Hello, I have a sort of strange problem. Whenever I go about 67-68 miles an hour on the highway, I get this weird (and violent) shimmy in the front end. This shimmy doesn't happen at any other speed up to 90 miles an hour (the highest I've dared to test with this problem).

I've recently gotten a front end alignment and a set of new tires, all balanced. I've had a mechanic friend look at it and everything is locked in tight underneath, nothing seems to be out of place by eye or by feel. We don't even know where to start looking for the problem, honestly.

Has anyone else had this problem? Where should I start looking?

 

I had a case of acute vibration on my rover too, 50-52mph. Balancing the tires fixed my problem, you might want to have yours re-balanced just to make sure. Depending on how recent you had them balanced you might get them to re-check for free.

 

Yes re-balance your tires, your steering stabilizer may be trashed, your suspension could be bad, maybe a bad wheel bearing, or maybe your driveshaft is going or not balanced.

 

The most common reason for D1 front end shake is worn ball swivel bearings, (assuming all the stupid stuff is checked).

put the front axle on jack stands and have someone of strength grab top & bottom of wheels, shake hard to check for ANY play.

The ball swivels require about 14# preload - obviously no play.

The good news is you can adjust by moving shims (bottom only)

Do a search on setting ball swivel preload.

The steering stabilizer is to keep the steering wheel from beating you to death offroad, not to control road manners

luck, greg

 

Mine did the same thing. First thing is to remove the mass flow sensor, in the air intake line. clean the sensor with an aerosol spray, non chlorinated i think. try brake part cleaner maybe. the other thing is a bad fuel pump. i replaced mine myself for 100 bucks from oreilly's and it solved the problem. It's due either to a clogged filter which is ten bucks or the pump, which is 100. still not a bad deal when compared to the oem price. hope it helps.

 

Wut??? You cured your front end shimmy with a can of aerosol spray and a fuel pump change?

 

if those dont fix the problem, check the bushings on the panhard rod and the ball joints on the drag link and tie rod.

 

Start with checking all your suspension and steering components.
Bushing can cause it, as can worn tie-rod ends, though the tie-rods should have been checked by the person doing the alignment.
Worn swivel pins will also usually manifest themselves when you hit a bump and the steering wheel jerks back and forth, usually continuing until you hit the brakes.
If everything else checks out ok, then just get a swivel pin rebuild kit and do it right. Yes, in a pinch you can remove shims to tighten it up, but it won't be long before you have to do it again. Rebuild is the way to go.

 

If you are going to post a reply, make it sure it has something to do with the thread. A MAF won't cause a front end shake.

 

DI's can do 90?