Took my car back to one of the 3 shops I typically deal with to look at my rims. They tell me rims are not bent. Everything is clear, vibration is coming from somewhere else.

they tell me the right side axle has a little play in it, which is normal as it is a moving joint, and that the left side is a little tight.

What does that mean? And what are the implications? Can it be loosened up? Can that cause steering shakes?

 

Mods can you update the title of the thred, replace “right” with “tight”

 

carz, this can be seen 2 ways. First thing, is your car AWD or is it RWD. If you have a RWD car, then the "right axle" is not the cause for the steering wheel shake. If you have an AWD, then yes, that can be a source of the wobble. Some people may refer to the front axle is a CV axle. Granted, you have CV axles in the rear too (because of the independent rear suspension). As for the side to side movement, this can be caused either by the hub bearing being worn (should see movement in the wheel if you lift it off of the ground and then grab it at the 3 and 9 position to "turn" the wheel. Any movement is bad. But, the shop should have checked that.

If the wheels are not out of round or out of balance, then you have a suspension issue. But ,this should be fairly easy to diagnose.

 

Never heard of it. I think they are fishing for a reason.
Let us know if you find the problem.
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I can only offer this :

Vibration through the steering wheel is nearly always wheels/tires.

I have heard of it once being due to a distorted hub, caused by hapless towing.

I have also experienced it being due to a damaged control arm bushing or other worn suspension component.

The problem as I see it is that you have two shops you don't trust. You need to find one that you do.

 

the car is AWD.
I feel 2 things: shake in the steering wheel, as well as a heavy vibration through the car, like in my seat up to my cheeks. my front passanger feels it as well (its not as pronounced in the rear).
could it be wheels/tires? i bought 4 brand new tires, had them roadforce tested....they failed....and got them replaced with 4 newer tires. I imagine the roadforce test would show if there is a bend in the rim. The shop (call them Shop 1)...drove it many times, and told me it doesnt appear that there is anything wrong with the rims.

Took it to another tire shop (Shop 2)....they do rim repair, and they TOO think its not a rim issue. Why would they miss an opportunity to make money?

Took it to a third shop, the shop responsible for doing service for the dealership i bought the car from....they told me CLEARLY its the rims, but they dont do rim repair, they just dont wanna investigate further

so now 2 out of 3 places is telling me its not the rims. and those 2 shops are shops that would have charged money off me....so its not that i dont trust them, but they kind of dont want to spend more time (or feel bad to charge me) to investigate further.

 

Don't you have a spare wheel? Swap it alternatively for each of the two front wheels.

 

i dont have a spare wheel, I have a spare donut. i dont know how i feel about 70+mph on that

 

They are not recommended for anything above 50mph: doing 70+ on one would likely end in tears.

 

Are you using factory lugnuts? If not there could be wiggle in how the wheels are mounted to the hub.

Would be interesting to see if it still vibrates if you put it on a dyno roller.

 

the car has been dropped off at Jag! hopefully they save the day.