regular but not constant shudder in steering wheel

Austin · #1 06-08-2011, 09:00 PM

I did some searching of the site before posting a new thread, but the vibration/shudder issues were all a little different from mine...

I've got a regular but not constant shudder in my steering wheel that begins to be felt just under 50mph. When I say regular but not constant I mean that it vibrates for a half second, is smooth for a half second, vibrates for a half second, smooth, vibrate, smooth, vibe, etc.

A little background, the car was wrecked some years ago and sat on a flat tire for most (all?) of that time. As a result the tire got "cupped" or something. I don't know if that's the culprit or not, but I thought it wouldn't hurt to mention.

I bought the car from Huck, who had the tires balanced before I came to pick it up (because he's a great guy and thought it might just be a balancing issue). Unfortunately it didn't do the trick. The fact that it's regular but not constant is what also confirms to me that it's not a balancing issue.

One thing I was thinking was that maybe the one tire being flat for so long has caused it to wear oddly and have a slightly different diameter than the other 3, and therefore causing my AWD to get squirrely. My concern there obviously is not the cost of new tires but the cost of a new tranny!

Does that sound like a valid concern? Does it sound like a new set of tires would fix it (they've got some tread left, but a new set wouldn't hurt)? I'm about to make the 1200 mile round trip from JAX, FL to the Dragon and don't want to ruin my car along the way.

Ideas? Suggestions? Donations?

huck369 · #2 06-09-2011, 08:19 AM

My guess would be a weak strut....
But if I were ready to spend on tires, that would rule them out, and something you'll have to replace eventually anyway (could put the old SVX tires on the XT6)

Austin · #3 06-09-2011, 01:16 PM

wow - really?!

I never would have guessed that. Then again, I don't know much about cars.

So the strut just like wobbles or something every half second or so? I'm not sure if I get it.

92snowmachine · #4 06-09-2011, 02:47 PM

if the strut is week then it won't hold the tire to the ground when it hits bumps, so you get high and low spots on your tire. run your hand across the tires to see if they feel lumpy or feathered.

Austin · #5 06-09-2011, 03:30 PM

hmmm... I'll have to try that.

I live in FL with flat roads, flat everything, (well, unless you go to the beach

) and the roads are generally not too bumpy. At least they're not consistently bumpy every half second... on every road including the highway.

Still, I'll take a look at it. probably not a bad place to start. I'll also start pricing struts I guess.

decline · #6 06-11-2011, 01:21 PM

my car shudders at highway speeds and especially around bends. The consensus among my mechanic and a few others seems to be the front axels are beat and in need of replacement. Theyre clickin an popin in low speed turning situations such as parking lots also
Unfortunatly thats on the back burner until I get my hard/non start issue resolved, buts just a suggestion