Poll: How many 00-05's have the 70mph death shake/shimmy?

Discuss your 2000-2005 Bonneville SE, SLE, SSEi, Buick Le Sabre 00-05 and Buick Park Avenue 97-05. Please use General Chat for non-mechanical issues, and Performance and Brainstorming for improvements.

Did/does your 00-05 Bonneville have the notorious 70 mph Shimmy?

Poll ended at Fri Sep 03, 2010 10:47 am

Yes
20
56%
Not any longer -- it used to, but I fixed it.
2
6%
No -- never had this
13
36%
I have a shimmy, but at a different speed range.
0
No votes
Don't know what you are talking about!
1
3%
 
Total votes: 36

Jrs3800
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Re: Poll: How many 00-05's have the 70mph death shake/shimmy?

Post by Jrs3800 »

Yep.... seriously.... What was the FIX?
MadMike
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Re: Poll: How many 00-05's have the 70mph death shake/shimmy?

Post by MadMike »

my car just got the shakes recently, kinda pisses me off a bit since i just got alot of work done, but im gonna have to go get the tires balanced and the alignment done, plus i think my right tie rod end is goin out along with the intermediate steering shaft.. but that was an issue that lube covered up for a while, crud.. time to replace..
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Re: Poll: How many 00-05's have the 70mph death shake/shimmy?

Post by anwisdom »

2nd set of tires, 2 rotations, replaced tie rod ends. Still has a shimmy, very slight, in a very small range, 69-75. We just have to drive fast!! Darn!! My wifes father, a ford mechanic for 35 years, can't figure it out, nothing obvious. It's not bad enough to just start replacing parts willy-nilly.
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Re: Poll: How many 00-05's have the 70mph death shake/shimmy?

Post by Hans »

I've had shakes, always a bad balance. Its dead on now at 160k
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Re: Poll: How many 00-05's have the 70mph death shake/shimmy?

Post by golfyeti »

any opinions on a bad CV shaft being the problem?

read last post
viewtopic.php?f=18&t=19556
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Re: Poll: How many 00-05's have the 70mph death shake/shimmy?

Post by stevew9983 »

I have a minor suggestion to try, have any of you ever heard of a tire balancer from hunter called the "road force balancer"? when i worked for ford we had this awesome machine and it fixed a horrific shake i had in a 95 nissan sentra. what the machine does is simulate the road on the tire and it measures out tire run-out as well as rim run-out. it then tells you where to mount the tires and on what rims and shows you the best possible mount to eliminate excessive run-out. I honestly didnt believe this would fix my issues as we had 13 ounces of wheel weights on my one rim. after using the machine and remounting and balancing the tires, i had eliminated my vibration/ death shake experience. I would call several of your tire facilities around and ask about the hunter road force tire balancing and see if they offer it. it costs a pretty penny but believe me from experience it is well worth it. with most of our cars having this experience it sounds like it is more wheel/rim related so i wonder since our factory rims are aluminum if they arent slightly bent?
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Re: Poll: How many 00-05's have the 70mph death shake/shimmy?

Post by golfyeti »

stevew9983 wrote:I have a minor suggestion to try, have any of you ever heard of a tire balancer from hunter called the "road force balancer"?
Yes, many of us have (myself included) and with no real improvement.
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Re: Poll: How many 00-05's have the 70mph death shake/shimm

Post by Jdpippin0617 »

I have a 2004 se. It has been a project car i fell in love with after it was baught stock, needing attention and deemed totaled by a mechanic. A year later its one of the best in town. I have fone many replacements, maintenance and upgrades over the year thruout the car. Very recently i had 4 new tires put on by a shop (which i rarely use shops) before the tires it was rolling great and smooth besides needing an alignment and the tires being worn. Keep in mind i had already replaced the suspension all the way around and new wheel hub assemblys in the front. Now after the installation of the new tires i have developed the so called death shake. I have i just replaced both blown out tie rod ends literally last night, test drive and still have the shake. I dont want to damage anything and looking for a solution before worse issues develop. Any information, tips or direction is appreciated. [img]Image[/img]
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Re: Poll: How many 00-05's have the 70mph death shake/shimm

Post by 96 SSEi »

i started getting the shimmy after 1 driver side subframe mount rusted out
poverty forces one to do unorthodox things

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Re: Poll: How many 00-05's have the 70mph death shake/shimm

Post by nos4blood70 »

In my case, it was always a wheel balance problem. It seems not every store can balance wheels effectively. Also make sure the hub lip is clear of crud so the wheel seats evenly.
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Re: Poll: How many 00-05's have the 70mph death shake/shimm

Post by agamennon2000 »

So My 02 was doing this (86000 miles), I replaced both axels- nothing, both front bearings- nothing, tires, rims, -nothing, ended up being I had to have the wheels road forged Balanced at discount tire, no shimmy anymore.
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Re: Poll: How many 00-05's have the 70mph death shake/shimm

Post by dave027 »

I did the road force, wheel brgs., cleaned and lubed calipers, etc. Had it up on stands and was pulling myself along on the creeper, reached up pulled on rear track bar, came off in my hand. Replaced both rear track bars.. Gone....
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Re: Poll: How many 00-05's have the 70mph death shake/shimm

Post by mikesica »

My 2001 Bonneville SLE does not shake / shimmy at 70 mph or any speed. I have Goodyear Weatherready tires, and they are great.
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