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50 plus shimmy


ohio510

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here's the thing I had it on the highway before coil over and wheel mods no shimmy. had rims checked today all balanced and had my audi mechanic (builds Porsche race cars) dub check alignment. all good how do I check u joints they don't seem to be clacking? or drive shafts without tearing apart the drivetrain?

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good luck raise the car up see if it go,s a way. I battled this on my 4 door. I changed every thing. might be u joints binding. some times they freeze and get sticky and don't have slop till under load grab each end if the u joint and try to feel a clunk when you twist and shake them. also check your exhaust it can sway and cause a shimmy.

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Also consider that u-joints create themselves a wear pattern, and when you lowered the car, you changed the angles of the ujoints from the pattern they created. They might still be a tight joint but vibrate. Fixing that would require replacing all four halfshaft joints.

 

Also remember that if the car is lowered very far, the u-joints will start to bind up and cause a shimmy too.

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peoples definition of "shimmy" can vary sometimes, are you talking about a vibration? does the vibration get worse at higher speeds or stay the same, or does it go away at 55+? did it just start doing it, has it been progressively worse? do you have any clunks or other suspension noises?

 

If it is a vibration that is present at 50mph and above, it could be several things. What I would do to narrow it down is check all the U-joints first, lift the car and have it in neutral with the parking brake off so that you can move the drive line and check for play at each joint on each cap, check for any movement. If there is no movement and the tires are balanced, time to check for odd wear patterns on the tires, look for any odd wear or signs of damaged tread or cords. Has the car been sitting for a while(tires develop "flat spots" from sitting, especially when at low pressures)? Are the tires inflated to the proper pressure? have you tried rotating the tires front to back to see if the vibration goes away?

 

next, lift the front from the subframe and put jackstands under the framerails. check the front suspension for movement and play. grab the tire and move it side to side, top and bottom. some play from the steering box and wheel bearings is acceptable, but too much can cause vibration and other issues. have you checked to make sure the spacers and the wheels were torqued properly? I see that happen frequently, people zipping the lug nuts on in a circle and end up with an issue like this.

 

try a few of those things, and get back to us. provide more info about the symptom and if it gets better or worse and the details.

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well i know its not tires brand new and balanced / alignment good, vibration seems like its comming from the rear. when im on the throttle it seems to lessen and when im coasting it seems worse have to put her up on stands and check drive shafts. so if shafts are binding what do i do? raise my car back up?:crying: mor lower mor better!!!!

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I dont think this is a science project as some make it out to be.

Jack up car and geet under there. and more wheel from and back and see if anything obvious.

 

I would even put it in gear and rev it and see what happens. Hopefull dont launch the car!

ck all bolts in drive line and diff.

i hope not we will find out on sat thanks guys.

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well i know its not tires brand new and balanced / alignment good, vibration seems like its comming from the rear. when im on the throttle it seems to lessen and when im coasting it seems worse have to put her up on stands and check drive shafts. so if shafts are binding what do i do? raise my car back up?:crying: mor lower mor better!!!!

 

brand new tires can be brand new with a defect, or improperly balanced due to installer or equipment error. I have fixed many vibration issues from reputable dealerships and tire shops due to a defective brand new tire or improperly installed weights.

 

is there any noise? That does sound U-joint related if they make less vibration when loaded than when coasting, because a wheel or tire issue will stay the same when you get to a certain MPH or other condition. If you went too low and the driveshafts are binding, or the u-joints have a wear spot in them, the only way to fix that is with a re angle or replacing the u-joints. Chances are unless you are really slammed, it is most likely due to something else unrelated to the drive line, or your u joints are worn. If you do raise the back of the car up and put it in gear, be VERY careful...at least point the car down the street and have someone in it in case it takes off, and DO NOT get underneath that sucker where it could roll over top of you.

 

I know hainz thinks that I over think things and turn things into a "science project", but when you work on cars, knowledge saves time. There is some science to working on cars, if there wasn't, we would have seen automobiles a few hundred (or thousand) years ago. To me, finding the exact problem and then fixing it is always better than guessing or throwing parts at it, because where I work, I do not get paid to be wrong, and the more efficient I am, the more money I can make...if you suck at driveability problems as a technician, then you make chump change.

 

Let us know what you find...looking for worn u-joints and rotating the tires should give you some ideas or perhaps change the symptom. if you rotate the tires and they look fine, and the spacers and wheels are torqued to factory spec, and the symptom does not change at all, you will know it has to be a u-joint or something else, even if there is no play in the u-joints(that you can feel anyway).

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It may be time to replace bushings too. Take the half shafts out and feel the U-joints for binding or wear issues. Take them out and feel... 12mm wrenches, two of them. Snapon wrenches are the best because they are the thinnest for the space. Any wrench will do, but Snapon is the best!!! IMO

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  • 3 weeks later...

hey guys sorry for the delay you know how it is kids two other busted cars getting laid off ect.... so I checked through the all the u joints looks good and everything in drive train is kosher. but seems like my passenger rear tire is scrubbing more than the driver. 99% sure its my spacers on the fronts they are not hub centric. (please excuse punctuation on my smart phone)

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