86 442 Front Wheel Shake

[oldspwr]

Hi...

I'm new here and could use some help... I have a '79 Cutlass with a 403 Olds an a stock '86 442. I bought the 442 in May of 1994 with 15k miles on it. It now has around 70k on it.

The 442 has always had a front wheel shake on the pass side since day one. It starts around 65 mph or so and never goes away (at least up until 90mph or so...) I guess I always tolerated it but now I have to fix it... It shakes so bad that I put a piece of foam between the pass. side visor because the vanity mirror kept rattling against the plastic headliner (its a T Top car...) And then a few summers ago a belt actually broke in the pass front tire. I thought one of the factory 15x7 rims was bent so I bought another one (a new one from Specialty Wheel) and put a new tire on it. The shake is still there.

Has anyone experienced anything similar to this? The shocks (KYB's) appear to be good, the ball joints and tie rods are tight, etc. The wheel bearings where a little loose so I tightened them up slightly last night with no luck. It does pull to the right so I am going to have it lined up this week. Maybe a rotor out of balance? The factory rotor on the driver side has a weight between two of the fins while there is none on the pass side.

Any help would be appreciated!

Thanks,

Tom

 

[papabearxl]

My first guess would have been the ball joint, then wheel bearing, but you have those covered....good luck and keep us updated....oh, and welcome!

 

[MrLightning]

warped rotor?

 

[Peter]

probably the wheel bearings

 

[Dragonist]

control arm bushing

 

[bill]

My first guess would be bearings, or ball joints, or even the outer tie rod. Are you getting bad tire wear? Does the steering wheel shake as well? C/A bushings can cause this too, as stated above. But often, they have other symptoms to indicate that they are worn out, like a squeak or a knock when driving slowly over a speedbump. If you bounce the car with the hood up and look down at the upper control arm bushings, you would see alot of movement if they were bad. Bad ball joints and tie rods are harder to detect when mounted. Grab the outer tie rod on that side and if you can twist it easily, than its bad. Ball Joints can be tested by raising the tire about an inch off the ground and using a crow bar underneath the tire and forcing upward on the tire... it shouldnt move much, and if it does, the ball joint is bad. I would also have someone drive the car slowly towards you as you look at the tire as it turns...you may have a bad hub/rotor. Good luck!

 

[bill]

....... It does pull to the right so I am going to have it lined up this week.

....good idea!

 

[DoubleV]

These Olds SSIII Rally wheels can be hard to balance so I've heard. They are lugcentric wheels but are always balanced as a hubcentric wheel ( because it's quicker and easier ) hence the usually poor balance job. I too have a vibration ( much less severe ) and I'm thinking this might be my problem.

P.S. The aftermarket wheels are even harder to balance due to there poor construction.

 

[oldspwr]

Thanks for everyone's comments, I appreciate them... I will check out the ball joints tonight...

Here is a quick pic of the car... The factory exhaust just rotted out (right at the seams) so I replaced it with a Hooker cat back set up.

 

[bill]

Nice ride!