have had both front ends aligned at a reputable shop. After speaking with Charlie (Advance), he feels certain that the steering racks are the culprit. So here are a few questions for the group:

1. Have any of you had these same symptoms, replaced or rebuilt the rack and it resolved your problem?
2. Where did you source the rack? I have tried to purchase one from the Festiva store but he does not have any. I can buy one from an auto parts store….but they are expensive.
3. Can I use an Aspire power steering rack and simply cap off the power steering ports?
4. Can I pull the rack and rebuild it myself? Other than the worn bushings, what else needs replacing during the rebuild?
5. How many of you actually have smooth riding Festivas?

Thanks to all that will respond,
Dale

[TWFodor]

Mine does the same thing as yours at around 60mph+. Bought 13in rims that were pre-balanced from a fellow member and that actually helped a little, but I still get the shakes. I was hoping an alignment would solve the rest of the issue, but if my problem is related to your issue then that won't solve it. Darn. Bubble burst.

Unfortunately, I do not have the knowledge to answer your questions. Just figured I'd let you know there are many of us in this same boat. I will definitely be keeping an eye on this thread. Thanks for bringing it up!

[Movin]

I have a worn out bad steering rack in one, it does not shake but the car follows grooves in the road and has play in the steering. The drivers side bushing is shot.

I have had shakes, one was a bent steel rim. One was a belt breaking in a tire. I have a snap-on tire balancer that will balance to 1/10 of an ounce. If I do not trim the weights and stop at one ounce I will sometimes have a shaker.

Metro rims do not fit perfect and they are heavy. If one of them gets off a hair they will shake. I have to beat them around a bit as the lugs come tight to help them center on the lugs.

All that worn out other stuff seems to do for me anyway is take a little shake from a tire balance issue and amplify the heck out of it. If I get the balance under control then all I have is the noise or symptom from the worn out whatever.

I pierced a strut one time and had absolutely no dampening but the tire did not shake. If it would have been off a little on balance it would have shook really bad.

Somebody should have a balancer that will go to 1/10. The front of VW beetles have the same issue.

[David88]

I had this problem for years on my low mile daily driver. It had 31k miles when I got it. Over the last 10 years I've driven it to just over 100K. Until last summer it would shake just as you stated. 13's, 12's...... alignment... balance... Didn't matter. Now I have no shakes anymore at any speed. None for a year of daily driving. What changed? One word. YOKAHAMA. Brand new fresh stock 145 r12. Bought from tire rack. They called to ask if I wanted to wait 1 month for the ship to dock for fresh inventory. Glad I did! Well worth the wait and extra cost for good tires.

[Team Lightning]

My 90L has rio struts, rio top mounts, 175 pound coil over springs, Miata 14" wheels with 165-55-14 tires, aspire manual steering rack and has no vibration.
The 12" tires I used to buy (different brands) would vibrate and had to be balanced every 3000 miles to keep it reasonably smooth.

David, you are correct, Yokohama's are the only ones that didn't vibrate. They were OEM on the car when it was new.

[Stinsin63]

I had the same experience with my 93L. Bought it with 53k miles and it would shake to some degree no matter what I fixed, especially at highway speeds. Then about 300 miles ago I bought a set of Yokohama 145/12's and now it's a smooth ride in town or on the highway at 70mph.

[gottafesty]

The only shaking I ever had was a result from being out of balance or an old tire that was losing it's integrity. I'm not really sure that a worn steering rack can cause this problem, but I won't be dogmatic about it. I've never had Yokos on my Festivas, but I have had several other brands from 12" to 14" and they only vibrated the steering wheel when they were out of balance or falling apart.

[Studebaker]

Everyone is right. You have to start with quality tires. Then the front end has to be tight. But if the rack is loose it will shake.

I replaced the rack last weekend. Now I look down at the speedo and I'm doing 60 to 65 mph.

Yes they are expensive but worth it. Go with rebuilt not used

[sc72]

For all your steering rack needs, Nonamekid at the Festiva store and for 12" tires Yokohama not Hercules or other off brands.

[jimdigs]

http://www2.tires-easy.com/cgi-bin/rshop.pl?dsco=135&cart_id=25131659.135.26841&sowigan=GAN&Breite=145&Felge=12&Speed=S&kategorie=&Marke=Yokohama&ranzahl=4&tyre_for=&x_tyre_for=&Herst=Yokohama&rsmFahrzeugart=Passenger&details=Ordern&typ=R-120360

[David88]

^ That is a very good price!

[TorqueEffect]

I am having very bad vibrations on 13" Konigs, both balanced and hub rings. Neither the Cooper Tires, or GT Radials brand tires make a difference. Have front Kia Rio swap, and now the problem seems amplified, but that could be the lack of the proper sized hub rings which I am waiting to arrive.

Granted I had them balanced by some students at a school that had a plain old spin balancing machine, and not a Roadforce balancer. Some of the weights being those stick on square ones too, and I don't think I completely trust those.

Probably should go to Firestone and get them roadforce balanced by professionals instead of students.

[LordOfTheCars]

I'm running Nanking 12" tires, I think the tops of the struts are about due.

I haven't touched the rack, I have replaced the bushings in the control arms and the sway bar and played with a Miata at over 80 mph and it was good.

You would notice if the rack was internally loose. Externally check while someone rocks the steering wheel and look for the rack moving in it mounts... Sometimes the rack mounting bushing get soft. Also check the inner and outer tire rod ends.

I want to go to a 14" tire as I am tired of mail ordering a 12" tires. No one around here stocks them and the Nankings are rather soft.

[dalebwilson]

Well the consensus of purchasing the Yoko tires may prompt me to buy a set before I replace the rack. Thanks for the link Jim. That is a good price. The 13" metro rims with brand new Achilles tires are the worst ride of them all. They are heavy, decrease fuel mileage, vibrate, hop and shake all over even after having them balanced on a Hunter Road Force machine. I must admit I am a little surprised that not many of you have replaced you racks. I thought this was a more common issue and a necessary replacement part on these cars. Please keep this thread going and share your experience with this issue.

[Advancedynamix]

When I first got Pedro back on the road, it was shake free on the old dry rotted Kuhmo12" tires. Then I put some Sunny 155/60-13 tires on Hyundai wheels and the shake showed up. I then replaced everything in the front end and installed nankang175/50-13 tires. It still shakes sometimes, but not as bad. My theory is that tires aren't perfectly round, and the Festiva is very sensitive to this because it's such a lightweight build. Tweak didn't have this problem, but was a couple hundred pounds heavier on the front wheels. I'm going to have my tires shaved to see if it helps.
The rack is tight in Pedro, so that's not the issue.