Shimmy, not tire related

[J Wikoff]

My 92 has a slight shimmy. It's been around for quite some time, and I thought it was just the tires. I got new tires a couple weeks ago, and the shimmy did not change. It's not very severe, just kinda annoying. It's in the front end, though the steering wheel doesn't really want to go back and forth side to side much, it's more of an up/down kinda feel. It shows up at 40-50 mph, and calms down some above 75. I thought about having a bent wheel, but the tire guys didn't say anything.

[MattStrike]

I love diagnosing suspension problems.

Brakes/strut/control arm (I suspect something here).
Hands off the wheel, accelerate from 40-50 then coast then brake back to 40 - Does it pull in three distinct variations as you accelerate, coast, then brake? Does the intensity of the shimmy have three distinct variations? If possible, have a buddy drive alongside with a passenger that can watch and identify any shaking in the wheel or tire. Pop the hood and remove the strut mount covers, watch how much movement is in the top of the strut when you turn the wheel back and forth. Also have a buddy watch the control arm bushings when you turn the wheel back and forth

Wheel bearings or knuckle/joints (also possible, though should be other noised to accompany them):
Take the wheight off the wheel, use a lot of muscle to rock it between 12 and 6, between 3 and 9, and push-pull hard at 7:30. Do you feel any clunks? Have a buddy watch the back of the CV by the bearing at 12&6, outer tie rods at 3&9 and the ball joint at 7:30 if available. They are looking for relative motion. If you feel a clunk, you will see the movement somewhere.

[J Wikoff]

Speaking of CV's, the left one has had a pinhole for years, and slowly splooges grease. I dapped it with JB weld a while back, and that seems to be holding.

[RJolly87]

Possibly drivetrain/ignition related? Check by maintaining throttle position, then ease on the brakes to break the TCC lock. Also see if it changes with engine load. I have one that shows up over 75mph at cruise.

Maybe a good roadforce balance will fix it too?

[nickdalzell1]

the only thing that shows up at 40-50 mph for me (especially if i have overdrive enabled) is a shaky ride due to a misfire somewhere that seems to come and go at random. how's your trans fluid level? if it's just low enough the torque converter may be pulsating due to low fluid. that is usually how they let you know about low fluid level, my Fifth Avenue did that often lol

[J Wikoff]

Reading around, I think the CV is the most likely. My time is limited recently, so I'll order those parts and have them ready and ensure that's what I need before I tear anything apart. Do I need a ball joint separator if I'm going to replace the wheel bearing anyway?

[J Wikoff]

Actually, I think I'll do the ball joint while I'm at it.

[J Wikoff]

Annndddd... why not tie rod ends. I'ma be in there taking everything else apart already.

Instead of ball joints, should I do the control arms that come with new bushings and ball joints? What's easier, a ball joint or a control arm?

http://www.amazon.com/ACDelco-45D1139-P ... ds=45d1139

[J Wikoff]

Actually, maybe not control arms. The pic doesn't look right, it's labeled as an upper (which we don't have), and it cross-refs to much older cars. Not sure why it's listed for FWD h-bodies.

[repinS]

I did ball joint alone when I did my 95. The worst part was drilling out the riveted joint (assuming original), but overall wasn't too difficult. The big perk to doing control arms is having new bushings.

[J Wikoff]

Ok, I've got a cv axle shaft for the driver side, ball joints, wheel bearings, tie rods ends, and sway bar links/bushings. Is there anything else I should or will have to replace while I'm in there. In the techinfo, it says to remove the struts. Should I get new upper bearings/bushings or any other parts that might be related? They were new when I put the struts in 40k-ish miles ago.

[motopsyco]

I think your probably set. If your strut bearings/bushings were new 40k ago theyre probably still good, depending on how many miles you put on a year anyways. Although i'd probably go ahead and replace both cv shafts just in case though. Mine has the same shimmy at speeds, but I need to replace all the parts so I cant help narrow it down to any specific parts.

[J Wikoff]

I'm doing the complete driver side before because it feels like the shimmy comes from there. If it's solved after that, I'll do everything but the CV on the passenger side just to get it done.

[J Wikoff]

Anybody know where the other end of the vent tube that connects to the tie rod boot goes? I managed to pop it loose by accident on the far end when pulling the boot off, and it wasn't apparent to me where it goes.

Also, I missed a little when drilling out one of the ball joint rivets and the hole is now oval by about 1/16". Is it a big issue?

[crash93ssei]

Pretty sure it just goes to the boot on the opposite side to equalize pressure when turning.

[MattStrike]

Yep that's what it does. So the boots don't pop off.

[J Wikoff]

OK, after being able to put in an hour or two at a time, the driver side is done. The shimmy... still there. Reduced some I think. Off I go to the passenger side...

[skregal]

I did ball joints, tie rod ends, CV axle, tires, wheel hubs, and finally
struts, and still never found my front end shimmy on my 95.

I learned alot, but the shake is still there.

The only repairs that made any difference that I could feel
was the struts and the tires. Everything else, no change,
and the shakes eventually would come back.

Oh yeah, new rotors as well.
Oh yeah, motor/tranny mounts as well.

Maybe more, I can't remember.

[J Wikoff]

Well that's less than promising. Lol

[rocketman]

1997 Bonneville SSEI. 180,000 miles and driven hard. Had to replace the alternator once and the front calipers. The calipers were the culprit on the front wheel shimmy. Didn't cost a lot from Rockauto.com and an easy fix. Good luck from Rocketman