Mystery Vibrations

For about the past year whenever I drive between 60-65 mph, it feels like i'm driving over a washboard. So I checked everything in the front suspension and sure enough both outer tie rods were worn out, so I replaced them and had the car realigned. But the vibrations continued. I took it to my mechanic and he told me the tires were out of round, so I replaced them and the vibrations went away. But now after putting about 4000 miles on the new tires (less than two months) the vibrations are back, any ideas on how to solve this?

What sort of shape are the axles in? What kind of tires did you get installed on the car?

They are P195/60R14 Bridgestone Potenza RE960AS pole positions. Also, the left front axle does click during hard turning, haven't gotten around to replacing it yet, can that cause the tires to go out of round?

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Originally Posted by nfs480

They are P195/60R14 Bridgestone Potenza RE960AS pole positions. Also, the left front axle does click during hard turning, haven't gotten around to replacing it yet, can that cause the tires to go out of round?

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My Mothers Mazda 626 had a huge problem with vibration at highway speeds...after replacing the axles the problem was pretty much gone.

I was just out of college in '67 and bought a new Datsun. From the gitgo it had a vibration like yours. The tires were balanced, no help. They were shaved, which helped for just a little while. Alignment, no help. It turned out that all 4 wheels were out of round. So the question is, has your car always done this? Maybe try to swap the front & rear wheels and see if that helps.

It may very well be the axles or the brake rotors for that matter. Our suspension is a little prone to picking up vibrations esp if something has just the slightest wear. Every had a chevy vibrate cuz the tierods are worn ? yeah then the front end is wiped out and hanging by a tread.

I would get your tires rebalanced.

Do a front end check for loose suspension parts.

Tighten some bolts: in the UCA to the body,UCA on the bushing side(above the tire), and your strut mounts bolts under the radiator.


wp

The car has done this as long as i've had it. In the process of trying to solve this i've replaced the front brake pads, calipers and rotors, tie rods ends and tires. Everything else has passed inspection, but the vibration remains.

well the last thing would be the axles to replace...if you get reman ones they are about 60 bucks a piece

I would balance the tires, check pressure, and check lug nut torque. If you are using the acorn style lug nuts they can work loose because the threads are worn out inside the nut. Some of those can be found to only be holding with a thread or two actually threading on the stud.
New nuts fixes that.

Also I would check the torque thrust as in four wheel alignment.
.. and rack n pinion unit, I would check the mounting bolts and inner tie rod play, the side that goes inside the boots of the rack.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by nfs480

They are P195/60R14 Bridgestone Potenza RE960AS pole positions. Also, the left front axle does click during hard turning, haven't gotten around to replacing it yet, can that cause the tires to go out of round?

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The one and only time I owned Bridgestones, they would go out of balance faithfully every 1,000 miles. I bought the lifetime balance deal from Wal-Mart and balanced the tires at every oil change. My torque converter wouldn't lock up either. I replaced those with Michelins and the car drives like a dream. I'm not sure how you design tires to keep the transmission from working properly, but I won't be buying Bridgestones ever again in an effort to find out.