vibration

[ryan george]

Getting a vibration above 60. Started a year ago (haven't driven the car much, and not that much on the highway). Initially thought it was the rear tires (MT drag radials) so I had them rebalanced, but that didn't work. Wanted to run at Norwalk this past weekend (doesn't seem to occur at WOT, or not that I can recall), which is almost an hour and a half drive, so I had the fronts rebalanced. Ran in on the highway to get some race fuel on Saturday and it's still there. Still went to Norwalk, but it was a rough ride for my wife and I. Not sure what to do at this point. If you know of a shop in the Akron area that I can take it to, pls let me know. Thx.

 

[captndave737]

I had a vibration I couldn't get rid of. I had the tires balanced a couple of times, replaced the flex plate and even got an aluminum drive shaft all to no avail. Then I read about a road force balance; had that done and it's bee smooth since.

 

[hiboom]

were are you feeling the vibration? is it in the steering wheel, the shifter handle, bottom part of the driver seat. when your going 60 and it starts to vibrate and you let off the gas quickie does the pitch of the vibration increase,decrease unchange. I would if it was me find a 2 post lift look and inspect u joints, pinion nut, torque convertor bolts, transmission mount, motor mounts spin the front wheels to see if it fills gritty put in gear while on lift have some one listen for something suspicious. when going around a corner or moving the wheel side to side the the pitch of vibration change.look at the date on the tires make sure they are not outdated inspected the belts in the treads very carefully. a car dealer friend of mine use to have me run and inspect a lot of auction cars for him sometimes as many as 20 a week.most always but not every time a vibration above 60 would be a tire even though it was balanced.If you had a friend you could switch out a set to try without buying I'd sure try that too.If you have every owned a good set of speed rate tires vs a cheaper set the smoothness on the highway is unbelieveable.

 

[ryan george]

I had a vibration I couldn't get rid of. I had the tires balanced a couple of times, replaced the flex plate and even got an aluminum drive shaft all to no avail. Then I read about a road force balance; had that done and it's bee smooth since.

Have not heard of that, will check into it. Thx.

 

[ryan george]

were are you feeling the vibration? is it in the steering wheel, the shifter handle, bottom part of the driver seat. when your going 60 and it starts to vibrate and you let off the gas quickie does the pitch of the vibration increase,decrease unchange. I would if it was me find a 2 post lift look and inspect u joints, pinion nut, torque convertor bolts, transmission mount, motor mounts spin the front wheels to see if it fills gritty put in gear while on lift have some one listen for something suspicious. when going around a corner or moving the wheel side to side the the pitch of vibration change.look at the date on the tires make sure they are not outdated inspected the belts in the treads very carefully. a car dealer friend of mine use to have me run and inspect a lot of auction cars for him sometimes as many as 20 a week.most always but not every time a vibration above 60 would be a tire even though it was balanced.If you had a friend you could switch out a set to try without buying I'd sure try that too.If you have every owned a good set of speed rate tires vs a cheaper set the smoothness on the highway is unbelieveable.

Mostly steering wheel and feet. Goes down as speed decreases. Way beyond my capabilities with what you're suggesting, but appreciate it. Will check tire age, believe they are speed rated for what I need. Fronts are about 2 years old, rears about a year beyond that. Not sure how to check the belts. Thx.

 

[standupjskiguy]

Perhaps flat spots on the tires from sitting so long?
Perhaps you hit a bad pothole and broke the steel belt inside the tire? Both have happened to me.
Jack each wheel off the ground and rotate it, look for a bad spot. Tires will roll fairly true, it will have some run out but you will
notice one bad tire compared to the others. You may have to jack the whole differential up to get the rears to rotate.
I would think, when the tires were spin balanced, they might have noticed a bad tire but they have shields over the spinning tires now
for safety so the tech may not have noticed a bad tire.

 

[hiboom]

Since you said you can feel it in the steering wheel my money is on front tire,wheel,or suspension .

 

[ryan george]

Perhaps flat spots on the tires from sitting so long?
Perhaps you hit a bad pothole and broke the steel belt inside the tire? Both have happened to me.
Jack each wheel off the ground and rotate it, look for a bad spot. Tires will roll fairly true, it will have some run out but you will
notice one bad tire compared to the others. You may have to jack the whole differential up to get the rears to rotate.
I would think, when the tires were spin balanced, they might have noticed a bad tire but they have shields over the spinning tires now
for safety so the tech may not have noticed a bad tire.

They have just sat over the winter. The car is driven, just mostly local. Ok, will jack up and spin the tires. One on the front, on the sidewall, seems to have a dented area. I questioned it, but one of the guys on here said it wouldn't cause an issue so I dismissed it. Thx.

 

[ryan george]

Ok, only had time last night to visually inspect the tires. Couldn't locate the date on the tire? Question, the front passenger tire has a visible 'dent' that runs most of the sidewall. I can see it and feel it. Does anyone know if this could cause the vibration? Seems logical to me, but would like to hear from someone that knows a thing or two about tires. Would rather not buy new fronts if not needed as there is plenty of tread on the current set. If no tire guru's on here, then I'll call a tire dealer (kinda expecting they would tell me to replace it to get the sale, thus asking here first). Thx!!!

 

[1KWIKSIX]

Get em Road Force Balanced. This will tell you all you need to know about your tires & get em balanced as well as they possibly can be. Will also let you know if any rims are out of spec too!

 

[ryan george]

Got it. Found a place close to home that does road force balancing. Was just trying to eliminate that thought in my head about that 'dent'. Thx...

 

[Frederick]

I just had mine balanced. Both back tires had flat spots. The guy spun the tires 180 degrees on each wheel and that seems to have taken care of it.