shaky ride over 50mph?

[aZnXpLaYeR]

i have a 91 240sx and the steering wheel shakes like crazy when i go over around 50mph...also the inside of one of the tires is gettin worn more than others. im gnna try to balance tires and get new struts but is there anything else that could be causing it?thanks~chris

[Dori Dori]

Could be a bunch of things, but on a first guess, I'd say maybe your tension rod bushings. Those are the ones that people talk about that are filled with 'goo' and when they leak causes shimmy in the steering wheel. You could either replace the bushings with poly urethane ones (whiteline makes em) or get all new, adjustable rods w/ shperical bushings from Battle Version, Jic, Tein or East Bear.

[Josh]

Might need a front end alignment.

[NISMOdrift240]

Sorry, gotta disagree guys. Going off what he said... "shakes above 50" thats wheel balance. Sometimes all you have to do is hit a bump and one of the wheel weights will fall off. Just take it into any tire shop and they will balance them for ya for cheap.

Tension rod busings when they fail, make the steering wheel wobble a little when you change lanes. More of a loose feeling up front. I know this cause mine are toast. Got some Energy suspensions coming from Courtesy Nissan. Dont buy from them...its been a month, wont see them til next week.

[Dori Dori]

Like I said, it could be a bunch of things. He could also be using non-hubcentric wheels without hubcentric rings. That could cause that exact problem.

[Josh]

Yeah, like he said, coulda been alot of things, I just know that something similar happened to me and I knew I needed a front end alignment anyways, and it fixed it. And if it's out of alignment, you can go through some tires.

[Exar-Kun]

Sorry, gotta disagree guys. Going off what he said... "shakes above 50" thats wheel balance. Sometimes all you have to do is hit a bump and one of the wheel weights will fall off. Just take it into any tire shop and they will balance them for ya for cheap.

Tension rod busings when they fail, make the steering wheel wobble a little when you change lanes. More of a loose feeling up front. I know this cause mine are toast. Got some Energy suspensions coming from Courtesy Nissan. Dont buy from them...its been a month, wont see them til next week.

dont make me hurt you. my T/c bushings didnt vibrate till over 80mph. I work at a wheel and tire, suspension, etc place. Its very possible thats his problem, here how to trouble shoot it:-Check your tires for odd wear patterns, etc.-check ballancing(its cheapest) of wheels(also check to see if you have hub rings on your aftermarket wheels, if you have them)-look at you t/c bushings-Check for any other suspenion bushings worn/missing

allignment rarely causes a vibration problem, it can cause odd wear patterns in a tire that LEAD to vibration, but I'd recommend checking it anyway.

-chet

[dl240sx]

mine did the same and it was the alignment but take it to a shop it could be anything.

[aZnXpLaYeR]

thanks everyone...i got it alligned and now it runs fine =)

[halz]

Mind telling what the alignment before and after specs were? Was it just the toe that was out of spec?

[BabyboyDeLa240]

So How would you know if your wheels have HUB RINGS? and so the balance could also be for me with my problem at 60? This is some good Info. Thanks

[Dori Dori]

Your wheels would have to be hubcentric for the 240...the manufacturer of your wheel would be able to tell you this. If they are not, ask them what size rings you will need. You could get the rings from tirerack (also, if tirerack carries the wheels you have, they will be able to tell you as well). If you buy the wrong sized rings, they will either not fit, get crushed, or be too small. They aren't required and a lot of people drive around without them, but if you have aftermarket wheels, it's worth it to check...rings are cheap.

[BabyboyDeLa240]

What is the purpose of hub rings? what do they actually do?

[astron]

hubcentric wheels are wheels that fit tightly around the hub, alot of wheels dont even do this (the wide 5 lug rims on my vw are a perfect example, they're not even close to touching the hub) a ring apparently fits in to center the wheel on the hub if it's center area is too big for the hub...if that makes sence to you i applaud you ast

[aZnXpLaYeR]

i must agree my friend has a 1990 525i and he uses hub rings and without them they the rim is too big...it also shakes if the rings not on...i guess it all depends on the car but mine didnt have any hub rings...and i dunno where the receipt thing with the specs for the allignment went so yea thanks all

[Phantom]

Wheel balance and front end alignment get it done quick or you could damage your car more.

[driftaholic]

mine used to shake like crazy starting around 50-60 mph, then i got new front tires. didn't get an alignment (yet), so i believe it was unbalanced wheels that were causing the shaking in my case.

[Dori Dori]

It could have been the tires too...they could have been cupped.

[driftaholic]

well, that's true

[NewYork240]

i went to the shop because i had the tires balanced and the wheel still shook like crazy. It turns out that i need pretty much every front end bushing as well as the boots and a gear in the steering column. They said it would be like $800 to fix it all, but i get the feeling I could do the busings myself. Does anyone know where i can get replacements ??

[Dori Dori]

Which bushings are they trying to replace? The bushings in the front suspension are the T/C rods and the lower control arm (LCA) bushings. I don't think there should be any immediate need for LCA bushings, but if your T/C bushings are shot, your ride will suffer (and your handling). The T/C rod bushings are huge and are filled with goo. If they need replacing, go with either a whiteline replacement bushing or a full replacement T/C rod. That could be either a Nismo rod (that has a whiteline type bushing; heavy throttle has them) or a factory rod with the whiteline bushing already pressed (can be found on ebay and from pdm-racing) so you can avoid the hassle. If you want to go really extreme, you can get a fully adjustable T/C rod with spherical bushings (also called pillowball bushings) from multiple companies like Battle Version, Tein, Border Racing, Jic, Kazama, SPLparts, ect ect. Phase2motortrend has a few and SPLparts has the cheapest. Heavy Throttle has a couple as well. Oh, btw, the t/c rod is also called a Tension rod. You also have swaybar bushings and your strut tops...but I doubt they are talking about those. Anyway, good luck.