90 S5 NA GTU FC, lowered car causing steering shake at 65mph speed?
#1
Rotary Otaku
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90 S5 NA GTU FC, lowered car causing steering shake at 65mph speed?
Previous Owner of FC had it lowered. I did not see any coilovers (neither adjustable or non-adjustable).
It was unbearable to drive the car past 65mph, but keeping it at 65mph was okay (except on long drives over an hour on the freeway. I replaced the motor mounts as one of them was torn when I reinstalled the rebuilt motor.
I looked at the Hayne's Manual, thought of getting the tires rebalanced and getting an alignment done. I notice it doesn't shake like crazy, or becomes smooth on slight turns on the road, just not on straight-aways.
Am I right to assume it's tire balance and alignment, or should I also take a look at the steering system? PO went cheap on mods before I bought it, from what it seems.
It was unbearable to drive the car past 65mph, but keeping it at 65mph was okay (except on long drives over an hour on the freeway. I replaced the motor mounts as one of them was torn when I reinstalled the rebuilt motor.
I looked at the Hayne's Manual, thought of getting the tires rebalanced and getting an alignment done. I notice it doesn't shake like crazy, or becomes smooth on slight turns on the road, just not on straight-aways.
Am I right to assume it's tire balance and alignment, or should I also take a look at the steering system? PO went cheap on mods before I bought it, from what it seems.
#3
Rotary Otaku
Thread Starter
Thanks, diabolical1. Wasn't sure where to post since it has felt like forever since I was really active here. Been lurking since I got my first FC and happy to be active again with my current "running" FC.
#6
Sharp Claws
iTrader: (30)
a shake in the wheel is usually a bent wheel or a ripped cord in a front tire, out of balance tires will certainly give a vibration but they will not cause a shimmy in the wheel. the alignment being out from lowering the car will make the issue more pronounced.
rotate the tires to the rear and i bet the shimmy will go away but you likely will still have some vibration and/or sway in the *** end.
rotate the tires to the rear and i bet the shimmy will go away but you likely will still have some vibration and/or sway in the *** end.
#7
MECP Certified Installer
a shake in the wheel is usually a bent wheel or a ripped cord in a front tire, out of balance tires will certainly give a vibration but they will not cause a shimmy in the wheel. the alignment being out from lowering the car will make the issue more pronounced.
rotate the tires to the rear and i bet the shimmy will go away but you likely will still have some vibration and/or sway in the *** end.
rotate the tires to the rear and i bet the shimmy will go away but you likely will still have some vibration and/or sway in the *** end.
I thought everyone knew what the *** end of a vehicle was, especially in the south.
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#8
Rotary Otaku
Thread Starter
Thanks, everyone. I had ideas of what could be causing the shaking but just wanted to confirm them, as well as getting more ideas of what to inspect.
And I realized my FC has a Salvage Title after I got Title in the mail... =( Time to check Carfax.
#9
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Check your ball joints.
I couldn't go over 50mph in my vert..it would hop all over the place.Even though I had jacked the car up and checked the front I didn't find it until I pretty well disassembled everything.
I stuck a crow bar in between the spindle assembly and the lower arm and Finally found out the damn joint was toast.
I couldn't go over 50mph in my vert..it would hop all over the place.Even though I had jacked the car up and checked the front I didn't find it until I pretty well disassembled everything.
I stuck a crow bar in between the spindle assembly and the lower arm and Finally found out the damn joint was toast.
#10
Rotary Freak
iTrader: (1)
I agree, you are likely looking at tire damage, or worn or misaligned suspension. So anything related to the tires and suspension. Helpful, no?
That said - was the car aligned after lowering? It seems to me that lowering the FC front produces more toe in - which not only is going to kill your tires, it might account for your shimmy, as the front tires effectively are fighting each other, and variations in road surface (or camber side-to-side) give the advantage to one, then the other.
That said - was the car aligned after lowering? It seems to me that lowering the FC front produces more toe in - which not only is going to kill your tires, it might account for your shimmy, as the front tires effectively are fighting each other, and variations in road surface (or camber side-to-side) give the advantage to one, then the other.
#12
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OH..you will find that the S5 Ball joints are part of the lower control arm and the WHOLE arm will need to be changed IF the ball joint is toast.
Guys fix this easily by changing the whole lower control arm to an S4 Series assembly which has replaceable ball joints( they bolt in).
One thing about the s5 was a lot of stupid plastic parts,like the sway bar links.They suck!
Guys fix this easily by changing the whole lower control arm to an S4 Series assembly which has replaceable ball joints( they bolt in).
One thing about the s5 was a lot of stupid plastic parts,like the sway bar links.They suck!
#15
Rotary Otaku
Thread Starter
Just replaced my clutch master and slave cylinders, leaked like crazy close by. I inspected the tires, and ya'll were right. One of the tires is already showing the cords on the inside of the tread on the front driver-side tire. Looks like the tires were rotated before I bought it from the looks of it on the other tires, but the tread is going as well.
I didn't think of looking at the ball joints, I'll give that shot.
I didn't think of looking at the ball joints, I'll give that shot.
#16
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I just went through this issue on my normal suspension FC (single piston calipers.)
Here I found I had a front caliper seized causing it to drag on the rotor and heat soak when I finally parked it. this allowed the pad to transfer more material to the rotor as it cooled, causing a high spot which would, in effect, cause the brake to grab that spot every revolution to show up as a steering wheel shimmy above 70mph for me.
My fix was a rebulit caliper and new rotor as the old one was trashed.
Here I found I had a front caliper seized causing it to drag on the rotor and heat soak when I finally parked it. this allowed the pad to transfer more material to the rotor as it cooled, causing a high spot which would, in effect, cause the brake to grab that spot every revolution to show up as a steering wheel shimmy above 70mph for me.
My fix was a rebulit caliper and new rotor as the old one was trashed.
#18
Rotary Otaku
Thread Starter
New tires solved the problem. Glad it didn't require a major fix. Just in time as well, since an inspection revealed I was missing nuts for the struts, struts were leaking, and cracked tire walls on the rear tires (it had been sitting in the sun for over 2 years).
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