Shake or vibration at cruise speed.

I've noticed i had a very subtle vibration when cruising speed in highway. The tomtom navigation I hanged on the vent and the sun visor were vibrating very fast in freeway speed. I didn't notice that at all. I didn't feel anything on the steering wheel or the automatic gear knob. It's not a tire balancing issue but something.

Mine is 05 LGT Stage 2 with Perrin Swaybart F and B and passed 110k miles. Is it time to replace all the rubber bushings?

Any suggestion will be appreciated.

How do you know it's not a tire balance issue? Wheel bearing, maybe?

When the front wheel bearing/hub is going I felt a slight vibration in the steering wheel at highway speeds on some highways. It didn't happen on all pavement types.

 

Took me a while to figure out what the issue was, that was 2 years ago, I had been feeling the issue for about 3/4 months.

 

 

If its a tire balance problem, you'll feel the steering wheel shimmy if it the front tires out of balance.

 

If it's the rears you'll feel it in the drivers seat.

How do you know it's not a tire balance issue? Wheel bearing, maybe?

 

I just bought a new tire and balanced.

When the front wheel bearing/hub is going I felt a slight vibration in the steering wheel at highway speeds on some highways. It didn't happen on all pavement types.

 

Took me a while to figure out what the issue was, that was 2 years ago, I had been feeling the issue for about 3/4 months.

 

 

If its a tire balance problem, you'll feel the steering wheel shimmy if it the front tires out of balance.

 

If it's the rears you'll feel it in the drivers seat.

 

No steering wheel vibration at all. No bearing to-be-dead humming noise. Car is running great except that tiny vibration only noticeable by the sun visor or the nav.

Turn down the radio. My mirror will vibrate if the radio is cranked up to like 20

 

If your sure its not a hub or tire, drive it and try turning off/no different things and see if any change. ???

No steering wheel vibration at all. No bearing to-be-dead humming noise. Car is running great except that tiny vibration only noticeable by the sun visor or the nav.

 

Hmmm.. I noticed a pretty heavy, intermittent vibration on my road trip this weekend. Is yours strictly under load, or does it happen whenever you get above a certain speed?

I just bought a new tire and balanced.

 

If you just got new tires and a balance and the problem just started after that, I'd suggest going back for another balance.

 

I had a slight vibration that was only noticeable between 55 and 65 caused by a bent wheel.

Not to hijack the thread but I'm having similar issues. Vibration occurs in the steering wheel starting at 55mph and worsening up to 80mph. Had RoadForce balancing done on wheels without improvement. Also had similar symptoms over the winter with a separate set of snow wheels/tires. Brakes / calipers redone without improvement. LCA bushings have been replaced. Vibration doesn't occur with braking. My rotors are a bit scorched up with some metal loss but it is not effecting braking. ?wheel bearings vs bent wheel. The most weight I have on a wheel is 1 ounce on the passenger side rear, all the rest have less.

If you just got new tires and a balance and the problem just started after that, I'd suggest going back for another balance.

 

I had a slight vibration that was only noticeable between 55 and 65 caused by a bent wheel.

 

I'm concerned I could have a bent wheel but balancing guys couldn't tell, even getting the $100 balancing. How did you determine which wheel was bent. I'm assuming the damage was very subtle.

I have a subtle shimmy/vibration in my steering wheel at cruising speeds and can be intermittent/vary from different road surfaces and around different turns. My best guess is that it's the ball joints/tie rod ends since the OEM units aren't the greatest for modified suspensions like mine. If that doesn't fix it then there's a small chance it's (a) wheel bearing(s). I don't have any noise associated with mine which leads me to believe it is NOT a wheel bearing since they become rather audible during certain speed intervals when they go bad. The 40 mph hum I have I am just going to attribute to my cupped/semi-bald tires until I get money to replace them LOL

I'm concerned I could have a bent wheel but balancing guys couldn't tell, even getting the $100 balancing. How did you determine which wheel was bent. I'm assuming the damage was very subtle.

 

Very easy to tell when a wheel is bent. Take it to a shop and have them spin it on their tire/wheel balancer. If it wobbles any, it's obviously bent.

My ball joints are only 2 years old, replaced them when I did the LCAs because they were wicked rusted and had to be mutilated to get out of the control arms. I hadn't thought about the TRE's however. I have no noise either making the wheel bearings less likely. These vibrations seem awfully common on our Legacies- wonder what the common problem is.

I'm concerned I could have a bent wheel but balancing guys couldn't tell, even getting the $100 balancing. How did you determine which wheel was bent. I'm assuming the damage was very subtle.

 

I was "fortunate" because the vibration started on the same wheel I slammed into a pot hole and ruined a tire. I drove with it like that for over a year and finally got tired of it. I had it balanced twice in that time and the guys at the tire place never mentioned it was bent or that they couldn't balance it. Looking at the wheel I couldn't really tell it was bent. But as soon as I put a new wheel on the vibration went away.

If you think a wheel might be bent, rotate each wheel somewhere else on the car and see if the feel from the vibration changes.

I have a subtle shimmy/vibration in my steering wheel at cruising speeds and can be intermittent/vary from different road surfaces and around different turns. My best guess is that it's the ball joints/tie rod ends since the OEM units aren't the greatest for modified suspensions like mine. If that doesn't fix it then there's a small chance it's (a) wheel bearing(s). I don't have any noise associated with mine which leads me to believe it is NOT a wheel bearing since they become rather audible during certain speed intervals when they go bad. The 40 mph hum I have I am just going to attribute to my cupped/semi-bald tires until I get money to replace them LOL

 

Why don't you increase tire pressure about 10psi and take the car for a test drive.

 

My theory is, if you inflate the tire enough to get the cupping off the pavement, your shimmy should go away. What do you think ?

Total nube thought, but were you driving on a newly refinished highway? They finished a stretch of highway in my area and after they opened it there was an odd feel to drive on it. Very subtle but my wife was sure that we had a tire issue. The car felt sloppy and loose. We got back on to the old section of highway and it went away.

I'm starting to lean towards a bent wheel.. It makes the most sense. If any of the linkages had slop that resulted in the vibration, there would be a noise/clunk associated with it. If your vibrations are anything like mine, there is no noise whatsoever, just a vibration.

 

As far as tire pressure goes, the vibration became more obvious with the tires inflated to 38psi all around. Maybe I'll go down to 33ish and see if the vibration is less, with the theory that it will be damped by the softer tires. It's also quite possible that I accidentally rotated the front left and right tires when I did my LCA's, so I may swap these back and check it out.

 

Worst case scenario, I have an excuse to go buy new rims!

"Worse with higher pressure", my thought is belt seperation in the tire ???

"Worse with higher pressure", my thought is belt seperation in the tire ???

 

Hmmm... also possible. Looks like my best bet is to take the wheels in to see if they can be balanced, if so then throw on some new rubber. I'm in the market for tires anyways, I just have to find the $$.

 

Edit: I think that you may be on to something here- It's also worse when the tires are up to temp.. Hopefully it's the tires themselves, so I can avoid buying rims.

Why don't you increase tire pressure about 10psi and take the car for a test drive.

 

My theory is, if you inflate the tire enough to get the cupping off the pavement, your shimmy should go away. What do you think ?

 

Won't be the case unfortunately. I run my tires at 37 in the warmer months and 35 in the colder months. Mine is more of a vibration and wobble in the wheel and is intermittent which leads me to believe it is TRE's. With modified suspension these little things become magnified lol.

 

Generally speaking, vibrations are due to tires most of the time but if you've already exhausted tires/wheels as the culprit then the next weakest links are the ones to inspect. OEM TRE's and LBJ's are known for not being the strongest on our rides, especially with modified suspension setups.