Have We Solved The Steering Vibration On The Freeway?

[yatesd]

Update:

BTW, I know many of you have been following my brake noises on the Honda Odyssey closely. Fortunately, I am using the lemon law to the fullest extent and just found out Honda will be forced to replace my defective minivan with a new ZR1 Corvette (obviously, they can't make minivans so I made them replace it with something else that would make me happy).

And yes this is on topic with this thread...

[Mr Snappy]

Originally Posted by yatesd

Update:

BTW, I know many of you have been following my brake noises on the Honda Odyssey closely. Fortunately, I am using the lemon law to the fullest extent and just found out Honda will be forced to replace my defective minivan with a new ZR1 Corvette (obviously, they can't make minivans so I made them replace it with something else that would make me happy).

And yes this is on topic with this thread...

I must have missed your act in previous posts....Funny, but I fail to see the humor in people having these issues with their cars. Without going through every post you ever created, what is your beef here? Maybe you can do us all a favor and start a new thread with your comedic rants...

[yatesd]

Originally Posted by Mr Snappy

I must have missed your act in previous posts....Funny, but I fail to see the humor in people having these issues with their cars. Without going through every post you ever created, what is your beef here? Maybe you can do us all a favor and start a new thread with your comedic rants...

My only complaint is the whole thread is off-topic:

-We have some people who have a droning issue at certain speeds (includes me)
-We have some people who I assume have a real steering vibration issue
-We have some people who claim to have both but really just need their wheels balanced or have defective tires
-We have some people who profess how best to use the lemon law
-Then there are others who consider it a generic complaint thread

So...I've waited at least a month for this thing to slowly move off the page and it hasn't. I figured I must be looking at things from the wrong perspective and instead decided to join the fun.

Did I mention when I get distracted by looking at things on the side of the road my wheel tends to move in that direction? Then when I look forward again, the wheel tends to straighten out. I think this is further proof we need a class action law suit.

[Mr Snappy]

Okie Dokie....got it. I still have a little trouble following your sense of humor, but at least I have a small taste of how you see this thread.

I guess my take on this thread is that people..

1. Have issues of some sort with the handling of their cars and thought this thread might shed some light on the issues

2. Have other issues and are curious on how others are handling "chronic" issues with their CTS's

3. Just want to comment on what they feel the issue might be.


All of those seem valid reasons to me....by of course, my sarcastic wit is not as fine-tuned as others. It also seems very apparent to me that if you are annoyed or troubled by a thread, on this or any forum, the best course of action is to IGNORE THE THREAD....but once again, I may be alone in this seemingly simple yet effective solution.


But anyways,
As I posted in my earlier comments, I took my 08 CTS in for the third time for the vibration/shaking issue. The good news is that every time I have taken it in, the vibration has been lessoned. The bad news is that I still have a vibration at about 65-75 MPH. It is dramatically less than before, but noticeable none the less.

I am torn what to do from this point on. Do I take it in again and keep hoping they will stumble on a complete fix? Do I just live with it? For now, I am keeping an eye on this thread for people in similar circumstances. I am hoping that someone at GM figures out this problem and a recall or at least correction is found.

[lavaman]

Originally Posted by Mr Snappy

Okie Dokie....got it. I still have a little trouble following your sense of humor, but at least I have a small taste of how you see this thread.

I guess my take on this thread is that people..

1. Have issues of some sort with the handling of their cars and thought this thread might shed some light on the issues

2. Have other issues and are curious on how others are handling "chronic" issues with their CTS's

3. Just want to comment on what they feel the issue might be.


All of those seem valid reasons to me....by of course, my sarcastic wit is not as fine-tuned as others. It also seems very apparent to me that if you are annoyed or troubled by a thread, on this or any forum, the best course of action is to IGNORE THE THREAD....but once again, I may be alone in this seemingly simple yet effective solution.


But anyways,
As I posted in my earlier comments, I took my 08 CTS in for the third time for the vibration/shaking issue. The good news is that every time I have taken it in, the vibration has been lessoned. The bad news is that I still have a vibration at about 65-75 MPH. It is dramatically less than before, but noticeable none the less.

I am torn what to do from this point on. Do I take it in again and keep hoping they will stumble on a complete fix? Do I just live with it? For now, I am keeping an eye on this thread for people in similar circumstances. I am hoping that someone at GM figures out this problem and a recall or at least correction is found.

I'm sorry to hear that your "Virbation" is not totally gone. Is it a vibration or shimmy? If it's a driveline vibration we have yet to hear of the solution. if it's a shimmy I suggest you take it to an independant tire shop. Find one that has a road force balancer and fully understands it's use. Ask them to allow you to observe the balance operation. See that your tires have a road force # of 10 lbs or less. Find out for yourself where they are. If they are too high you'll have good information to take back to your dealer. The service mgr at my dealer said that they can do a no cost relplacement of the tires up until 7500 miles. Do you know the numbers your dealer ended up with? My tires are now all under 9 lbs and my car is SMOOTH.

I know I come back to road force a lot, but I really feel that many tech's do not fully understand the procedure. The procedure will indentify if either the wheel or tire is the culprit of the "Shimmy" ... (99% of the time it's one or the other.)

[CadiJ]

Hello everyone. I am a 1st time poster.

I am buying a 2009 Cadillac CTS 3.6di and noticed the vibration on 2 2009 CTS's (with the 18" wheels) that were early 2009's (June/July build). I test drove a late Oct build - no vibration. Any updates?

[OneLapCoastie]

Switched from the all-season Michellins on painted rims to the PS2s on the polished rims for a track event (cancelled ) and noticed the shimmy again almost immediately. I am convinced there is nothing inherently wrong with the steering or suspension and it is either the tires or wheels. I also have a set of Michellins on my Cobalt that have given me intermittent shimmy problems as well but I have not tried to road force balance those yet.

[Sudz]

Took three trips to the dealer to get this corrected on my 08 with polished 18 inch wheels and the FE1 suspension. This is with regard to the steering wheel oscillations which occur between 65 - 75 mph.

1st time they did a conventional balance of all four wheels/tires. Helped but no fix.

2nd time they road force balanced all wheels/tires and worked on the two front ones to improve on the numbers. They all were in spec initially but they tightened up the two front set of numbers. Again helped but no fix. It did become intermittant however. Sometimes no issue at all.

3rd replaced the two front wheels and tires with a previously road force balanced set.

Problem totally resolved. That was a thousand miles ago and no hint of an issue since. How sweet it is...

Conclude what you will but it appears this issue is a function of the tires and wheels only. The steering may be sensitive to the combination but when they're right all is well.

[Mr Snappy]

Originally Posted by Sudz

Took three trips to the dealer to get this corrected on my 08 with polished 18 inch wheels and the FE1 suspension. This is with regard to the steering wheel oscillations which occur between 65 - 75 mph.

1st time they did a conventional balance of all four wheels/tires. Helped but no fix.

2nd time they road force balanced all wheels/tires and worked on the two front ones to improve on the numbers. They all were in spec initially but they tightened up the two front set of numbers. Again helped but no fix. It did become intermittant however. Sometimes no issue at all.

3rd replaced the two front wheels and tires with a previously road force balanced set.

Problem totally resolved. That was a thousand miles ago and no hint of an issue since. How sweet it is...

Conclude what you will but it appears this issue is a function of the tires and wheels only. The steering may be sensitive to the combination but when they're right all is well.

I have been posting my saga and the outcome is similar to yours. Here is the update (hopefully final)

I had vibration in the steering, 18" Polished wheels, FE1, VERY bad at 63+ MPH:

1. First trip to dealer, balance tires. Result, significant improvement for lower speeds, still horrid past 60MPH

2. Second trip to dealer, re-balance tires, replaced one tire. Result, elimination of all problems under 60MPH but still slight vibration over. Started to wonder if I did not have bad wheels or a real suspension issue.

3. At my own expense, took car to Firestone for Road-Force balance. 3 of 4 tires were dramatically out of balance, one of those tires produced a "Marginal" score on the machine. After this trip to Firestone, all issue eliminated...now question how competent my dealer is.

If you keep taking this issue to your dealer, I will recommend what someone else suggest in an earlier post on this thread...TAKE IT TO SOMEONE WHO KNOWS WHAT THEY ARE DOING, SOMEONE NOT YOUR DEALERSHIP.

I was starting to hate my car before this issue was solved...now its heaven

[DMill]

Instead of browsing all 45 pages ... could someone tell me if this problem occurs in both RWD and AWD? Thanks in advance.

[WNBAMiamiSol]

Mine was a RWD, so I can answer "yes" to that. RWD 3.6DI FE3 18" polished wheels with the Michelin Pilot Sports.

[lavaman]

Originally Posted by Mr Snappy

I have been posting my saga and the outcome is similar to yours. Here is the update (hopefully final)

I had vibration in the steering, 18" Polished wheels, FE1, VERY bad at 63+ MPH:

1. First trip to dealer, balance tires. Result, significant improvement for lower speeds, still horrid past 60MPH

2. Second trip to dealer, re-balance tires, replaced one tire. Result, elimination of all problems under 60MPH but still slight vibration over. Started to wonder if I did not have bad wheels or a real suspension issue.

3. At my own expense, took car to Firestone for Road-Force balance. 3 of 4 tires were dramatically out of balance, one of those tires produced a "Marginal" score on the machine. After this trip to Firestone, all issue eliminated...now question how competent my dealer is.

If you keep taking this issue to your dealer, I will recommend what someone else suggest in an earlier post on this thread...TAKE IT TO SOMEONE WHO KNOWS WHAT THEY ARE DOING, SOMEONE NOT YOUR DEALERSHIP.

I was starting to hate my car before this issue was solved...now its heaven

Another outcome similar to mine.... Glad to hear you took took my advice and went to an independant shop that understands road force.

I knew you had a tire/wheel issue after you stated you experienced improvement after the dealer balanced the tires.

I'll say it again for anyone reading this that has not (Taken the day-and-a-half to) read this entire thread that we need to have road force readings of 10 lbs or less to resolve "Shimmy" from wheels/tires at 60 mph + in our cars.

If you do not know that the readings are less than 10 lbs, you do not know for sure the shimmy is not from the wheels/tires.

[DMill]

Originally Posted by DMill

Instead of browsing all 45 pages ... could someone tell me if this problem occurs in both RWD and AWD? Thanks in advance.

Originally Posted by WNBAMiamiSol

Mine was a RWD, so I can answer "yes" to that. RWD 3.6DI FE3 18" polished wheels with the Michelin Pilot Sports.

WNBAMiamiSol - Thanks for your reply and confirming this problem for RWD.
Now ... Is anyone having this problem with an AWD CTS? Thanks again!

[lavaman]

Originally Posted by DMill

WNBAMiamiSol - Thanks for your reply and confirming this problem for RWD.
Now ... Is anyone having this problem with an AWD CTS? Thanks again!

As mentioned many times within this thread...there is more than one issue discussed ("Drone/vibration" and "Shimmy"). From what I have gathered over the months is that many people are experiencing one thing and calling it another. Which issue are you inquiring about?

I would add that it might benefit you to go back through some of this thread in order to gain an understanding for yourself. There is a lot of good discussion in this thread.

[DMill]

Originally Posted by lavaman

As mentioned many times within this thread...there is more than one issue discussed ("Drone/vibration" and "Shimmy"). From what I have gathered over the months is that many people are experiencing one thing and calling it another. Which issue are you inquiring about?(snip)

Thanks for the clarification ... I am mainly concerned about ANY feedback felt thru the steering wheel. This would exclude "drone", but include "vibration" and "shimmy". It would be nice to be able to put a YES or NO in the following matrix:
......... Vibration? Shimmy?
RWD:
AWD:
Reason for asking: I feel that I am developing a "CTS fever".
Again, appreciate any inputs. In the meantime, I'll do some reading.