Hello,

I have a 1995 Chevy Monte Carlo. Recently, I slid off the road into a ditch during an ice storm. Prior to the ditch I had this problem, although it seems to have gotten worse since than. Heres the situation. The car doesn't really pull but there is a little bit of play in the steering wheel. Nothing abnormal for a car with 170K Miles. When driving on a straightaway from 50MPH+ I have a vibration in the wheel. Even worse than the vibration in the wheel is the rattling/vibrating/shimmy that I have in the front (right?) of the car. I thought I might need a tire balancing, but what is odd about about this vibration is that if hold the wheel to the left just before the car starts to move over into the left lane, the shimmy/vibration goes away almost completely. If I make a left turn, or go around a left turn, the vibration goes away. If I go around a right turn I get a very heavy vibration. And if I let the wheel free and don't hold it, the car drifts slowly right and the vibration continues. What suspension components could this be? What should I inspect? (Tie Rods?)

Dan

I would think CV Joint.

I thought that at first too, but when the noise went away when I turned the wheel it made me think twice. I thought constant velocity joints make a constant noise when they go bad?

DG

Does it change when you drag the brakes? If yes, I'd be more inclinded to think it's a loose wheel or bad CV joint (other than the CV, the brake pad is the only thing connecting the rotating parts to nonrotating parts and will tend to stabilize the wheel)

Turning loads up the wheel and suspension differently, maybe this is taking the slop out of whatever's worn.

A bad ball joint, steering tie rod end, or anything else that locates the knuckle can cause this. I'm not sure about how the struts mount up. But these attachment points could easily be damaged when sliding into a curve. I don't know if a damaged steering box could cause it on a boosted car.

From what I can tell, and its hard to tell, when turning right and braking from 65MPH, there is still a vibration. When turning left there is no vibration.

DG

This could be you]http://home.san.rr.com/khastings/m/mickicar%20001.jpg[/img]

No Central,.... my girlfriend does not drive this car...

DG

Just a little update on this situation. Tires are bald, so I decided to get a new set. Went with Dunlop Qualifiers... Old Skool Tire. The price was right,... $60 a piece. Got a set of four I will have installed friday of this week.

The vibration is getting worse, although I got under the car and did a visual on the suspension and everything looks tip top. Either one of the tires is damaged and/or unbalanced bad (Very Unlikely) or I am starting to think it could be a CV Joint.

Under braking and cruise the vibration is there and heavy. (New Brakes just installed). Turning left or right the vibration dies down. Accelerating, the vibration goes away.

IDK... Well see what happens on Friday i guess,

DG