I have a 03 ls sport with about 58k miles. While on the highway going about 70mph theres a pretty good vibration in the front end. I have new tires and have had them rebalanced since this started. It didn't really start until i had the tires installed so I thought it may be that they weren't properly balanced, but apparently that's not the case. The car doesn't pull or anything, and only does it at highway speeds. It originally would only happen occasionally, but now it does its everytime im on the highway. My guess from reading posts with people who have similar problems is that it may be a cv joint. How do i tell for sure what it is? How difficult is the cv joint to install if that is the case? any information is appreciated
if its a CV joing when you turn at low speeds you should hear a clicking noise. Have you had any curb hits on you rims, they may be out of round, or worse case is that the belts on the tires may have shifted although this usually causes problems more akin to alignment. Where did you have the wheels balanced and were they high speed balanced? most shops high speed balance by default but it never hurts to check.
-Chris
I had the tires installed and balanced at walmart. I've had the tires approx 5k miles & they re-balanced and rotated them at the last oil change. I'm not noticing and noises what-so-ever & don't recall ever hitting a curb or any bad pot-holes or anything of the sort. I regularly make 300+ mile trips & my main concern is safety, i don't want to break down on the highway in the middle of nowhere. I've avoided driving the cavalier much lately & im trying to let the weather warm up some before i fix it - just not sure where to start
a little off topic, but another mike wright on the org. weird.
Probably a stupid question... but are all of your lug nuts tight?
" To study and not think is a waste. To think and not study is dangerous. "
Search out your problem carefully. Tire balance is not the only issue that can cause a tire to vibrate, especially at highway speeds. It may cost you a few bucks, but I'd suggest having your tires balanced using a road force balancer. This machine will pick out tire irregularities that could cause vibrations. It will also shows the ideal mounting index for the tire and identifies a tire that is faulty. I am a GM tech and I have seen many brand new tires that have internal defects that cause vibration, sound like this may be your problem. Hope this helps ya!
i would say the car might be out of allighnment thats my guess so u coudl also check o nyour cars alighnment.
wal-mart did it so all the lug nuts might not be tight or they just messed up on something wal-mart has done that everytime ive gone there for tires so i dont go there no more.
Alignments will not cause vibration, unless it is visually obvious(tires pointed like | \ ) or there are loose suspension components causing the misalignment.
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it was just an idea to look at ive had a car that was out of alignment and when u got around 60-70 it would shake ya to death
Before I never really heard a clicking when turning at a slow speed, but lately I hear it pretty much every time i drive the car. I checked the lug nuts and everything, I'm pretty sure it's the CV Joint. How difficult is it to change? Is the car still safe to drive until I can get it changed? I read somewhere that you are better off just changing the entire axle shaft, is this true? I plan on trying to get it fixed this weekend, but I'm supposed to make a 300+ mile trip tommorrow & don't want to risk anything happening if it's going to be dangerous to drive.
usually an axle making a vibration will only be while hitting the gas, if you let off the throttle, it will normally go away. this is if it is bent, and a bent axle will not make a clicking noise, clicking noise comes from when you blow all your grease out, and nothing is lubricating the bearing inside. a scale of 1-10, 10 being your an idiot to drive, i would give it a 6, 7 if its clicking loudly, 9 if it is clicking when you are driving straight. just change the whole axle, i do those in about a half hour. just take off the axle nut, undo you ball joint and swing the strut assembly out, push the axle through, then pop out of the tranny, then reverse and your done. i wouldnt recomend driving like that, but i highly doubt anything horible will happen.
if you bought your tires and balanced them at walmart, my guess is thats the problem, they have some very poor quality tires there, so I would agree with framescraper, just good luck finding somewhere in the area that has a force balancer (try a tech school, if they have one they will probably do it for free!)
thanks for the info!
anyone have any idea of the part numbers? I was checking for a price at autozone.com & couldnt seem to find them anywhere
