Shaking Steering Wheel at High Speeds

andrew2

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2003 Mazda Protege5
When I'm driving at around 110-120kph, the steering wheel shakes. Is this a problem with the alignment?

Speaking of alignment, the car pulls to the right when I'm not holding the steering wheel. Should I go and get my wheels aligned?
 
When I'm driving at around 110-120kph, the steering wheel shakes. Is this a problem with the alignment?

Speaking of alignment, the car pulls to the right when I'm not holding the steering wheel. Should I go and get my wheels aligned?

I had that after one of my wheel weights shot off. Thought it was a rock at the time. Had no impact until I got up past 65 mph and then the steering wheel vibrated quite a bit.
 
alignment wouldn't cause shaking. It would cause quirky handling (following the road, tracking one direction, really bad steering feel, etc).
Vibrations are caused 99% of the time by a front wheel being out of balance. My bet is you slung a wheel weight. Get them balanced and report back to the class :)
 
I fail to see how. It may cause the tires to follow the road, which in turn moves the steering wheel, but it wouldn't cause anything I'd describe as 'shaking' or vibration that comes from an off balance (or even out of round) wheel.
 
If your tires are starting to fall apart, as in the plys in the sidewalls are seperating, it can cause this as well. Yes, it happened to me.
 
well yeah, there's that too... I had a tire blow out on a trailer while we were towing the race car. Made the whole truck shake! ;)
 
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I fail to see how. It may cause the tires to follow the road, which in turn moves the steering wheel, but it wouldn't cause anything I'd describe as 'shaking' or vibration that comes from an off balance (or even out of round) wheel.

Misalignments can be the result of a bad tie-rod end. A tie-rod will be instable in a bad tie-rod end. This instability can cause the spindle to move freely to an extent, creating wheel whobble. You will feel this through the steering wheel because the tie-rod is connected through the tie-rod end to the steering rack.
 
You basically argued against yourself. The tie rod end is the problem in that scenario, not the alignment.
 
You basically argued against yourself. The tie rod end is the problem in that scenario, not the alignment.

Since when do tie-rods and tie-rod ends have nothing to do with the alignment? They have everything to do with it.
 
Jesus christ dude, of course they do. They affect the alignment. But changing the alignment wouldn't fix the problem, hence the alignment wasn't the problem. Fixing the tie rods would fix it, correct? Are you done now?
 
is there any sign of snow that melted on the inside of the wheel? because if so it can re-ice there and the ice stay stucked on the inside of the wheel..causing balance problems...frequent in winter and spring
 
Interesting, I hadn't thought of that but it'll basically do the same thing as losing a weight: unbalance the wheel. Good thought :)


You crazy people with your crazy 'winter' and your crazy 'ice' :p
 
Take it down a few notches Andrew. You can't re-align a car that won't hold one without replacing a bad tie-rod end can you?

Hence, why I said go get it re-aligned.
 
go for full alignment and wheel balance
check your inner sidewalls for cracks just to make sure you don't need new tires.
 
Here is the best advise I could give you: Go to a place like Sears and get your car looked at. The cause of the problem could be all kinds of things, including a bent rim! The longer you put this off, the more your tires are going to be messed up and wore funny. If it needs an alignment they will tell show you. If not, they do not charge you for the alignment.
 
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