help!!steering wheel shaking and knocking sound at front passenger side..

[alvins]

my em1 has a very complicated problem.. the steering wheel shake when the road is uneven like parramatta rd. and there is a knocking sound on the passenger side when it start to shake. I went to 2 reputable mechanical shop and have a check and they both they cant find any fault from the car.. So I decided to went to tire shop for the balance of the wheels and they found out that the rim was buckled.. they balanced it and still shaking.. After going to 2 mechanical shop and 4 tire shop, i decided to buy a new wheels because the shop are all blaming it to the old wheels. Then after the new wheels and tires installed the wheel still started to shake at 60kph.

I am very dissapointed of the result.. can anyone give me an advice who experienced same sort of issues to their car and how to fix it.. Thanks!!!

[senna]

Is the knocking still there after changing the wheels? Does the wobble go away after 60kph?

Any freeplay in the steering wheel?

[alvins]

yes still there and theres no freeplay in the steering...it happen oftentimes while you driving but when it shakes, it pulls to the left and then it will knock which is really annoyed me.after 60kph still there, when you stop will be gone and back afterwards.. Even the mechanic cant find anything wrong with the car.

[senna]

Get a suspension specialist to check your wheel bearings, this is very common on falcons, the wheel bearing heats up and allows movement creating a knock and steering wobble. Once you stop, the bearing is re-seated and then stops until it heats up again.

Check your tie rod ends and rack ends plus ball joints - not all mechanics are equal!

Also check your lower control arm bushes too, if these are badly worn they can create issues - this would be fairly unlikely though.

[dorikin]

Agreed, wheel bearings is what I would check first.

[hondapop]

When you say the rim was buckled, I assume that this was the passenger front wheel ? This must have taken a very heavy blow at some time to do this to a rim (probably from striking a kerb square on) If no movement or looseness can be found in any of the joints/bushes/bearings then I would suggest a wheel alignment check and a check of the lower control arm (LCA) to see if it is bent.

Because the inner end pivot of this arm can be moved to adjust the caster angle it is also highly likely the adjustment has been knocked out of line causing an increase in the caster angle (google caster angle for lots of info if you're not sure what I'm talking about).

Your symptoms (wheel shake from passing over rough roads) is a classic result of excessive caster.

[senna]

Wouldn't caster be reduced after taking a hit while driving forward?

[hondapop]

Yeah, you're right. Wasn't thinking. Too much xmas cheer. Something bent that rim though.

[alvins]

Thanks guys for all the advice. I really appreciate it... Happy xmas!!!

[vzleo]

Make sure your new wheels are also balanced, if they are out this could also cause your steering wheel to shake.
I also agree with the others in getting your wheel bearings checked and a wheel alignment to stop the car from pulling.

[alvins]

Thanks i did it all..ended up buying a new set of tires and wheels my guess is the inner cv joint i dunno if it really would cause such a problem that im experiencing right now..unfortunately all the shops are close due to xmas season thats why i cant find someone to fix it..

[buzz]

check the drive shafts too. i had a bad wobble on my odyssey and it would be worse going 60-80km/h. Got it fixed under warranty and now all is good. Hope you get it worked out.

Merry Xmas