PitchBlackBlzr
11-04-04, 12:26 AM
Got a shake,shimmy,or waddle well let me tell ya what you need to know about what just might be causing this. Start off with waddle's, you got yourself a bad tire. you can noticably feel this when going idle to low speeds, your truck will actually have a side to side movement like your back end is shifting. Shimmy's and shakes can be a touchier subject but I can tell ya how to check each one off your list and narrow it down.
First off, check your cold tire psi,( tires that have not been driven on in the last 3 hours or so) and make sure they are even. Check the treads, look for uneven wearing allong the sidewall or for any bulges as this may indicated a blown or shifted belt, look for cupping in the tread, this will tell you that your shocks are bad and need to be replaced. Next, put your front end up on jacks so you can rotate the tires around to check them all the way around by spinning, grab the tire at the 12 and 6 o'clock positions and push in and out if you get movement this means your idler arm and ball joints are in need or replacment or just a simple filling and lubing of grease.
Now this next part is a little long winded but it will be your best bet to trouble shooting those annoying vibrations.
Put the rear end up off the ground but not too high, just enough to clear the ground, get in and start the truck, go to about the speed you feel the vibrations at and stop if you feel it,take those tires off and do it again, rev to the same speed as you went with the tires, if no vib, that means you got bad tires, if you still have it, heres where it gets tricky, take the whole brake off,calliper and all, go to about 5 or 10 mph, not much more than that but DO NOT hit your brakes to slow it down as you will blow the springs out and cause yourself a really big mess,if you still feel it, take the rotors and drums off, do it again, DO NOT HIT THE BRAKES to slow it down, if the vibration is gone you have warped rotors or rotor bearings that are shot, if you still have it well it comes down to your axle or your driveshaft/u-joints.
If for some reason you feel a pulsing in your brakes or only feel the vibration when you brake while driving this is a good sign of bad breaks or a rotor problem,although it is rare but your ABS may be on the fritz, in this case go see your mechanic. Hope this helps.
First off, check your cold tire psi,( tires that have not been driven on in the last 3 hours or so) and make sure they are even. Check the treads, look for uneven wearing allong the sidewall or for any bulges as this may indicated a blown or shifted belt, look for cupping in the tread, this will tell you that your shocks are bad and need to be replaced. Next, put your front end up on jacks so you can rotate the tires around to check them all the way around by spinning, grab the tire at the 12 and 6 o'clock positions and push in and out if you get movement this means your idler arm and ball joints are in need or replacment or just a simple filling and lubing of grease.
Now this next part is a little long winded but it will be your best bet to trouble shooting those annoying vibrations.
Put the rear end up off the ground but not too high, just enough to clear the ground, get in and start the truck, go to about the speed you feel the vibrations at and stop if you feel it,take those tires off and do it again, rev to the same speed as you went with the tires, if no vib, that means you got bad tires, if you still have it, heres where it gets tricky, take the whole brake off,calliper and all, go to about 5 or 10 mph, not much more than that but DO NOT hit your brakes to slow it down as you will blow the springs out and cause yourself a really big mess,if you still feel it, take the rotors and drums off, do it again, DO NOT HIT THE BRAKES to slow it down, if the vibration is gone you have warped rotors or rotor bearings that are shot, if you still have it well it comes down to your axle or your driveshaft/u-joints.
If for some reason you feel a pulsing in your brakes or only feel the vibration when you brake while driving this is a good sign of bad breaks or a rotor problem,although it is rare but your ABS may be on the fritz, in this case go see your mechanic. Hope this helps.