[GunNam]

My symptoms:

Steering wheel shake at around 50-70 mph.

BUT

NO steering wheel shake at around 80+ mph.

I've heard it could just be my tires being out of balance, but I've also been told my axle is going bad...

My axles were replaced about 2 years ago with remanufactured/rebuilt units that have given me no problems whatsoever for the past 30k-40k miles - BUT they WERE rebuilt, and I'm not sure what they're life span is.

Could the problem also exist because of my alignment being off?

I'm asking because I don't want to, nor do I have the money to at this time to balance the tires, then do an alignment, just to get new axles put it because that was the problem in the first place.

Maybe it's a combination of the 3, balance, alignment, axles... tell me what you think.

 

[akhom]

Take off the wheel and look at the axles.. See if the rubber harmonic dampener is damage or missing. It is on the shaft of the axle. While the wheels are off take look to see if you still have all your wheel weights.
Get tires balanced again and drive. Also check all your motor mounts. It helps to have a little mirror from your girlfriend. This helps you see in the mount to check for damage.

 

[Furious05]

Honestly I think its just the tires out of balance. If it were the axles then you would get a more noticable shake upon acceleration, and less off of the accelerator.

Your alignment can also be a problem. Since money is an issue I would get the tires balanced, then your alignment. If the axles are a free replacement under warranty, then you can get new ones and install em if you do it yourself to save money. If you have to pay to have em installed I would go in this order.

Balance
Align
New axles

You should also check your tires for bubbles on the inside and outside. Potholes are a ***** and can screw tires up. Inspect the rims for bends as well.

 

[GunNam]

Take off the wheel and look at the axles.. See if the rubber harmonic dampener is damage or missing. It is on the shaft of the axle.

Anyone have a picture of this? or maybe a diagram?

 

[ChinkGotRice]

my car used to do the same exact thing...!!! but at 75-80 mph......soon after, it just got worst. I pulled off the wheels and checked the cv boots/axels...driver side was torn (no grease left in it), and the passenger side wasnt pretty either! Replaced both axels and all my problems were solved....for that month that is! LOL

 

[DownShiftRacing]

same thing happened to me the problem was that my tires werent balanced, just get that checked first before you do anything major

 

[digitalcriminal]

my car has done the same. i replaced the hubs and bearings, had the alignment done and was told the alignment has nothing to do with the sound, and cut the rotors. it is either the wheels out of balance but im more convinced it is the axle. let me know what your trouble was.

 

[dc2quick]

i would think wheel bearings... i used to have the same problem... and that seemed to do the fix

 

[b20c1]

your wheels are out of balance. get them rebalanced and make sure all your tires are wearing evenly (no cupping, choppy wear, inside/outside edge wear) and at the same psi. uneven tire wear is from being out of alignment or needing new springs/struts. check your cv boots when you take your tires off just to make sure they arent torn and leaking grease or anything. they are black rubber covers about one foot up your axle from the rotor. you can check your wheel bearings by pushing the outside of your tires back and forth with your hands on the top and bottom of the wheel when your car is off the ground. if you feel play when you apply pressure then you could have a bad wheel bearing. you can do the same test but with your hands on the left and right side of the tire to check if your tie rod ends are bad or not also. sorry if it sounds confusing, i dont know any easier way to explain it.