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Car Shaking Issue!

Q

qbcsvt

Hard-core CEG'er
Joined
Oct 12, 2006
Messages
3,145
Location
Up North New Jersey
Sup Guys I finally got myself a CSVT 99 Black on MB :drool:. Ne ways Im Having an issue with it. I can cruise with it but once I hit between 60 - 80MPH my car start shaking like crazy. The dash seems like its jiggling up and down. After 80 it seems like it cools down im guessing because of the speed im going. Well, Im thinking its the axles becuase of what people have saying But im not sure. I was trying to get on SPMotorsports.com to purchase their higher performance axles but their site isnt up. If anyone has had this issue and can help me please help me w/ your suggestions. forgive me for my newbiness before hand. LOL :help:

Amyn - 0532
 
Put the credit card down and back away from the computer.:crazy:

No need to start buying stuff when you don't know what's wrong. Especially, when you probably have a bad wheel bearing. That's just a guess, but better to diagnose what it really is, instead of replacing everything it isn't.

BTW, I had the exact same symptoms, and it turns out that I had a bad rear wheel bearing. Seems that when I got above 75 that the symptoms went away. Eventually, it got a lot worse. Mine also produced a harmonic that I listened for and which allowed me to figure out which bearing was bad. If you have a trained ear, you should be able to figure it out without jacking up the car.;)

Suggestions? Search the old and new forums with keywords like shaking, suspension, and violently.
 
qbcsvt said:
Sup Guys I finally got myself a CSVT 99 Black on MB :drool:. Ne ways Im Having an issue with it. I can cruise with it but once I hit between 60 - 80MPH my car start shaking like crazy. The dash seems like its jiggling up and down. After 80 it seems like it cools down im guessing because of the speed im going. Well, Im thinking its the axles becuase of what people have saying But im not sure. I was trying to get on SPMotorsports.com to purchase their higher performance axles but their site isnt up. If anyone has had this issue and can help me please help me w/ your suggestions. forgive me for my newbiness before hand. LOL :help:

Amyn - 0532
Click to expand...
Here are a few easy "do-it-yourself" checks

1. Check your tire pressure and your tires. I had this problem and it turned out that one of my tires had a lump in it (used tire purchase).

2. Check your lug nuts (proper torque settings). It is possible one or more of your wheels have the lug nuts either too loose or too tight.

3. Listen for a low whirring sound, which most likely indicates a bad wheel bearing. To do this, find an open road some where and get up to about 50 MPH and then put it in neutral and coast. Make sure you have your windows rolled up and your radio turned off.

4. Search :)
 
Doing the cheap stuff first is always good advice. The wheel bearing failure will be progressive. When it gets nice and worn, it will wail quite a bit.

Easy check -- Throw the nose up in the air, jump on the creeper, and slide underneath. If you can walk the tire back and forth along the toe line (side to side) with the force of your arms alone, then you've likely got a bearing that's in semi-retirement or worse.

FWIW -- I once had an '87 Ford Taurus MT-5 wagon that coughed up a passenger's halfshaft on Highway 200 in Montana. Go 60, the car was happy. Go 70, the car shook so violently that the glove box opened. When we finally got under there and had it opened up, there was nothing left of the half shaft, and it fell right out. So its possible that your initial instinct is right. Best of luck finding it.
 
qbcsvt said:
Sup Guys I finally got myself a CSVT 99 Black on MB :drool:. Ne ways Im Having an issue with it. I can cruise with it but once I hit between 60 - 80MPH my car start shaking like crazy. The dash seems like its jiggling up and down. After 80 it seems like it cools down im guessing because of the speed im going. Well, Im thinking its the axles becuase of what people have saying But im not sure. I was trying to get on SPMotorsports.com to purchase their higher performance axles but their site isnt up. If anyone has had this issue and can help me please help me w/ your suggestions. forgive me for my newbiness before hand. LOL :help:

Amyn - 0532
Click to expand...

Identical, and I mean IDENTICAL to a problem I had with my car when I first bought it. After living with it for a week (I'm a busy guy), turned out to be the lugs weren't torqued down. All I did was tighten everything up & the problem went away.
 
How about a good old fashioned alignment? This I'm sure has been the cause of more then one shake in any car. I'd go with that first. Whoever aligns it will also be able to tell what your weakest link is, which might be contributing if your alignment is fine.
 
I have had similar problems in the past:
1st time: turned out to be lugs weren't tightened down!!! :mad:

2nd time: not so much shaking but more of just a loud noise it was a wheel bearing

3rd time: belt in tire had snapped, and It caused like a bubble. the steering wheel would shake back and forth violently and it was a rough ride.

GL!
 
I'm having a similar problem. I've tried 3 sets of wheels/tires, new inner tie-rod, same exact problem. At 60 you start to feel it, by 70 it shakes like crazy. But, if you nail it from a stop and accelerate to 75-80 its fine. The second you let off though, it starts to shake again. I'm thinking driveshaft. Thats the only thing left I think it could be. I checked to make sure both hubs were fine and they are. I think if it was a bent hub you would feel it at lower speeds.
 
I had that problem with severe shaking in between those speeds, turned out upon replacing the axle, it was much smoother afterwards, even though I only changed one side. I was planning on doing the other along with changing the wheel bearing but i dont have the car anymore
 
Goonz, do you by chance remember which side you replaced?

I replaced my drivers side with no luck. I'm still trying to figure out what it could be...

Gonna pull the suspension out one of these days to make sure the struts aren't completly blown. I know with 110k they've got some decent wear but I don't think they'd cause it.

EDIT: I take it by axle you mean driveshaft right??
 
Well, I replaced drivers side and it didn't do squat. Maybe it is the passenger side... Eh... anything's worth a shot at this point...
 
99Mystique ATX said:
Gonna pull the suspension out one of these days to make sure the struts aren't completly blown. I know with 110k they've got some decent wear but I don't think they'd cause it.
Click to expand...
A bad strut will not keep the tire firmly planted on the road and will allow it to bounce. Have someone drive next to you when you get the shakes and see if any of the tires are bouncing off the road. I see it all the time - usually the fronts since they get most of the punishment on account of the weight they have to deal with. I suspect that you could get a small amount of shaking before you could physically see the tires start to bounce and it would get worse the faster the speed you went.
Karl
 
99Mystique ATX said:
I'm having a similar problem. I've tried 3 sets of wheels/tires, new inner tie-rod, same exact problem. At 60 you start to feel it, by 70 it shakes like crazy. But, if you nail it from a stop and accelerate to 75-80 its fine. The second you let off though, it starts to shake again. I'm thinking driveshaft. Thats the only thing left I think it could be. I checked to make sure both hubs were fine and they are. I think if it was a bent hub you would feel it at lower speeds.
Click to expand...

That is starting to sound like a bearing.
 
I've got that same problem, but it only happens whenever I'm accelerating in any gear. The weird thing is I never had the problem until I got my car lowered with Koni/B&G combo and I think it has more to do with the drivetrain. I put a post about this along time ago but I still havent figured out what's wrong. Anyone have any ideas?
 
Hammy1105 said:
I've got that same problem, but it only happens whenever I'm accelerating in any gear. The weird thing is I never had the problem until I got my car lowered with Koni/B&G combo and I think it has more to do with the drivetrain. I put a post about this along time ago but I still havent figured out what's wrong. Anyone have any ideas?
Click to expand...

Did you get an alignment?
 
Shaking on acceleration will not necessarily have the same root cause as shaking on steady state driving at a certain speed. I'd still suggest looking as the struts as being the problem area for the reason stated that they aren't keeping the tires planted firmly on the road. That's what their job is. The tire treads will also show cupping after a while.
Karl
 
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