Been driving on it for a few days now and deciding what to do first. It was groovy before, but all of a sudden, steering wheel has been shaking quite the bit. it shakes btwn 0 to about 40 or 50 mph, then goes away. When I slowly roll down the street at say 5 mph, the steering wheel goes back and forth, back and forth, as if im testing my suspension or something. it also pulls the car more towards the right side. but heading into the 60mph's [i rarely go past 65mph so im not sure what that will feel like] the shaking goes away. any idea what this might be due to? hit a pothole and threw alignment off? get a balance on my wheels? Im lowered only about 1.5 - 2 inches on tein basics with 2nd gen type s rims, no problems beside the occasional clunk...

BTW anyone used Firestone by Westbury NY? looking to get the lifetime alignment...

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

Balance.

 

sounds like balance esp if it goes away after a certain speed ... ive heard pretty good things about firestone in general

 

okay guess ill get the balance done before the alignment. which is suppose the way to go anyway i guess. yea theres so much mixed reviews... some say its great... and some say they cut brake lines to bring you back. i dont know.

 

they do not touch the brakes they just balance the tires.

 

sorry what i meant was i read comments where firestone actually will come up with stuff, just to bring you back for more work.

just got my tires balanced, 10 bucks a wheel, and steering wheel stopped shaking. yay... however, now the alignment is off, car moves to the left while going straight. going to get camber kits before doing another alignment. and jeez, the front tires were practically bald on the inside, the rears were actually okay. i was surprised since i read the fronts usually dont need camber kits, usually the back.

while i was there i got the mech to torch off some bolts and nuts from the downpipe to the cat. 25 bucks... hopefully this will ease my header install.

thanks for your help everyone! so if anyone has a shaking steering wheel, get a wheel balance, that may solve your problem...

 

Before spending the money on a camber kit have the car put on the alignment rack. You may be within spec where you dont need one. If you are lowered without having an alignment you have toe. Toe will kill tires.

 

now that you mentioned it, mayb i havent gotten an alignment since i got the drop. hmm something to look into. cause those tires were worn real bad on the insides..

 

bad wear on tires could be causing the vibration ... also, have u hit any potholes, it could be bent wheels

 

Get an alignment. your Toe is out of spec.

 

so got the alignment done at Firestone, with their lifetime alignment service. To be honest they were great in terms of customer care and answering questions. However, one thing i found to be a little fishy is that they said they were able to adjust the toe on the car in the front, but they said the back were too rusted to adjust anything at all. They said that the arm area where the nut is turned to adjust the settings were "frozen/rusted" on the inside, and that if they tried to torch it to move, it would burn some of the part because of it being rubber. sigh, to be honest i didnt find it too convincing they coodnt set it because of that reason. More like an excuse to get me to change the arms at their location... any thoughts?

 

common what they should have sold you where new bolt and cam kits and the labor to install.

also bet you still have the vibration too, look at your worn out tires as the issue, alignments don't cause vibrations, tires out of balance, tires with broken belts, worn out tires and loose worn out tie rods and ball joints cause vibrations NOT ALIGNMENTS OR TOE SETTINGS

 

well the vibration went away, and the car drives straight now. just that i know in the back of my head theres slight camber and caster in the rear, since they coodnt adjust it...

 

no the bad tires are on the rear now so you don't notice it anymore but it's still there, your just not in tune enough to feel it in the seat of your pants now that they're not on the front any more and you where feeling it through the steering wheel. Bet the inside of the tires are bald too on the set on the rear and not on the set that are currently on the front. All they did is set toe and toes doesn't cause a vibration or a pull but puts a hundred bucks or so in the mechanics pockets for thirty minutes of work.


Remember you stated the steering wheel went back and forth at low speeds, that's a broken belt or seperated thread in the tire, rotate the tires back and you'll be exactly where you were before you waisted your money at the alignment shop.

 

I have a question about the toe. I dropped my car, and I dont have a camber kit or anything, can the toe be corrected to near stock specs?

 

yes and it has to be or you burn up your tires.

 

yea i would suggest getting an alignment soon too after youve dropped your car. or else your tires will be bald... i needa get a pic up for you guys...

 

when you lower the TL the camber goes way negative and the toe changes
the camber is set at zero degrees stock and max allowed is neg 1 degree
Many of us run neg 1.2-1.6 without serious tire wear issues
more than that--for really dropped cars- you need a camber kit to get back within that neg 1 range
The car turns in better with a little neg camber too!
Tell the shop to `set the toe and let it go`
If the neg camber matches side to side or is close, and the toe will set into correct spec, you are fine

 

yea i kinda like the little negative camber look, not that i have it but ive seen it. next spring/summer the ride is going down...

is the toe and camber set by the same arm?

 

see the availabe kits or diy section for details

a stock TL can only adjust the toe, front and rear
camber can be changed on a lowered TL by changing the spring perch height--on adjustable units
Measure of the car corner height comes into play then

often can get away with rear only- which are cheap and easy to do, fronts require more labor time changing parts
but with kits you can put it back to stock zero if you want

 

either balance or bent rim

 

okay new question, figured ill use the same thread.

got a flat on Thanksgiving Day, I dunno whether its from the cold or whatever. But long story short, I put a directional tire and rim [extra that I had], the ones with the arrow telling you which way the tire should rotate, on the opposite side. So the arrow is pointing towards the back of car, rather than forward. Besides the bad handling, and bad water channeling, does this have any effect on the suspension or compenents of the car itself? Im ordering new tires soon as I get a chance, but this directional tire on the wrong side is my only option untill new tires get in.

Ive searched and no one was stupid enough to do this, but since I had the extra rim and tire, I just dropped it on for the time being. Hopefully my car doesnt blow up...

Thanks in advance for your help...!

 

no dont do that take that tire off. it causes vibration and uneven wear.

 

hmm i havent felt so much vibration, tho the car feels unsteady around sharp turns. and the slowing down when i let go of the accelerator is much faster than normal. again, this is only temporary, i just dont want it affect my suspension parts or axels in any way...

 

you cant move that wheel over to the correct directional side?
your other tires are directional too?

can you have the tire remounted on the rim- so it goes the other direction?,
some tires can be swapped that way

or is it made strictly for one side of the car--have to order left side or right side when you buy them?

 

all four tires are directional tires that I had on. The fifth one thats in the wrong direction was a rim and tire type of thing I purchased used. Its coming in handy now, but unforturnately its on the wrong side. as far as I read, the tires that have the writing is suppose to face the outside [obviously], I need to check if it has the exact same printing on the inside of the tire, then I can switch it around I suppose. but, new tires will be coming soon, hopefully.

 

The tire's gonna have the same arrow direction on the outside & inside. How it's mounted on the rim is what's important.