zeppler

I had this problem for a long time and did a series of things to find the problem

there are a lot of people out there who have the problem and are not sure as what the cause to be

1. If the car shakes at high speeds 30+
causes: wheel balance or alignment

fix: cheapest way, swap the front tires with the back ones, this way you can check to see if you have bad rims. if problem persists, balance and alignment will fix your car shimmy

2. If the car shakes during braking from high speeds. example 60mph-> 10mph ( coming off a fwy ramp)
causes: bare metal brakes or warped rotors

fix: BRAKE CHANGE! once you hear squeaks and squeals while braking, TIME TO CHANGE BRAKES! dont lag it. because then, you mess up your rotors, which give you even more annoing noise, and an extra $80-100 to spend. If during braking, or even taping on the brake, you hear scratching noise, your rotors have gone bad!

3. If car shakes/rattles at high RPMs
cause: broken/bad engine mount. it is not your fault, car parts are never made to last forever. WEAR AND TEAR people! dont be surprised

fix: before spending $300 on buying all engine mounts, have a look at it at first. 80% of the time, you only need to buy the passenger side mount.

have a friend put the car in drive, step on the brake, and give it gas. do the same thing in reverse. meanwhile, YOU take a look at your engine movement, see if it is touching anything that it should not. see if any of the mounts are clicking, or leaking fluid. Engine mounts run around $30-60 each.


now the most popular car shake/shimmy

4. IF CAR SHAKES/RATTLES WHILE ACCELERATING ANYWHERE AROUND 40-60MPH

CAUSE: BAD. HORRIBLE. BENT. WARPED. IF NOT CRACKED AND ALMOST BROKEN AXLES!

sorry to say, but thats what it is. its your axles.
how do i know this?
because i did everything from, new tires-> tire balance->tire swap->allignment-> new coilvers-> allignment->tire balance->new side engine mount->replace axles->return engine mount

finally, the shaking is gone.

just go buy aftermarket axles, oem and aftermarket are SAME EXACT THING, packaging is different, the logo is different, and the box has basically no design whatsoever. thats 60% discount for you.

rebuilt axles run around $30-40. new aftermarket runs around $60-80 each. replace both of them!

and enjoy the smooth ride, just like it how it was when you first drove the car

enjoy!

01tl4tl

good list!
I would add that: the front motor mount is the most common failure- it leaks its special fluid out and thats it.
Then it goes unfixed so the passenger side mount is taking more load and it breaks!
Some years have a vac boosted front-rear motor mounts, so its failure will also cause a mystery vac leak~

kidduce

iTrader: (1)

Very good list will be useful.

niju321

great list!

may i add that:
if the car shakes at high speeds, sometimes properly inflating the tires will fix the problem

phee

iTrader: (5)

if car shakes during acceleration but is smooth when you let off the gas, it means your inner axle is broken

tlveteran

great write up. too bad it wasnt here 3 weeks ago. i was going crazy. i changed the rotors and the problem was fixed for like 2 months. i asked AZiners and all they could tell me was bad rotors. so i finally decided to get some slotted and drilled rotors and all that changed was the vibration while braking. then talking to my father in law he diagnosed in like 1 minute that it was definitely the rims. i was a littlle skeptical at first but he was right. all 4 wheels were bent. now the problem is completely gone. so im guessing that the bad rims f*&^%$ up my first new pair of rotors.

totaledTL

How did you bend all 4 wheels?? Did you wreck?

01tl4tl

bent rims will hurt cv bearings but not likely to damage rotors

If you bought ebay cheapie type drilled and slotted - the chances are high they were weak to start with and a few uses put them out of spec

Incorrect tightening procedure, and OVER-tightening of the wheel lugs is a primary cause of rotor issues

01tl4tl

you described a problem on here and all you got for advice was bad rotors?

TL|GTX

I think cuz of the 4wd system on my dads Gmc Envoy, the car shakes while starting to accel from 0-20.

my.daily'tl'

I just changed out my front mount and boy did it make a difference! I'm saving the alignment and balancing for when I get new tires. My TL was shaking and shimmying (?) and it was getting on my nerves. The engine mount, a good seafoaming and an intake cleanout sure did the trick! Thanks for all the diy's and the tips here. My baby's running a lot smoother and quieter now.

zeppler

ok guys, lets not spam this page with chit-chat-chatter

thank you to those adding more info

daNNiebOixDD

iTrader: (3)

coodnt the squeaking due to braking be brake dust? thats what i was told. when i brake lightly i hear the squeaking/squealing... and as more pressure is placed the sound goes away...

zeppler

hmm...never thought of that, or have been told that
anytime i start hearing my breaks make noise, it progressively gets worse, my pads just run out

i have heard squeaking noise from brakes after a good rain, but it goes away

01tl4tl

noise on light braking is not brake dust!~ dust settles on the rims
Its an edge ridge on the rotor where the pads dont fit exact to the edge (most cars), or glazing of the rotors and pads from driving them too gently

If the pads are in good shape-depth, then do a few medium effort 50-20 mph slow downs and then a few 60-40 hard effort- not to abs!
Now drive 15 minutes on freeway speed without using the brakes- avoid full stop! hot parts need to be cooled gently
That will fix most ridge or glaze issues

JDM Inspired

your the MAN bro,

daNNiebOixDD

iTrader: (3)

wow thanks man! i have read that the hawk hps brakes i have will have some noise issues... but never thought this much! i will try this as soon as i get home.

this will work even if the brakes have been used about... 8 months already?

speedemon90

So i do feel the shaking when braking from high speeds. My steering wheel goes shakes a lot! I know that it cant be pads because they were just recently replaced. I'm not sure if its the rotors, but if i remember correctly years ago we had this problem and we changed the rotors and the shaking was still there. Is there any visual inspection to see if the rotors are bad??

edit: im gonna check if we ever replaced the rotors from my parents

zeppler

yea, take off the tire, and look at your rotors
they are not going to be SUPER CLEAN like brand new ones.
you will have minor hot spots.

but if your rotors look like they have leopard spots
scratches - radial scratches

then probably rotors are bad

run your finger up and down and around it, see if its smooth. if u feel bumps and dips.
most likely rotors

speedemon90

thanks ill check that out when i get timel Nice write up btw

Mister_TL

iTrader: (2)

about how long do motor mounts last? i had mine replaced maybe 48K ago and i just recently had new axles put on..but the car still has some shaking from around 30-60mph...my buddy thinks it is doing it at a certain rpms but i disagree..i had an alignment and everything done after the axles were put on as well..next day. and ideas?

SLushhYYY

iTrader: (8)

So if my car shakes from 20-40 when im accelerating, and stops when I let off the gas, is it the tranny or inner axle?

zeppler

is it the car shaking? or the wheel vibrating?

zeppler

it really depends on how much of an agressive driver you are, and what conditions do you drive under

1. do the motor mount check like i suggested. get someone to rev up the car, in Drive and Reverse, HOLDING BRAKE!
see if any of the mounts look bad, or if the engine makes any noise, or touches anything. If everything seems normal. VVVV

2. if the axles are aftermarket, they could be defected. i had that problem. first axle change, after two days, shaking came back. changdd the "defected' axles. and shaking was completely gone

transmission problems wont shake ur car side to side, or vibrate it

transmission will most likely cause your car to jump around
in a forward/backward motion.
kind of like stalling a manual car, but not that extreme shaking

SLushhYYY

iTrader: (8)

its shaking and its been shaking for a couple years now

totaledTL

A couple of years?? Better buy some Loctite!

Neejay

iTrader: (3)

hmmm...I have the vibrating at 50+MPH, but ONLY in the morning when first getting on the highway. I'll double check my tire size and PSI later on. This do not occur after work, but I also drive at city speed limits for a while prior to getting on the highway afterwork. Tire related?

tjokster

I'll definitely take this advice.

TLer trash

Sounds like it might be tire flatspotting. No big deal, some brands/types seem more prone to it. It will typically go away in 5 miles or so. No cure other than trying different tires.

Mock

Have what appears to be the motor mount issue. It only happens under loading though. Going to do the gas break visual inspect. Thanks.

AlanW

You mean to tell me NOBODY recommended Seafoaming for your shaking problem??
This may be a first!!!

Neejay

iTrader: (3)

That's because it's COMMON SENSE to try it first.

Skirmich

+1K

On 60mph > 10mph Shaking cuz warped rotors.
I had a Horrible experience with "Raybestos Rotors" warping in less than 5K Without stressing the brakes nor hard breaking...
In my experience you will also hear the ABS pump working with that issue as well, So ABS Pump + Shaking were my Sympthoms.

Replaced with EBC Dimpled/Slotted Rotors never looked back...
Havent heard the ABS pump in ages....

Karanx7

iTrader: (2)

Does the ABS light come on when it is being used?

Skirmich

Not the Light I heard the actual Pump lol "Pumping" when I hit the brakes anywhere beyond 60mph with warped rottors it sound like a "Pumm pummm pumm" and plus the horrible shaking of the steering wheel.

shitty raybestos rotors "Proffesional Grade" My Ass, but what could I expect from a 50 bucks Rotor?.

f7u12

Thanks for this list! Saves a lot of time searching through the problems/fixes.

AlanW

True that!

rcb2000

if the tire is flat spotted it isn't going to correct it's self after five miles, couple hundered miles it will but not five. The issue this person's case is the motor mount.

fsttyms1

Yes and No. Flat spotted from a tire lockup and sliding on pavement wearing rubber. No, Flat spotted from sitting will usually go away with in a few miles. Most every summer tire ive ever owned when parked for a while on cold (40s outside temp) pavement will flatspot causing a out of round that will go away after a little driving.

TLer trash

You do realize that I was responding only to post#27 by neejay. His description of a shake that only happens in the morning when he first gets on the highway, and not later in the day, still sound like tire flatspotting to me. I am referring to the kind that comes from sitting overnight, not from skidding as fsttyms mentioned.