Steering wheel shakes up and down BAD!

[police 5.0]

I have a 1992 Notch and when I get up to about 60Mph the steering wheel shaked up and down violently. What is wrong? Is it the steering shaft or bushings somewhere. I do have play in the steering but the faster I go the worse the wheel shakes. Ive changed wheels and tires out and that didn't help. HELP PLEASE.
Thanks

 

[old_blue]

there are two bolts that tie everything together where the turn sginal arms bolt to. sometimes they come loose and cause a lot of play. they bolt in left to right if you are looking at the steering wheel and are about 3-4" behind the base of the steering wheel and infront of the gauges.

 

[HISSIN50]

Were the wheels/tires you 'changed out' balanced?

 

[2000xp8]

Sounds to me like tire balancing and alignment.
Even if that does not cure it completely, it's more than likely the reason it gets worse as you go faster.

 

[90mustangGT]

You either have a wheel(s) that is really out of balance, or a tire that is separated/separating. Does it wobble when rolling at a lower speed? Alignment won't cause the wheel to shake, but it will cause the tire to wear unevenly and that will make it shake.

 

[police 5.0]

The tires and rims are brand new so im thinking thats not the problem. The steering wheel doesn't appear to be loose so its shaking from a vibration somewhere in the drive line. The steering wheel just vibrates quickly up and down. Not as if it was loose from bolts or anything, just as it the front end is jacked up or something. Bushings? or ball joints?

 

[twistedwankel]

Hmmmm. I will follow this thread. Mine can get an up and down dance/vibration at 71-72mph depending on the road condition but it goes away at 74-75mph doesn't just keep getting worse!! And it's only on certain road surfaces. Like you I have put a set of wheels/tires off my other car on it and it made no difference. I have yet to access the two bolts holding on the tilt wheel on my 86gt. It does go away if I apply hand pressure on the wheel pointing to the tilt bolts of the steering column?

BUT I had it put on a frame machine to correct a 1/2" deviation in the front wheels prior to an alignment which made it much better a couple months ago. I also replaced all the 6 shocks with a matched set which made the car handle/ride great but that vibration still comes and goes depending on the road surface only.

My change to "known" good wheels/tires proved it wasn't them doing it.

Run an indicator on your wheels to make sure they aren't bent/wobble. Run the same indicator on the tires to make sure they aren't out of round too far(no tires are perfect). That dot on the new tire is supposed to be aligned with the dot on the rim to correct for out of roundness at the factory. No one else cares in the aftermarket.

When I get around to it I'll let you know if the two bolts are loose causing the issue?! It will be awhile as have family visiting and borrowing car and it's not a big deal for my car yet at posted legal speeds. If they bitch I'll know they're speeding

 

[NIKwoaC]

The tires and rims are brand new so im thinking thats not the problem. The steering wheel doesn't appear to be loose so its shaking from a vibration somewhere in the drive line. The steering wheel just vibrates quickly up and down. Not as if it was loose from bolts or anything, just as it the front end is jacked up or something. Bushings? or ball joints?

Just because they are new doesn't mean they are balanced. Do you know if they've been balanced?

A worn rag joint and a tired suspension can also result in a vibrating steering wheel.

 

[twistedwankel]

I finally got around to solving this problem.

So I removed the plastic steering column shroud on my 86GT to review the tilt mechanism and steering shaft tube.

I found nothing wrong with the tilt other than it's kind of wimpy with the cogs but that's the way it came new.

Then I noticed that one of the two large sheet metal screws holding the plastic insulator tight against the steering tube was missing!! This is right behind the hood release and can be reached without even removing all the plastics. I simply put in a new one tightly from below. Opposite to the other one.

Once that was tight the vibration was almost totally gone. Just for good measure I pulled some hard plastic thru the gap of the second heavy steel loop further down and that made it even better.

There is still some very minor vibration depending on which notch I put the tilt into at very high speeds but it's not totally irritating like it used to be.

I consider this problem solved. (It drove the PO nuts