steering wheel shakes

[rjcapp]

Need some help please. 03 KJ. 94,500 miles. Cooper Discoverer h/t 235/70/16.

Just bought it a few weeks ago and hopefully this is the last bug to work out of it.

My steering wheel shakes back and forth on the highway above 65 mph. Not too bad but its very noticeable especially 72 ish. definitely not right.

Tires are good (actually new) and I rotated the rear to the front and it still does it. The suspension appears fine.. I have no idea what the previous owner had performed.. Im leaning towards getting it aligned. Couldnt hurt. I just have no trust in service centers.

Any advice or similar experiences and what fixed it would be appreciated.

 

[J-Thompson]

Need some help please. 03 KJ. 94,500 miles. Cooper Discoverer h/t 235/70/16.

Just bought it a few weeks ago and hopefully this is the last bug to work out of it.

My steering wheel shakes back and forth on the highway above 65 mph. Not too bad but its very noticeable especially 72 ish. efinitely not right.

Tires are good (actually new) and I rotated the rear to the front and it still does it. The suspension appears fine.. I have no idea what the previous owner had performed.. Im leaning towards getting it aligned. Couldnt hurt. I just have no trust in service centers.

Any advice or similar experiences and what fixed it would be appreciated.

could still be bad tires
could be an alignment issue
could be a break issue
could be worn steering and suspension parts
you need to find a shop you can trust they have tools and equipment that you could never justify owning
I do very little of my "service" on the KJ ,free oil changes made it an easy choice up until the last one
even still I pay for tune up and fluid changes on the KJ for the main reason of selling/trading it
I can prove what I did and had done
The TJ will never get sold so who cares ,I change the oil once a year need it or not

 

[KJ zGal]

It's probably your alignment or the tires need to be balanced, not just rotated. It could also be due to the tires not having been rotated for a while, so they may need to wear down some and even themselves out. Mine did that after I first got it, and does it currently at 61 mph, and it's about due for an alignment. If it is worst at one particular speed but stops/decreases once you are over or below it, ask about an alignment.

 

[rjcapp]

Thats the problem. It could be so many things. I do everything myself to save $$$ but this is one of those areas I do not have a tire machine or alignment machine... I tried to install the wheels off my company vehicle but the center hole was too small LOL. At some point I need to trust that someone can do the job right......

 

[kb0nly]

If you have an alignment shop nearby that does a free estimate have them put it up on the rack and check it over, otherwise have them just do an alignment, during that process they will find anything thats worn because it won't hold an alignment. I went through that with a car the wife used to have, got it up on the rack because the steering wheel shake was getting worse on it, i put new tires on it and had them mounted and balanced by a local shop i always use and trust but the shake was still there.

He doesn't have the equipment to do the alignment being a small shop.. Soo i took it to a place he recommended. They got it on the rack and started playing with the alignment and found worn ball joints and one tie rod end was bent, we have bad potholes around here so it happens on low riding cars. Got that taken care of and no problems.

There was a recall for the lower ball joints on the KJ, so if that hasn't been done check em!

 

[jnaut]

x2 on the balance. It could be alignment, but I've seen some awful bad alignment problems that didn't result in shaking wheels. They merely resulted in horrible premature tire wear.

My money's on a wheel balance issue.

 

[kb0nly]

x2 on the balance. It could be alignment, but I've seen some awful bad alignment problems that didn't result in shaking wheels. They merely resulted in horrible premature tire wear.

My money's on a wheel balance issue.

Very good point!

I guess its still possible he has a wheel balance issue. I just found it odd that he moved the rear tires to the front and it still did it. I can see one, maybe two, tires out of balance, but all of them? Well... I guess theoretically its possible if the shop that did the tires was ******** or something. Wouldn't hurt to check if the shop doesn't charge much to pull them off and check balance.

Also, maybe a stupid suggestion but what the heck, check your tire pressures. If its over 40 PSI drop them down to 40 and check again. I noticed a huge difference in handling and ride when i dropped my tires down 5 PSI after they were put on at 45 PSI. A large rotating mass like a tire doesn't take much to throw it off. I know i felt a weird shimmy in the rear end of the minivan we used to have and it turned out the tire was 15 lbs low on air, topped it off and the shimmy went away. Of course i later found out that there was a nail in it causing the leak down, but still that was the cause of the shimmy at high speed.

Just trying to "nail" down all the FREE possibilities you can do first.... LOL

 

[Andynator]

My vote is, one wheel is out of round. Something to check if it is still present after balancing...

 

[kj924]

It was said that the shake is still there after tire rotation. This would have me concentate on the front end then, maybe an inner tie rod end?
Definetley have the ball joints checked for sure.

 

[ThunderbirdJunkie]

ALIGNMENTS DO NOT CAUSE VIBRATIONS.

ThunderbirdJunkie bets tie rod ends.

Any takers?

 

[rjcapp]

I have 2 places in mind that I will call today. One will be a dealer. Not sure how soon i can get it in the shop though bit will definitely be over the next few days.

 

[Mangate]

ALIGNMENTS DO NOT CAUSE VIBRATIONS.

ThunderbirdJunkie bets tie rod ends.

Any takers?

I agree, if the tyres are balanced ok, the most likely worn component would be the tie rod ends, unless you've got a broken rubber boot and water and mud has got into the inner end of the tie rod or rack.
Just jack it up and grab the wheel at 9 and 3 o'clock and see if you can feel any slack.
Can you feel any play at the steering wheel with the engine off?

 

[rjcapp]

Thanks for all the response on this.

Mangate I did not feel any play with the front jacked off the ground & engine off. It was actually easy to move the wheel to the point were I heard air sloshing in the rack. The reservoir level increased. When I started it the power steering was noisy until I worked everything back and forth and the fluid recirculated. Its seems back to normal.

I also had the front tires rebalanced. One wheel was out of balance...

Took it out on the highway and there is major improvement, almost gone. I still need to get the rear tires rebalanced. That being said I think my rack and pinion internals has seen better days.

I would love to be able to drive another KJ for comparison. Might have to fake buying one an take one for a test drive.

 

[Luke]

Glad the balancing helped (or will help), I had the same problem and it took 12 wheel weights to get them even close.

Cheers,

 

[J-Thompson]

you guys do know that when they balance your tires the machine only spins at like 30 mph if that so if the problem is at 60 mph but nothing at 30 then it is hard to track down
on a spin balancer

 

[kb0nly]

you guys do know that when they balance your tires the machine only spins at like 30 mph if that so if the problem is at 60 mph but nothing at 30 then it is hard to track down
on a spin balancer

True...

I would say the shop i get mine done at they spin at a good 30mph, that thing looks like its moving!

Worn tires can have balancing problems that are a pain to balance out.

 

[rjcapp]

I understand completely and totally agree. Unfortunately its something I have no control over unless I drive 200 miles to PA where I do have access to a balancer at a freinds body shop.

Are there places that have high speed balancers? Does it cost more?

Firestone charged $10 bucks. They did my company vehicle and I do 70 mph all day and somtimes reach 90 and I have no shake. I have to give them some credit for that.

 

[kb0nly]

I understand completely and totally agree. Unfortunately its something I have no control over unless I drive 200 miles to PA where I do have access to a balancer at a freinds body shop.

Are there places that have high speed balancers? Does it cost more?

Firestone charged $10 bucks. They did my company vehicle and I do 70 mph all day and somtimes reach 90 and I have no shake. I have to give them some credit for that.

If they balance up fine on the machine but still shimmy at high speed then its just a lousy tire, that's all there is to it, been there done that. I don't know of any higher speed balancers since normally you balance it at any speed and its done. How much tread is left on those tires? Maybe its time for a new set!

 

[ThunderbirdJunkie]

Yep, balanced at 30 mph is balanced at 60 and so forth.

Discoverer HT's have a nasty habit of having out-of-round carcasses, but nobody listens to ThunderbirdJunkie so we will continue chasing screwball theories

 

[rjcapp]

If they balance up fine on the machine but still shimmy at high speed then its just a lousy tire, that's all there is to it, been there done that. I don't know of any higher speed balancers since normally you balance it at any speed and its done. How much tread is left on those tires? Maybe its time for a new set!

1 tire is brand new the other is 99%.