shaky steering wheel

[gentlebear78]

anyone who can help...my '97 pathfinder has about 40,000 miles on it....and i've noticed that the steering wheel vibrates a little when i hit 60mph....i got the alignment done and its not that....any suggestions?
thanks!

 

[Nonoy]

I agree with Dogman, If the problem is persist, try another place to re-balance your tire. Seems to be the classic symptoms of an un-balanced tire or else ..... Good luck. Dead Link Removed

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1997 XLT, V6 SOHC
NY State of Mind

 

[mattadams]

my problem is kind of the same and just started here recently. The thing is I can't tell if its teh steering wheel itself or the tires sicne I can't watch my tires while its happening. Speed doesn't matter, and the surface of the road doesn't really matter either, sometimes I can be on a smooth road and it'll be vibrating like crazy and other times I can be on a bumpy road and it'll be a soft ride. I'm pretty sure its the whole steering though, because I can see my spare tire in back bouncing around when it happens. I tightened down all points on the steering I could find and that didn't help at all. Anyone have any more ideas?

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Matt Adams
94 Explorer 4-door nick-named "Tippy"
http://bart.is-s.com/~explorers/explorer/explorer.html

 

[DOGMAN]

Matt,

You still have the HP's on, or have you changed to the CLAW's?

It is possible that a tire rotated on a wheel last time you aired down. Have you tried rebalancing all your tires.

Sometimes I experience the same thing as you describe, sometimes it's fine, other times you get vibrations. One hypothesis is that sometimes the tires align themselves to cancel each other's vibration out, and other times they are in phase with each other, and this enhances the vibration problem.

I don't think it is in your steering, although anything is possible. Try rebalancing all four tires and see if that helps.

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DOGMAN
91 4dr 5sp
5.5" Superlift
"Downhill is just uphill in the opposite direction"

 

[DOGMAN]

Try rotating and balancing the tires. That's the most obvious culprit.



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DOGMAN
91 4dr 5sp
5.5" Superlift
"Downhill is just uphill in the opposite direction"

 

[mattadams]

Still have the baja hp's on. Waiting for wheels before getting the claws. Anyways today I am going to try to get all the tires rotated and re-balanced, I'll see if that effects it. I may have lost some weights in the mud in Tuttle Creek, but much like my license plate cover, Im not going back to look for them, heh heh. I think I am also going to have the bearings examined by a pro, and possibly the ball joints looked at as well. We'll see if that fixes anything for me.

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Matt Adams
94 Explorer 4-door nick-named "Tippy"
http://bart.is-s.com/~explorers/explorer/explorer.html

 

[wabbit]

Suggestion,
If the wheel balancing fixes the problem, draw up a little diagram of the inner and outer balance weight locations on each tire.
Use the valve stem location as an index point.
Toss it in the glove box and use it as a reference for future inspections. If you are running factory alloys, they are notorious for throwing off weights. If you do find "weight loss" to be a problem, have the shop use stick-on's. Good Luck...

 

[mattadams]

thanks, I may do that. One other thing, normally its just a mild vibration but twice yesterday it felt so bad I could've sworn the tires were going to shake right off the car the thing was all over the road. And I know it wasn't the road surface because I drove over the same spot today and didn't feel any bumps at all. Guess I should know by the end of the day if any of those things fix it, I'll be sure to let everyone know Dead Link Removed

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Matt Adams
94 Explorer 4-door nick-named "Tippy"
http://bart.is-s.com/~explorers/explorer/explorer.html

 

[gentlebear78]

also, i forgot to mention in my first post, whenever i brake after reaching 60mph, the steering wheel vibrates too.....could this be the same balance problem? thanks!

 

[mattadams]

Answer to gentle's questions, and resolution to my problem. Someone told me he thought it was steering pump, glad I had it checked out before "investing" in a new pump though, because that wasn't the problem. I decided to have the bearings repacked and tightened down and that fixed the problem about 90%, still had a slight vibration problem. Got my wheels balanced, and that seemed to take care of the other 10%, didn't notice any more vibration after that. Hope that helps.

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Matt Adams
94 Explorer 4-door nick-named "Tippy"
http://bart.is-s.com/~explorers/explorer/explorer.html

 

[DOGMAN]

gentlebear78,

Do you mean that the steering wheel vibrates MORE when you brake from 60 or above? You already said that it vibrates without braking at 60.

Vibration when braking has a little to do with unbalanced tires. It would have more to do with warped front brake rotors. Have you ever done a brake job on your vehicle?

I would take your rig to a professional and check the tire balance (also rotate if you havn't lately), check the brakes, check and repack the front wheel bearings, and have them make sure your alignment is OK. This is all normal maintainance.


Matt,

Happy to see that you fixed your vibration problem. That wheel bearing nut always wants to work itself loose. I can see the benefit of having the ones that have set screws on them, so they won't come loose.



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DOGMAN
91 4dr 5sp
5.5" Superlift
"Downhill is just uphill in the opposite direction"