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Steering Wheel Shimmy

Posted: Tue Sep 12, 2017 7:52 am
by denverpathy
I searched through the forum, but I haven't found anything quite like I'm experiencing. I recently bought an '04 pathy with 141,000 miles on it. The dealer replaced the steering rack boot, front brakes, and all 4 tires, as well as doing an alignment.

I noticed that I get a light shimmy in the steering wheel from about 58mph to 65mph. Once I get above 65 or so, it goes away. The wheel semi-rapidly rocks back and forth, but not more than a quarter inch or so. I'm not overly concerned about this since it only happens in a narrow speed window. I'm just more curious.

Has anyone seen anything like this before?

Posted: Tue Sep 12, 2017 4:11 pm
by colpic101
Well, a suggestion would be to jack up a front tire and try moving the wheel with your hands (if you can manage) or a sledge/mallet.

If the wheel moves side to side, could be a control arm.
If the wheel has movement from top to bottom the bearing is gone.

Someone correct me if I am wrong on this one, nonetheless it will give you an idea of what is happening when you cant see the wheel.

One time I had a bearing go on a car and it felt like the wheel hub was going to fall off the car. Extreme case but the concept is similar

Posted: Tue Sep 12, 2017 4:56 pm
by smj999smj
If the wheel moves side to side, it is usually a tie rod. Shimmy can also be caused by out-of-balance wheels and/or a bad tire.