Shimmy and shake!!

[jjhammer]

Ok, my steering wheel vibrates at different speeds. at 50mph and over 80mph it is bad. Other than that it vibrates sometimes at other speeds. I have had the wheels balanced twice. The tires, rotors and brakes are new. I replaced a tie rod last year. could it be a bad ball joint or control arm bushings?? I am just trying to narrow it down, I am planning to take it in but wonder whether they will be able to tell if my bushings are bad. It is extremely annoying to drive it this way. Thanks! Your help is appreciated! Myabe it could also be a bad wheel bearing (hub)??

[hooked up]

i dont know i have the same problem replaced inner and outer tie rods wheel bearings tires brakes rotors and got the wheels aligned. over 85 it stops and as soon as it hits 70 it shakes

[CateraMV6]

I have seen that on my tires but its mainly from the wheels... make sure that you have them balanced at a place that has the latest computer balance machines.

Control arm bushings will put the alignment out of wack and you will get a Toe Out on the front whcih will chew up the inside but should not cause vibration.
Tie rod ends also deal with alignment but I suppose you can get some vibration out of them if you drive on some uneven roads.

If you experience vibration under braking then I would say its the rotors.

Easiest way to check for wear on those components is to jack up the front wheel, then grab the tire at the 3 and 9 oclock positions and push/pull if you notice looseness then you have worn out tie rod ends...

Next wiggle the 6 and 12 oclock positions and that will tell you if the ball joint is worn out.

[jjhammer]

I wonder if bad ball joints can make my car shake? Anyway it is driving me crazy. Last time I took it in they could find nothing wrong. I will be taking it in again and will let you know what they find (if anything).

[Cadi Cat]

warpped wheels/bent rims will also cause a vibration. and feathered tire wear. I was once a victim of this.

[CateraMV6]

Your wheels can go out of round by hitting just one pothole...and if you ever get a chance to see a wheel on a balancer you will see that there is a tiny bit of wobble which gets couteracted by some weights but its never ever quite perfect...

At certain speed that small imperfection can cause enough force on the steering components to give you wobble...

I had a wobble at 75mph and it went away with new tires and rebalancing...

[MaesMV6]

im having the same problem. still don't know what the problem is, i've gotten new struts, new tie rod ends, new tires/rims with alignments, new rotors and the problem still exsists i've taken it to several caddy dealerships and also some tire/alignment places and no one has been able to find anything wrong with it

[Black02SLPSS]

Out of curiosity does it make any noise when your turning left or right? It would be a growling noise. If its doing that then you have wheel hubs on their way out. And you can always try rotating your front tires to the rear of the car. If your just feeling it in the steering wheel and not in the seat at all your rear tires should be good. So it wouldnt hurt anything to try the rear wheels on the front and see if it moves the vibration to the rear of the car.

[jjhammer]

Aha! New bushings and ball joints and no more shimmy or shake! Bushings and ball joints looked ok but when I replaced them- WOW what a difference!
problem solved!