STD Maintenance General 55mph violent shake from front w116

55mph violent shake from front w116

55mph violent shake from front w116

 
  • 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average
 
Freakshow
K26-2

28
02-11-2018, 10:12 AM #1
Got a little head scratcher here ladies and germs. My 116 recently started shaking at 55mph on certain types of road crown. If the road is crowned right, I get the shake and it's bad. Violent, loud af, hammer blows. Steering wheel rapidly shakes in my hand by 5-10 degrees, whole front end of the car gets destabilized. Feels like a shopping cart with a wobbling front caster wheel. It's unnerving for me and my girlfriend literally thinks we're gonna die(overreaction for sure, but speaks to the intensity of the vibration.) if the road is crowned left, no shake. 50mph, drives like butter. 60mph, drives great too, but I can barely feel a vibe through the wheel, but not so bad that passengers can feel it. If I get in the brakes while its shaking, it amplifies the problem by 2-300% until I get below 45-50mph. Braking is smooth under all other conditions (no warped rotors) 


Issue started a couple weeks back. I jacked the car up and found massive play in my steering system. So I ordered a center link, two tie rods and the pitman/idler arm rebuild. Got those finally installed last night. Eyeballed the toe setting at like midnight, took it for a spin and much to my dismay, the issue is still there, though improved by 65% probably.  The steering does feel effing great now though. All my on center slop is gone and I can't feel my toe changing under cornering load anymore. 

So what's the next likely culprit? My gut is telling me lower control arm bushings(chassis has 290k, no idea if they've ever been replaced) but the rebuild kit is like $70 per side from autohaus. I don't mind spending money if it'll resolve the issue, but I don't want to illogically throw money at a problem without a proper diagnosis. 


I'm quite positive my wheels are correctly balanced. Ran them for a long time without any issues, but I'm going to swap the front right and rear right today, just to positively eliminate it as a possibility. Also going to reinspect all the bushings and front suspension components today. I'll report back with anything I find. 


Could an upper ball joint cause the symptoms I'm experiencing? Really don't know what it could be besides lca bushings. 

If anyone has helpful experience or insight, I'd love to hear about it.
This post was last modified: 02-11-2018, 11:27 AM by Freakshow.
Freakshow
02-11-2018, 10:12 AM #1

Got a little head scratcher here ladies and germs. My 116 recently started shaking at 55mph on certain types of road crown. If the road is crowned right, I get the shake and it's bad. Violent, loud af, hammer blows. Steering wheel rapidly shakes in my hand by 5-10 degrees, whole front end of the car gets destabilized. Feels like a shopping cart with a wobbling front caster wheel. It's unnerving for me and my girlfriend literally thinks we're gonna die(overreaction for sure, but speaks to the intensity of the vibration.) if the road is crowned left, no shake. 50mph, drives like butter. 60mph, drives great too, but I can barely feel a vibe through the wheel, but not so bad that passengers can feel it. If I get in the brakes while its shaking, it amplifies the problem by 2-300% until I get below 45-50mph. Braking is smooth under all other conditions (no warped rotors) 


Issue started a couple weeks back. I jacked the car up and found massive play in my steering system. So I ordered a center link, two tie rods and the pitman/idler arm rebuild. Got those finally installed last night. Eyeballed the toe setting at like midnight, took it for a spin and much to my dismay, the issue is still there, though improved by 65% probably.  The steering does feel effing great now though. All my on center slop is gone and I can't feel my toe changing under cornering load anymore. 

So what's the next likely culprit? My gut is telling me lower control arm bushings(chassis has 290k, no idea if they've ever been replaced) but the rebuild kit is like $70 per side from autohaus. I don't mind spending money if it'll resolve the issue, but I don't want to illogically throw money at a problem without a proper diagnosis. 


I'm quite positive my wheels are correctly balanced. Ran them for a long time without any issues, but I'm going to swap the front right and rear right today, just to positively eliminate it as a possibility. Also going to reinspect all the bushings and front suspension components today. I'll report back with anything I find. 


Could an upper ball joint cause the symptoms I'm experiencing? Really don't know what it could be besides lca bushings. 

If anyone has helpful experience or insight, I'd love to hear about it.

 
  • 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average

Messages In This Thread
55mph violent shake from front w116 - by Freakshow - 02-11-2018, 10:12 AM
RE: 55mph violent shake from front w116 - by NZScott - 02-11-2018, 05:05 PM
RE: 55mph violent shake from front w116 - by Freakshow - 02-11-2018, 07:30 PM
RE: 55mph violent shake from front w116 - by Freakshow - 03-11-2018, 09:42 AM
Users browsing this thread:
 2 Guest(s)
Users browsing this thread:
 2 Guest(s)