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Very shaky driving

175 Views 6 Replies 5 Participants Last post by  Ryououki
Hi guys, got a question for ya.

When driving at slow speeds (like 5-10MPH) I can feel the steering wheel jerk to the right about 1/4th an inch at about once for every rotation of the tires is my guess.

There is a rim on the driver's side rear that was run over a pothole and repaired. It doesn't leak air or anything.

When driving between 65-75 MPH, the car and steering wheel get really shaky. Right at 70MPH it is the worst.

When driving below 60MPH or faster than 80MPH there is very little shaking to none, but the steering wheel still shakes a bit.

It doesn't matter if the clutch is engaged or not and RPMs or which gear I'm in have no change on this either.

Also, when making turns left or right at speeds above 65MPH, I notice that sometimes it feels like the steering jerks sometimes and kinda releases then regrabs on the turning.

Do you all have any ideas what the problem is? I don't wanna goto Mitsubishi and have them try and say I gotta get like $1000 worth of stuff replaced if it's something simple I can do myself.

Thanks all!
1 - 7 of 7 Posts
get a 4 wheel alignment.

maybe your tires r flatspotted ?

has the car ever been in an accident ?
Not sure but did you check all the lugs to make sure their tight? Anything else is beyond me.
how bad was the rim knocked up when you hit the pothole?

they fixed the dent... but did you check to see if that pothole BENT the wheel?

that wheel may be wobbling now
Originally posted by countach
maybe your tires r flatspotted ?
I don't see any spots like that on any of the tires, the tire wear seems pretty even all the way around.

has the car ever been in an accident ?
Nope. Not as far as I know. There is no report of an accident and no visual evidence of it ever being in an accident. I've only had the car for about a month now.


Originally posted by truwarrior22
Not sure but did you check all the lugs to make sure their tight?
I check all the lugs I could, each wheel has a theft-prevention lug (which I don't have a key for). All the ones I could check are fine.


Originally posted by pacman3000gt
how bad was the rim knocked up when you hit the pothole? they fixed the dent... but did you check to see if that pothole BENT the wheel? that wheel may be wobbling now
The original owner hit the pothole and had it repaired a long time ago he said. You can still see that the lip of the rim is slightly bent outwards. I don't know if the wheel was bent. I will have to get someone to drive along side of me to check it out. Also, even though the VR-4 is AWD, do you think that the rear wheel could make that much of a problem in the steering shake? It seems to look fine from a visual inspection though.

Thanks guys, any and all ideas are greatly appreciatted!
I also have a similar problem. At high speeds, around 70mph, the steering wheel shakes a lot. I have had my car looked at by many people and everybody came to the same conlcusion. My front lower control arm ball joints are going out. I have a base gt so i'm not sure if that could be the problem on yours. One way to check is get the front end up in the air. Then while someone is holding the steering wheel tight try and move the front wheels left, right, up and down. If there is a lot a play then that is the problem. Mitsu wants 1200 to fix mine because they have to replace the whole lower control arm on both sides.

Disclaimer: I don't know jack about vr4's. If somebody could back me up or prove me wrong please do.

My .02
gecko1 said:
I also have a similar problem. At high speeds, around 70mph, the steering wheel shakes a lot. I have had my car looked at by many people and everybody came to the same conlcusion. My front lower control arm ball joints are going out. I have a base gt so i'm not sure if that could be the problem on yours. One way to check is get the front end up in the air. Then while someone is holding the steering wheel tight try and move the front wheels left, right, up and down. If there is a lot a play then that is the problem. Mitsu wants 1200 to fix mine because they have to replace the whole lower control arm on both sides.
Disclaimer: I don't know jack about vr4's. If somebody could back me up or prove me wrong please do.
My .02
Humm... anyone got any ideas if this could also be my problem as well or if the VR-4s have a different type setup? I really don't want to have to spend $1200. :(

Thanks for the info man!
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