Intermittent Shaking of Steering wheel @ 60mph

[jrhogan]

I just bought a used 2002 xlt with 140k miles that has a myriad of "minor" issues that I would like to start getting corrected.
Ive never attempted to work on my own cars/trucks, but want to pick up the skill and learn to work on this explorer. (when its realistic)

The first issue I want to get worked out is when I hit 60mph, my steering wheel starts to shake pretty good, its very uncomfortable to hold, but driveable, it does this about 70% of the time, the rest of the time its perfectly fine, any ideas as to what needs to be replaced or looked at?

I searched the forum and found "similar" but not exact matches to my problem.

Warped rotors? unbalanced tires? bad shocks?

id like to do most of the troubleshooting before taking it in or buying parts, trying to be as frugal as possible

 

[calmac06]

Had the same problem at around 66mph.. unbalanced tires were the biggest contributor along with rotors that were slightly warped. If the tires are worn out, definately replace them!

 

[jrhogan]

The thing that has me worried is that it doesnt shake all the time, would unbalanced tires cause this?

the dealer I bought it from put a new set of tires on, I dont think they are the nicest, I expect to replace them within a year, they scream "12k mile tires" to me

 

[Dustmonster]

The rule that I was taught is this; feel the play in the steering wheel-up & down vibration is usually caused by unbalanced tires. Side to side vibration could be worn tires poor front end allignment or worn bushings or connecting parts.

 

[jrhogan]

Excellent!
Thank you for the tip, im experiencing side to side shaking, the tires are new so now I know where to look, I was afraid that it wasnt going to be as easy as unbalanced tires.