help! 97 s14 auto 60-70 mph shakes like crazy!! :(

[s14superman]

i just finished a long trip for around 1200 miles, and right after 300-400 miles the car stared to shake on 60-70 miles on high way, the car before 55mph is fine, and after 70mph is fine as well, please help me!! what could be the problem? and what should i do!?thank y'all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!and my car has a ka, and it has now 89xxx miles on it, i did spark plugs replacement around 75000 miles(plug cable as well), it has 3" cat pipe and down pipe...thank y'all!!!!!

[95nismo240]

its probaly something with ur tires. see if tehre are any bubbles in them or get them balanced.

[titanium240]

Your problem sounds suspension related, most likely the struts need to be replaced or it needs an alignment...but that's odd,m since it's a '97 I wouldn't think it would be the struts especially with the low mileage, could be a worn tie rod (doubt it)... but have a mechanic check it out, the last thing you want is for something to break and send you into a building while trying to turn a corner

Hope that helps!

[s14superman]

yes, one of my (right) front strut is not good (need a new one) but, why it shakes only during60-70mph?? also the car has lower springs (2") thank y'all very much!

[s14superman]

the tires are 215-40-17 the front two are new used...the rear are ok i think...

[justmerging]

your wheels are probably just out of balance. worst case get an alignment done. the total for both should be less than $100. if that doesn't solve the problem then there may be bigger problems to worry about.

[s14superman]

yes it does have negative camber problem, and i am thinking to get a set of coilover, but it cost lots of money..... so basicly it is the problem on the suspansion and alignment??thanks again!

[dft24ds]

Do you have fix a flat in your tires by any chance? If not then your tires are out of balance... how do I know? i work at Sears auto we get this all the time up there. Get your tires balanced it should fix the problem.

[s14superman]

thank you so much!i did use fix a flat on 2 of my tires (left front and right rear) does this effect ? and it did not give me any problem before... and it happened now... and why it only shakes on 60-70?thank you !!!!!!!!

[sanioll]

$100 for alignment is crazy.

they charge us $10 bucks per tire. so if you get all four, its $40 plus tax. well call it $50 witha perfect service.

yes its your alignment and tires. every year my car starts behaving like that.

1) check for uneven wear on your tires

2) you gotta do alignment on 240 every year.

alighment goes off in 240 becuase we drive them hard/drift sometimes, and it has a bit stiff suspension.

[s14superman]

but it shakes big... not like little unblance tires...the whole car shakes like the car is ganna fall a part..thanks!

[neagan]

That is something to definitely worry about. When this has happened to me in the past what was going on was that I was using cheaper tires. The steel belts would seperate from all the hard cornering I would do.

Jack up your car right away and hand spin each tyre to see if you can spot something visually. Don't drive on it when it's like that.

Regarding your question as to why it happens at that particular speed; it's a matter of harmonics. Any item that spins and is not balanced has speed ranges where the load is dampened and a speed range where the vibration will suddely intensify. It's a physics thing, just like with an engine where they have to put harmonic balancers or counter weights, for when the spinning speed reaches that vibrational point.

Sometimes the severe shaking can be related with the steering box on manuel units. However when that happens it's readily apparent that the front end is shaking the steering wheel back and forth worse than the amount transfered through the vehicle itself.

Besides that, loose lug nuts on a wheel will imitate what you're describing.

It's all harmonic related, so like the other guys first said; start with the tyres first. Once you've identified them or eliminated that item you can go to suspension things. And yes, a bad strut up front and one in the opposite back can mimic those symptoms. It's a tightly balanced vehicle we have here so issues are highly intensified compared to mom's buick.

This is why they used to make cars with a lot of wood rather than boxed framed steel in the early 1900's. It would flex with the ratty dirt roads, where the initial all metal constructed cars would rattle to death and break.

So spin those wheels, check for any play from top to bottom AND from side to side, then get back to us and we can take it from there if you need us. For a side note, sliding tyres around can buckle the steel belts even in the better end tires. It's just the cost of hot rodding. Hope this helps; Nitro

[s14superman]

nitro, thank you so much for the info!!!!!!!!!!!i will check it out tomorrow! and do a update!thanks to all of you!!

[s14superman]

nitro, thank you so much for the info!!!!!!!!!!!i will check it out tomorrow! and do a update!thanks to all of you!!

[mmatl16]

ill bet your springs blew ur stock struts and now the alignment is off.

1- get new struts2-get it aligned

it should be fine after that. just take care of all the small things first and if these things dont fix it then we'll start breaking it down more.