thatguy

iTrader: (5)

I was driving the other day and the car makes slight vibration when driving btw 40-70 mph and it doesn't matter whether I'm going straight or slightly turning left or right. It appears to be more concentrated in the front end of the car but the car just had new struts, new tires and 4WD alignment but the issue is still there.

I had a mechanic road-test the vehicle and he said it sounds like its from the driveshaft and said the wheel bearings are fine but had no clue as what was causing the vibration/noise.

Does anybody have any idea?

gomcar25

need more details..... which side of the front end? right or left? could just be as stupid as needing to have your wheels balanced.... i have a vibration in my front end two, from the exhaust needing to be adjusted so its vibrating around its only at higher speed.

Smike

iTrader: (8)

What kind of vibration? Steering wheel nibble (wheel moves left/right). Body, floor, or seat shake? Steering wheel shake?

barneyb

And, what year of car?

thatguy

iTrader: (5)

Ok guys its a 2006 evo ix with 66k miles and its a slight vibration that resonates throughout the entire cabin but it concentrated throughout the front end. Also, when I partially brake from 40mph I notice a slight vibration in the steering wheel but it immediately goes away if additional braking force is applied.

turbohaulic

Warped rotors

turbohaulic

or balance your wheels. I would replace/perform those two things first.

Smike

iTrader: (8)

Whole cabin shake is more likely a radial 1st harmonic driven vibration. The wheel shake sounds like pad material build up on the rotors.

Harmonics - hit a resonance frequency and you can shake anything (car is not excluded from that).

Turn rotors first to correct pad material deposit (misnomer is "warping"...that's the feel they have, not what is going on).

ALSO -- check tie-rod ends. A bad outer tie rod will do the same.

Check tire/wheel assemblies for road force and static imbalance. I balance for static values at 0.15oz or under when working on sensitive vehicles. Make sure they turn "Smart Balance" OFF if on a new Hunter machine. That will leave up to 0.50 oz static imbalance (most cars are not sensitive to that). Don't worry about dynamic numbers. Couple (180* imbalance though the drive axis) is not nearly as important as static. Talking has to be 5x greater than static to cause a ride issue. Ex. 1oz static would have to have 5oz 180* apart couple...and the ride will be a shimmy at low speeds. Not a higher speed issue.

For road force, only Hunter has something close to what plants screen too. As an assembly, shoot for under 15 lbs Hunter Road Force. You may have to spin the tires on the wheels 180* (+90*) if needed. Its called matching or indexing.

Most shops do that poorly or incorrectly. They measure the lip on the in/out sides of the wheel. Those are just to hold weights. Not to a tolerance. To do that method correctly you have to measure the rim at the bead seating area (inside the wheel). 99% of the time I see this method done wrong.

The 180/90* method is called vector matching. For all intents; its black magic. Very very very few know how to do it. Which is sad. Super easy. Very effective.

thatguy

iTrader: (5)

Smike thanks for the feedback; I will do as advised and get back to evom.

jayfi21

I had a similar issue and after three shops an $140 it turned out the one of my wheels were bent....

thatguy

iTrader: (5)

I doubt it since I just put on new rims and tires on the car not to long ago but I will add that to the potential causes of the problem.

Smike

iTrader: (8)

What kind of wheels? What center bore? Are they direct fit or require hub rings?

thatguy

iTrader: (5)

OEM evo x rims

Smike

iTrader: (8)

Then see the wheel to tire matching above.

Check the "gg" grove that runs just above the wheel line. If there is 1-2mm deviation then the bead may not be fully seated (messes up force by a large amount).