Car shakes at certain speeds and while braking

Post by **Xeno** » Tue Feb 06, 2007 12:54 pm

As I have had my car it tends to shake at certain speeds and while braking. If I brake hard then the shaking goes away. Ive had the tires balanced, aligned, etc. Each time I was told it was my rack and pinion that made the car shake. Well I finally replaced my rack and pinion and had the exact same result. Absolutely no difference. What could be causing this? Front tie rods?

The shaking comes from the front suspension.

Post by **bruce.weiland** » Tue Feb 06, 2007 1:00 pm

Xeno,

You don't have warped front rotors do you?

Bruce

Post by **Xeno** » Tue Feb 06, 2007 2:02 pm

No I dont. I replaced the brakes, and had the rotors checked and resurfaced. So thats not the problem either. Im really lost on this one.

Post by **bruce.weiland** » Tue Feb 06, 2007 2:08 pm

Well me too.

If you don't get an answer here you might try the Nissan Online Mechanic forum.

Post by **onosqv** » Tue Feb 06, 2007 2:16 pm

Have you had your alignment checked? what are the specs?

tried rotating tires to see if it changes at all?

does just the steering wheel shake? or does the entire front end of the car shake?

check the wheel hubs/bearings for play?

Post by **dkdeleon68** » Tue Feb 06, 2007 3:10 pm

Have you checked your brake calipers? The piston in one of the calipers could be sticking or the piston boot is leaking. or it could be bad struts.

Post by **ZiG** » Tue Feb 06, 2007 3:44 pm

Could be bad tires. If they're getting on in years/wear, you should just up and replace them. As for the steering rack.. maybe you need to find a new mechanic.

Post by **Xeno** » Tue Feb 06, 2007 5:55 pm

brokeAs240sx wrote:Have you had your alignment checked? what are the specs?

tried rotating tires to see if it changes at all?

does just the steering wheel shake? or does the entire front end of the car shake?

check the wheel hubs/bearings for play?

Yes I have had the alignment done. I don't have the specs, I threw the paper away. But I have had it done twice now.

Its not the tires, I just bought another set. This problem has been going on for a long time regardless of what tires I have.

Both steering wheel and front end shake.

how do i check the wheel hubs/bearings for play?

dkdeleon68 wrote:Have you checked your brake calipers? The piston in one of the calipers could be sticking or the piston boot is leaking. or it could be bad struts.

Replaced one brake caliper becuase it was leaking, the other one is fine. Neither sticks.

I'm pretty sure its not the struts. I replaced them a while back. Although I do need to replace them again, I'm sure that it wouldn't allow for the amount of shaking im getting. Going to upgrade to coilovers soon so I'll see what difference that makes, still pretty sure thats not it though.

ZiG wrote: As for the steering rack.. maybe you need to find a new mechanic.

I work on my car. Steering rack isn't hard to replace.

Post by **renegade240** » Sun Feb 18, 2007 5:52 am

Bent wheel??

Post by **blabla** » Sun Feb 18, 2007 11:24 pm

hum did you try re torquing all the susp bolts and are all the front end bushing in good shape --

also now that is going to sound weird I know but I had a problem like that -- did everything that crossed my mind -- the vibration would only be at around 35 and in any gear -- and independent of throttle load or braking or whatever so I gave up and decided to leave with for a bit -- but one day I replaced my engine mounts -- and the shaking disappeared

mind boggling but hey if you tried it all

Post by **WBY** » Mon Feb 19, 2007 4:42 am

My brother has a '86 300zx turbo and it does the same thing! We've also changed everything on it (rack, struts, tires) the brakes are good and the hub bearings are also good. If you find out what is causing your problem please post it up here, it might help some people with a similar problem. I'm wondering if its just the fact that all the rubber bushing on the front ends go bad and while braking there is some free play in the front end for a couple of second . Keep us posted!

Post by **VeloceDrift** » Mon Feb 19, 2007 9:53 pm

Xeno wrote:As I have had my car it tends to shake at certain speeds and while braking. If I brake hard then the shaking goes away. Ive had the tires balanced, aligned, etc. Each time I was told it was my rack and pinion that made the car shake. Well I finally replaced my rack and pinion and had the exact same result. Absolutely no difference. What could be causing this? Front tie rods?

The shaking comes from the front suspension.

its just a 240sx thing thats how my first 2 240's were;)

Post by **bgreene92forty** » Fri Feb 23, 2007 3:38 am

my 92 240sx does tha same thing.. ive gotten tha tires rotated, new tires, new struts and it still shakes a lil btwn 40-50 mph.. it doesnt really bother me that much but if u kno a way of fixing it plz post

Post by **kansas240** » Fri Feb 23, 2007 6:52 am

its warped rotors. when you have them resurfaced, they get THINNER, and warp again. put on big wheels, low profile tires and it gets worse. nature of the beast. put 300 brakes on and you'll notice it is reduced.

Post by **fivehunsky** » Sat Feb 24, 2007 6:51 am

I dont know if you have already checked this, but when I bought my 240 it did the same thing. I put it on a rack and it turned out that the ball joints were just bad. I replaced them and its fine now. Just thought I would throw that out.

Post by **Tech12** » Sat Feb 24, 2007 3:10 pm

I had this happen to me about a year ago, kept getting worse until it was undriveable. When I pulled over I saw that the sidewall on one of my tyres had become pregnant. New rubber meants shakes went away. Only happened at a certain speed and breaking too.

Post by **rogoman** » Sat Feb 24, 2007 4:11 pm

Xeno wrote:Both steering wheel and front end shake.

how do i check the wheel hubs/bearings for play?

Look at the TC rod bushings for signs of fluid leak or severely cracked rubber. On the lower control arm bushings, look for signs of severely cracked rubber or missing pieces of bushing.

To check the ball joints for excessive wear, place a floor jack under the lower control arm of the side you want to check. Make sure the jack point under the control arm is out bound as far as possible; preferably under the ball joint. Jack the control arm up until the tire is about 2" off the ground. Now take a long pipe and push up on the tire while observing any movement at the ball joint; there should be zero movement. You can also place your hand around the ball joint and while pushing on the tire, feel for any movement; again you should feel zero movement.

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The easiest way to check for worn wheel bearings is to remove the brake pads. Now spin the rotor by hand and listen for any noticeable rolling or grinding sound coming from the hub which indicates that the bearings are worn.

Car shakes at certain speeds and while braking

Car shakes at certain speeds and while braking

Re: Car shakes at certain speeds and while braking (Xeno)

Re: Car shakes at certain speeds and while braking (bruce.weiland)

Re: Car shakes at certain speeds and while braking (Xeno)

Re: Car shakes at certain speeds and while braking (Xeno)

Re: Car shakes at certain speeds and while braking (Xeno)

Re: Car shakes at certain speeds and while braking (dkdeleon68)

Re: Car shakes at certain speeds and while braking (Xeno)

Re: Car shakes at certain speeds and while braking (Xeno)

Re: Car shakes at certain speeds and while braking (Xeno)

Re: Car shakes at certain speeds and while braking (Xeno)

Re: Car shakes at certain speeds and while braking (VeloceDrift)

Re: Car shakes at certain speeds and while braking (bgreene92forty)

Re: Car shakes at certain speeds and while braking (Xeno)

Re: Car shakes at certain speeds and while braking (fivehunsky)

Re: Car shakes at certain speeds and while braking (Xeno)

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