Mike 944

I noticed this the other day and was quite curious....
When I am driving at high speeds, my steering wheel gets a little shakey...and the car pulls a little. Now, what are ALL the things that can cause this:
Here's my list:
Tire pressure and wear
Wheel bearings
Tie Rod Ends
Suspension
Alignment
Wheel weights

Anything else? (No I don't have an overweight passenger... )
Just curious as to what I should be checking for. I wanna change as much as possible this winter to get the car in mint shape.
Thanks

adrial

I would put tire pressure, wheel balance (weights), and alignment at the top of the list in that order.

The shake is probably gonna be wheel balance, but could be other more serious things. Pulling to one side I'd say alignment..how hard does it pull? do it all the time regardless of the road?

Mike 944

the pull is not that bad....but at high speeds it is more evident.
A bit annoying...

Is it hard to change wheel bearings and tie rod ends?
It's 84 944...

Tabor

A-arm ball joint.

Lemon Yellow 87 n/a

Have you locked up the brakse recently? If so, you may have flatspotted one of the tires. Same thing happened to me and new tires solved the problem. Also check your alignment and weights. I've also heard that you should put your lock-nut opposite of the weights or you get imperfect balance. good luck

Lemon Yellow 87 n/a

Have you locked up the brakse recently? If so, you may have flatspotted one of the tires. Same thing happened to me and new tires solved the problem. Also check your alignment and weights. I've also heard that you should put your lock-nut opposite of the weights or you get imperfect balance. good luck

Dal Heger

Worn out upper strut bearings? These are the ones that attach the top of the strut to the body of the car. They are basically metal bearings that the top of the strut bolts into surrounded and suspended by rubber. The rubber gets old and cracks over time and lets the top of the strut get a little bit loose.

Dal.

ddramoneshaw

mine shakes too starts at about 60mph it's the control arms. New ones on the way

bron964

my steering wheel shimmy virtually disappeared after relocating my wheel locks away from the tire stems.

i got this idea from a previous post...worked like a charm

GT_1

Its like an AA meeting....

My name is Garnett

I drive a 924
...sniff

and i have wheel wobble
mine starts out at about 60 mph too, and after crusing at higher speeds it kinda goes away

Mike 944

Well, since the car is being stored for the winter....I won't be able to test any of these things.
I figure I will check out the wheel locks as suggested, and when summer comes, buy new tires and do an alignment. What would you guys recommend as cheap repairs that I should do during the winter to improve steering?
Oh yeah...one other thing: Sometimes, when I come to a stop, I hear a clack coming from the back of the car...or if I hit a bump (example going up a driveway a certain way), I hear another noise coming from the front left tire....
Should I be looking for anything different? I removed the tire, and everything seems fine. I packed some grease in the wheel bearing since it seemed to be missing some...I dunno what else to check for...therefore I figure I'd start repairing all the things mentioned in the list from the previous posts.
One last thing..what is better:
-Used performance tires
-Or new Cheaper brand, but sport tires (Cooper etc..)
Thanks a lot,
Mike

slevy951

That could be a loose ball joint or maybe a worn/missing sway bar bushing.....

Lizard944

All together now... "Hi Garnett"
Seriously though, try relocating your lock lugs to a position opposite from your valve stem. I did this and it totally cured my shimmy, which was pretty severe. If you think this little extra weight can't make a big difference, next time you're on the highway doing 65mph, take a quick glance at the lugs/wheels of a car next to you. When you see how fast those pups are turning, it will make more sense!! Apparently, our 944 series are sensitive to even minor imbalance problems, and most tire shops don't take into consideration the weight of the lock nuts when balancing the tires. Some people have the lighter aftermarket lock lugs, so doing this may not be helpful. If you're not sure, try weighing them on a postage scale,(vs. a regular lug) that reads in .01 of an ounce.

Sean

I have experienced the same in my Boxster S. The car vibrates at speeds above 85 MPH.

My local tire guy says that the cause is a bent rim. I have 18" Sport Design wheels running low profile Kumho Ecsta 712's. The upshot is that I will have to have the wheel removed and fixed (pain in the *** and wallet).

I'm told that with larger wheels running low profile tires, this happens fairly often. I guess that one really nasty pothole is all it takes.

Cobbs

Mike,
I have an 84 also and have been chasing this down for some time. Before sinking money into parts. Check the easy stuff first like tie rod ends and bearings. You can get a good idea if these have gone bad by putting the front on jack stands and then pulling side to side and top to bottem on the wheels. There should be no play. The Lizard is right on about the lug-nuts and propper balance of everything. I know he's been working on this a while and that worked for him. I am scrounging to buy some lug nuts to replace the locks and then another wheel balance. Good luck...