Should my steering wheel shake at 65 mph?

[Tony Ridino]

I dont know if this is normal or not, but when im crusing home from school at about 60-70 mph, the steering wheel shakes..and it makes me shake too.

This normal?

[dstrbd1]

most likely one of three things:
the road surface- does it only do it on the road to and from school?
if not that then it could be a tire out of balance or you need an alignment. try balancing your tires first, it's the cheapest thing.

it could be something else, but those are the most basic things

[jhkcam]

Oh, where to start? Its definately not normal if its shaking enough to shake you. Does it happen constantly?, when you are on the brake?, etc. The only things i've had experience with on my car that could be possibilities are: unbalanced or bad tires (you would be pretty lucky if its just that); if it happens when you tap or slow down using the brake from higher speeds, i would guess rotors are bad. Honestly though, there are quite of few other things (that i'm not real familar with) that could be responsible for the problem.


-Justin

[fbody4life]

I have the same problem when I use my winter set of rims and tires. In my case its caused by not having the wheels probably balanced and like you it only happens at high speeds. It's not a big problem for me because I don't drive much in the winter and when I do I rarely go over 50 because of the chicago winters, hope that helps.

[99Camaro99]

also to add to this if it's when you press the brakes then your front rotors are warped.

[Sp33dKillz]

I would guess an out of balance tire if it happens all the time above those speeds. maybe the roads. try testing it on different roads. if none of the above work then it may be the way your tires are wearing. if your car is in need of suspension or front end parts it can leave some really wierd wearing tread that will cause a bad vibration at high speeds. and if it is only when you are on the brakes then you have warped rotors as jhkcam and 99Camaro99 mentioned

[black98V6]

I had a similar problem, took the car in had the front end aligned and the wheels balanced, I don't know how out of balance the tires were but the front end was waaaaayyyy off.. and though it helped quite a bit there is still a little vibration at certain speeds.. also found out that I have like .5 degree's of negative camber on the driver side that I can't do anything about because the adjustment is bottomed out... I think all of this led to my tires not wearing properly and that is why I still have a little bit of a vibration..
on top of all of this I could stand to put on a new set of shocks and struts all the way around as my stockers have over 50k miles...

[AZ3.8Camaro]

To see if its balanced tires or not, I have to ask a question.... Does it happen at 65 and then go away at say 70?
USUALLY you can "Drive Through" balance problems. If you can't you might have an out of round tire or mechanical problems...
If it vibrates at LOW speeds (not your case) you have a tire coming apart...
To me it sounds like a balance problem though...
Definately start there. [img]graemlins/thumbsup.gif[/img]

[EDIT]
BTW - Make sure and rotate every 5-6K or your tires can get "Cupping" wear, Basically just little ridges all over the tread or uneven treadwear - that can also cause vibes..

[ November 12, 2002: Message edited by: AZ3.8Camaro ]</p>

[Dominic]

If it does it on all roads even after rebalancing I suggest having your tires trued. They'll shave the tires round basically. If your tires need truing its because theyre out of round... a common occurance on stock rubber (My GAs are out of round I believe).