Steering wheel shakes over 65 mph

B

Bted

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Mazda Protege5
I've got a rotational wobble when going over 65 mpg. Can't figure out what's going on.

Here's what we've done so far:
-Balanced and rotated tires
-Replaced driver and passenger side axles
-Replaced a worn tie rod
-Alignment
-Put stock wheels back on to make sure the aftermarket ones I bought weren't defective

So far nothing has worked. I'm about to just be done with it. Please help!
 
I've been having a hard time finding a shop that can balance a tire worth a darn. My local Discount Tire has been doing a decent job though. My point being that most of the time a steering wheel vibration is solved by properly balancing the tires.

The other cause could be warped rotors, especially if the vibration gets worse or changes when you press the brakes.
 
323 said:
that or a seized front caliper? this happened to me thankfully not too far from home.
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I'm not having any other symptoms of brake problems, but who know. We did check the calipers, all good there.
 
MrGiggles said:
I've been having a hard time finding a shop that can balance a tire worth a darn. My local IDiscount Tire has been doing a decent job though. My point being that most of the time a steering wheel vibration is solved by properly balancing the tires.

The other cause could be warped rotors, especially if the vibration gets worse or changes when you press the brakes.
Click to expand...

If it was the balance, I feel like it would have gone away (or lessened or changed) when putting the old wheels back on, but it didn't. I mean the machine we used was more "technologically advanced" than your standard machine I guess, so in theory it should be accurate but I guess we don't know for sure.
 
Could it be motor mounts? Just remembered that we replaced a couple a while back but didn't replace the others since it didn't need them at the time. I've got em sitting in a box, ready to go in if so.
 
This is weird cause I would normally just say get new tires cause you would think there would be a bulge in the tire causing it to wobble. But you said you swapped wheels so different tires? Idk for sure.

Did the alignment shop actually align your car? Cause at my shop if we align a car and it had an issue we had to give them a free alignment cause the first one was pointless.
 
If they are aftermarket rims then maybe you need some hub centric nylon rings? Maybe brakes, engine mounts, control arm bushes or wheel bearings?


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He put the stockies back on or I'd think it was either a misbalanced tire, some mud or whatever in the wheel behind the brakes or even a slight bend/flat spot in the wheel. I had these same symptoms with my RX-7 and went around and around trying to find the problem. It ended up being a flat spot on one of my CCW wheels.
 
Auto or stick shift? A bad torque converter in an AT can have similar symptoms to driving over uneven terrain or unbalanced tires- a short surging causing the vehicle to "bounce".

You could also check the other tie rods, ball joints, shocks even.
 
Make sure every bolt/nut in the suspension is tight. Decades ago we had some work done on the front end of a car and something loosened up on a long trip shortly after that, so that the steering went nuts over 55mph. It was fine below that though. So we drove home slowly, the mechanic tightened up whatever he had not tightened properly before, and all was fine. Sorry, I do not know exactly which bolt that was.

It is possible that what you are seeing is some sort of feedback loop involving the motor at a particular RPM and maybe a bad motor mount and the suspension. The only way I can think of to rule that out is to shift into neutral at speed. That would normally be safe but your car is doing something a little odd, so take some precautions. Like be sure nobody is anywhere near you on the highway. Anyway, the suggested test is drive more than fast enough for the wobble to occur, then take your foot off the gas, then shift into neutral. If it is still wobbling then the motor/transmission isn't the issue. The motor will still be turning, but under no circumstances should you turn that off while the car is in motion.
 
It's an auto. Still shakes when in neutral, so not motor/trans. Replaced lower control arms and still shaking. At this point we've really put more money in it than it's worth. I am so done. I guess checking for loose bolts is an option. Shocks seem tight, so I don't think that's the problem either.
 
Bted said:
It's an auto. Still shakes when in neutral, so not motor/trans. Replaced lower control arms and still shaking. At this point we've really put more money in it than it's worth. I am so done. I guess checking for loose bolts is an option. Shocks seem tight, so I don't think that's the problem either.
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Is there a dynamometer shop near you? Perhaps if you can run the car on that and the shaking occurs something will be visible? If the shaking does not occur that would be informative too, it would suggest that the problem is actually in the rear of the car. You will probably need a camera, or at least a mirror, on a stick for looking around. It wouldn't be safe to put your body anywhere near the front end with the wheels turning at that speed.

If that isn't possible, then press two friends into service. Have one friend drive a car alongside yours while the shaking is going on, and the other friend look really carefully at each wheel and the overall disposition of the car. They might spot a wheel that is shaking or note one end wagging side to side or up and down.
 
Have you tried disabling the power steering? Some cars that can be done by pulling a belt off. If the PS was going in and out just a little it might be more noticeable at speed. The only car we had with a PS failure it would go all the way on or off, which made it a real handful to drive if that happened on a turn.
 
We replaced the front rotors. Nothing. Think the driver side caliper is sticking. That may have an effect on the shaking. However, we just realized that the axles that we replaced are wobbling laterally.

Here's a shot in the dark, but could my axles be the wrong model? I found a few threads suggesting that there was a special "sport" package on some P5s that really isn't advertised much (why?!?!). In my owner's manual, it states I have the "AT Sport" transmission (has the manual shifts on the column). If this is the case, my aftermarket axles may be too small. I read that the normal model width is 22mm while the "sport" model width is 24mm. The axles might be popping out of the trans since they're too small.
 
Bted said:
However, we just realized that the axles that we replaced are wobbling laterally.
Click to expand...

How do you know this?

Google "Movement at Driver's Side CV Axle to Transmission", there is a thread about Mazda 3's which may be relevant. Maybe you forgot to put the clips back on, or they subsequently popped off?
 
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