at high way speeds.

Recent alignment and new tires. Vibration was gone after recent alignment and new tires, but now getting worse again. About 2000 miles since alignment.

Also pulling to the left.

Prior to alignment... both front tires had severe inside tire wear to the point that the steel belts were showing. Afraid that is going to happen again.


Help... Not sure what parts to get...

Upper / Lower control arms...????
Ball Joints???



Also, are there 2 lower control arms on the rear ??

 

AFonda, first, rotate the tires so the ones that are currently on the rear are on the front and the ones that are currently on the front are moved to the rear. Does the shaking still continue. If no, you have a wheel weight that got tossed off and what you are feeling is an imbalanced wheel. If that doesn't help things, it can be ball joints, can be lower/upper bushings on the A-arms, it can be a number of things. How are you with mechanical stuff. If not very good, probably a good time to take the car to a reputable shop and see what they can figure out.

Not to ask a silly question, but have you recently curb checked anything. While unlikely, it is possible you have bent a rim. But, again, that should correct itself when you rotate the tires.

If you want to do some basic checks in an attempt to isolate down where the shaking is coming from, let me know and we'll go from there.

 

Yes.. very mechanical... lots of tools.

I think I do not have a lost weight or curbed wheel. Seems to be the same thing that was happening prior to getting the new tires and alignment and now it is starting up again.

The tires are leaning in at the top as well. front and back.

Here are the most recent alignment specs...

 

just a bump..

 

afonda, if those alignment numbers were taken right after getting the new tires installed, that data is really kinda useless as something has changed and it is hard to say what it is.

I would say to first do a ball joint check yourself. If you have any questions about how to do this, ask. Very simple. After that, check the tire rod ends. During these checks, you will also be able to check the front wheel bearings.

But, start with the tire rotation and go from there.

 

Not always will a bent rim correct itself after receiving weights. A bent rim is bent, and needs to be replaced.

Do the rotation. Typically, a tire store will put the same rims on the same corner of the car (front left, front right, etc), so there is a possibility of the tire shake. If that doesn't cure your wobble, go from there with the stuff the others said.

 

the inside edges of the tires wearing.

It must be the upper/lower arms and/or the ball joints... etc...

I will rotate tires.

 

afonda, if you are having the wobble like you mention, this is causing the tires to be perpetually turning. When you turn, you are loading 1 side of the tire more than the other which will increase the wear on the side of the tire with the load. So, don't just limit your options.

I know when the bushings on the back of my car started to wear out, I could make a long sweeping turn and if I played with the gas, I could feel the rear end shift a little bit as I changed the gas. This may be another thing you can try. In my case it didn't take a lot of gas to make the suspension shift some. This was discovered right after my car had an alignment check too (which I would have thought the techs would have discovered the bad bushings). That is something that you can do on your way home from work or when out shopping.

 

the only way to replace the bushing is to replace the entire control arm which has the bushing pre-installed.

Is this correct?

I also noticed that the front lower control arm is available with a new ball joint preinstalled. Any experience with that?

 

the back tires were fine and showing normal wear.

the front was again showing severe signs of inner edge balding.

Not sure what to do.

I am thinking I need to replace the lower control arms on both sides.


Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

 

How do I check the ball joints? and tie rod ends?

Seeing as how both the front tires are failing in the same place.. (the inner edge) it must be a worn part or parts identicle to both sides.

What about the struts?

 

afonda, to check the front suspension, what you need to do is to lift a front tire off of the ground. With the help of a second person, have them watch the tie rod ends and the center of the wheel (where the hub is) as you grab the tire at the 3 and 9 o'clock. What you are going to do is attempt to turn the wheel from outside the car. So, pull with one arm and push with the other, then the other way. The person helping you is looking for any motion that is occurring on the tie rod ends, the joints on the tie rod itself, and the hub area. If you can see motion, that joint needs to be replaced (spec is like 0.005" of play, if you can see it, you have more than that).

Next, using a pry bar (DO NOT USE YOUR HANDS!!!!!!!!! unless you want to risk loosing them), insert it between the tire and the ground and lift up on the pry bar to apply sideways force to the tire at the bottom. You want to look at the hub and upper/lower ball joints. Again, if you can see motion, they are too worn and need replaced. You should also look at where the A-arms attach to the frame for any motion there. Again, if you can see motion, the part is bad.

Wish you luck in finding the problem.