Steering Wheel Shaking

fennsz · May 7, 2003

My steering wheel shakes at around 65mph. I was wondering if it was because of my tires. Are they possibly out of balance?

silverado man · May 7, 2003

I would say one of your front tires are out of balance.

Redapple · May 7, 2003

I had the same problem before I replaced my Crapstones. Most likely tire balance. It wouldn't hurt to have the front end checked though.

Bill

gnet158 · May 7, 2003

I agree. It's one of your front tires out of balance.

Shaners · May 7, 2003

Most likely one of three things...

1) Out of balance tire

2) Bent rim

3) Broken belt in the tire

SilveradoWV · May 7, 2003

I had the same problem only when I hit 55 mph. It was my tires, static balanceing just didnt work!

Wingnut · May 7, 2003

Don't rule out the u-joints either.

Well...That...Or just too much coffee.

Lance Link · May 8, 2003

I had the hubs replaced last week on my Z-71 and the steering wheel's been shaking since. The dealership said either the tires weren't balanced or it needed an alignment. Never mind that it didn't shake when I brought it there, but that's another story. Anyway, I had the tires balanced and the front end aligned and nothing has changed- still shakes. I rotated the tires and no change.

It's not a shake like the tires are unbalanced, it's more like the steering wheel will turn back and forth quickly (about a half inch in each direction) once I exceed 50ish.

I'm bringing it back to the dealer this weekend. The only thing I can think of is there is something up with the new hubs. Again, the truck was running smoothly when I brought it in.

Anypone have any thoughts? This is going to drive me nuts.

SilveradoWV · May 8, 2003

it's more like the steering wheel will turn back and forth quickly (about a half inch in each direction) once I exceed 50ish.

Thats the way mine was at 55, I could actually see the wheel move left right left right etc....... But you said you had them balanced so you could possibly rule that out unless you just had them static balanced because I had mine static balanced twice and bubble balanced once and still didnt fix my problem, had to have weights put on both sides.

Lance Link · May 8, 2003

Not sure what kind of balance job they did. The place I went to is very highly regarded, though. Like I said, the thing that bothers me is it didn't shake when it went to the dealer in the first place. The only difference between then and now is the new hubs.

I have crappy Firestone Wilderness ATs on the truck. I hate them. I like a stock appearance so I replaced the originals with another set but have regretted it ever since. Three of them had to be replaced again as they could not be balanced. I always have in the back of my mind that it could be these friggin tires.

SilveradoWV · May 8, 2003

Yeah sounds like something to do with the hub install. Some tires are just hard to keep balance though, dont know if yours are that way. The way to tell a static balance from a dynamic balance is that static balance only has weights on the backside (which I wanted so I didnt damage my wheels) but had to end up putting them on both sides (dynamic) which is a better balance.

Lance Link · May 8, 2003

Mine was a dynamic balance by that definition. Weights on both sides.

The dealer has my exact truck ('03 model, though) on the lot and I'm trying to talk myself out of simply trading mine in. Very, very tempting.

Shaners · May 8, 2003

I'm not meaning to get off the subject, but cheaper tires will most likely require wheel weights on both side of the rims.

Michelin for example does a one-for-one inspection of their tires, and mine are just "static" balanced so that I have no wheel weights on the outside of the rim. My tires have been perfect all along.

Other tire companies may only do a 1-in-50 or more and the tires can become a real PITA!!!

Lance, Your problem sounds like there is a hub that isn't concentric... The dealer can figure it out by putting an indicator on the rim and spinning the wheel while it is on the truck... I'm sure he'll be able to figure out which one it is and will replace it for you. It's just too bad that you have to go through the hassle...

Lance Link · May 8, 2003

Thanks, Shaner- I really hope they can find the problem. It's so frustrating to have the truck run like that. There's a very long story behind this (see a post of mine from a couple weeks ago regarding "Front Differential Failure" on the 4th page of this section). And that's just the half of it.

And talk about hassle- the dealer is 4 hours away (each way). This will be my third trip in a month. I can only go on a weekend so I drop it off on a Sunday and pick it up the following weekend. Last time I had to drive a '98 Safari van as a loaner. Luckily, I have a car, too, that I can drive during the week.

95 Silverado · May 9, 2003

My '95 4WD Silverado 1/2 ton developed a shake in the steering a few months ago, it seemed just like a balance problem, didn't get too excited about it, when I did get around to spin balancing and rotating the tires it was still there, the pitman arm and idler arm were both wore out, replaced them, no more shake, check out your steering parts.