ezobens Posted November 20, 2005 Report Share Posted November 20, 2005 I am having a strange problem on my 1994 Eldorado. The car has 140K miles on it and has the original struts all around. Before everyone blasts me for not replacing them by now, please hear me out first. I bought the car several years ago with approx 125K on it. This car is my wife's winter 'beater' and is only driven locally and never on extended highway trips. I have Bridgestone 'Blizzak' snow tire on the front for snow driving- These tires are only 2 years old. The problem I am having is that anytime I approach 60mph, the left front tire visibly bounces up and down to the point where I think the wheels are gonna fall off the car. I followed my wife driving the car to confirm what was happening. The right front tire does not exhibit this behavior. Anything below 50 MPH, the car runs smooth with no vibrations whatsoever. Once I hit 55, I can feel it coming on and at 60, all hell breaks loose. The front struts, while they are obviously not perfect, don't bounce excessively when I bounce vigerously up and down on each corner, so I have a hard time believing the strut is causing this (I've had cars with shocks WAY worse than these and never had this type of bouncing). I jacked up the car and the lugs are tight, CV joints seem OK with no leaks or noise and I can't seem to get any movement from the wheel when I try to wiggle them back and forth, up or down. The struts show no leakage either. Other than having the tires re-balanced, I am out of ideas what could be wrong. Is it possible the front wheel bearing(s) are going and I can't see the issue with the wheel of the ground (only with the weight of the car does it become apparent)? I am not against replacing the front struts, but I'd like to be at least 80% certain this is my problem before I plunk down the big bucks. I'd like to do some intelligent troubleshooting first. Any tips, suggestions or advice would be greatly apprecitated! Thanks- Elm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranger Posted November 20, 2005 Report Share Posted November 20, 2005 Not only have them balanced, but have them road force balanced. If the tire is good, that should cure the problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regis Posted November 21, 2005 Report Share Posted November 21, 2005 Doesn't sound like a strut issue to me. I would try switching the left front tire with the right front tire and see what happens. Could be a wheel bearing but I'm leaning more towards a tire issue as Larry is suggesting or hinting at. "Burns" rubber " I've never considered myself to be all that conservative, but it seems the more liberal some people get the more conservative I become. " Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezobens Posted November 21, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 21, 2005 Not only have them balanced, but have them road force balanced. If the tire is good, that should cure the problem. Ranger (Larry), I've heard about this "Road Force Balance" a lot lately. Is this the latest and greatest in wheel balancing? Is computer spin balancing no longer the acceptable method? I also noticed you're out of Woodstock- I'm outside of Wauconda. Any chance you might know anywhere locally where I can have this "Road Force Balance" done? Does this require the tires to be on the car or can I bring them in loose? Thanks again all for the advice! Elm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranger Posted November 21, 2005 Report Share Posted November 21, 2005 I think road force has been around a while but I am not sure. Spin balance is usually acceptable but road force is sort of fine tunning and seems to work when spin balance fails. I had mine done at Discount Tire in Lake In The Hills (just east of Randall Rd on Algonguin). The balance is not done on the car but similar to spin balance. The difference is that the tire is matched to the wheel, so after the balance, they break the bead, spin the tire on the wheel to align the chalk marks they made per the computer and remount the tire, so you can bring them in loose if you whish. This link will explain road force balancing and has a locator to find one near you. http://www.gsp9700.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonA Posted November 21, 2005 Report Share Posted November 21, 2005 The car has 140K miles on it and has the original struts all around. Before everyone blasts me for not replacing them by now, please hear me out first. Don't fix it if it ain't broke man! I have 147,000 miles on my original struts and they still work fine. Not like new, no, but certainly not dangerous either. It's just a really smooth ride. Like others have suggested, it sounds like that tire may be big-time out of round or something. Have you tried switching that tire to the back, or the other side, and see if the problem moves along with the tire? Jason(2001 STS, White Diamond) "When you turn your car on...does it return the favor?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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