Wobbling Steering Wheel

[InterCooL]

hey guys

short storey / question is:

brothers got an r32gtst and its having a chronic steering wheel shaking above 110km/h.

could the tail shaft / tail shaft universal joints becausing this?

long storey is;

he's had it balanced and aligned by 3-4 ppl, had joints / bushes etc changed, spent over $1k in suspension parts with no effect.

and he does regular driving on highways, the wobbling / shaking is bad enough to cause pain and numbness after an hour or so, so its bad.

i pulled out the tail shaft but i'm no mechanic to know if theres anything wrong with it, 2 of the uni joints seemed to like to 'click' into the central position, i'm not sure if this is normal or not

i know you can get 1 piece tailshafts made but its $500 more that does not want ot be spent if it doesnt fix the problem, does anyone have advice / similar situation experiences?

anyone know of a tailshaft / gearbox place that would look at the shaft and give an honest opinion if its dead or could be causing vibrations? thanks for any help

[predator]

stupid question.. but has he tried rotating the tyres front to back and see if it has improved?

[InterCooL]

he had different rims and rubber on them for a while

and they have been taken off and balanced by 3 places at least

[mad082]

really need to know exactly what suspension parts have been changed.

[predator]

and they have been taken off and balanced by 3 places at least

The balancing won't do crap if the tyres are warped.. and may actually still balance ok. I've had that before on another car. Peeved me off no end for 6 months until I tried a different set of rims as a last resort.

My guess is that it wouldn't be the tail shaft through the steering.. rest of the car, sure, but tailshaft goes from engine -> gearbox -> diff.. the rack isn't involved.

[dangerous_daveo]

The balancing won't do crap if the tyres are warped.. and may actually still balance ok. I've had that before on another car. Peeved me off no end for 6 months until I tried a different set of rims as a last resort.

My guess is that it wouldn't be the tail shaft through the steering.. rest of the car, sure, but tailshaft goes from engine -> gearbox -> diff.. the rack isn't involved.

Spot on gordo!

I had a dodgy tailshaft after my gearbox conversion. You feel it thru the bottom of the seat and in your back.

I've also had egged tyres on the car, that you feel, and there is nothing you can do about it. A balance wont pick it up as its not a weight difference in the tyre or wheel. My bet is the tyres.

[MBS206]

My tail shaft uni joint is shot to hell in my commodore. It shakes the steering wheel to the shit house.

Change the uni joint. Problem gone.

uni joint approx: $15 from Repco.

My dad has also had many uni joints go, with EXACT same problem. If he gets on the gas, and the shaking disappears, it's definetely tail shaft.

[85URK]

i am in the middle of sorting a similar problem out myself i have replaced the rear half of the 2 piece tailshaft but have not balanced it yet with the front half, so im not 100% sure if this is the problem or not. but i am in the process of replacing all suspesion components including steering rack mount, radius bushes, front and rear camber adjustables.... then full wheel alignment, im going to see if this has any affect on the cars driving, if not im going to start with the tailshaft balance then maybe a steering rack overhaul if they think its needed. suck but there is nothing i can do about it but try to eliminate the sources 1 by 1.

imchecking all the little thing slike tyres aswell on the way but going to wait till after wednesday to see when it all gets done.

[blind_elk]

Are the wheels locating on the hub centres properly (a good tyre place should know that requirement)?

[InterCooL]

update: some industry guy (not mechanic) had a feel of the uni joints and said they were rooted. so they're getting replaced. he said there was a balancing plate missing on the tailshaft tho..... might cause problems

[InterCooL]

turns out the joints couldnt be serviced cheaply

got a new one piece tailshaft

brother reports that the problem is worst then before?

he is now going to sell the car

took me 2-3 years to convince him he needed boost. now this happens

Edited November 1, 2006 by InterCooL

[rgr34]

i fell for you i had a annoying shaking steering wheel at higher speed. got the 2 front wheels balanced problem solved!.......

[InterCooL]

he had the wheels balanced and aligned again

had 3 different people confirm that the suspension is tight as

no one knows whast the go now....

i'll see if i can get a mate to swap all 4 wheels / tyres this w/e and see if that makes any diff...

[gtrchick]

Umm just a question, has the car had a wheel alignment? like to check caster.....

[MBS206]

Swap the front tyres, with the back.

See if the shake changes at all...

Could have some bad luck, and have warped rims.

Was the tail shaft balanced before going in?

[InterCooL]

it's been alinged like 4-5 times recently, it was done today even

i plan on changing all the tyres / rims on it this w/e hopefulllly

i'm assuming the tailshaft was balanced before putting in, they custom made it and the place brags to make them for gtr drag skylines so you'd think they'd make on that can go over 100km/h with no worries :

[Rekin]

hrm i also get shakes at 110km/h and thought it was due to my bolt on spacers..now im worried :S

[DRFT]

Is the steeering rack securely fitted? Bolts tight? Bushes not worn?

My old R31 had stuffed steering rack bushes and the bolts kept coming loose. Maybe check that.

Also check your front hubs don't have excessive runout. You can check that with a dial indicator.

Could be a front wheel bearing problem?

Has the car got any evidence of being in an accident?

Edited November 1, 2006 by DRFT

[gtrchick]

What about the actual steering rack? if the cars been in a gutter acco, it could of bent the actual rack.

Or the sterring column, anything worn in that?

[msnismo]

Flat spots in the tyres FTW.

When I bought my car it had the shakes real bad over 100km/h. Turned out the previous owner had locked it up just before I picked it up. No amount of balancing fixed the problem...had to go 4 new tyres.