vibration in steering

[cowboy4x4n]

guys, checking to see if you can give me any advice or places to look.

i have noticed a vibration in the steering wheel while driving straight.  this is in my small block 69 charer.  turn the wheel any direction slightly and the problem is gone.  i have checked all steering components and ball joints which appear good.  no play in the wheel bearings.  I had the vehicle aligned and the tech confirmed all this. the front tires are new within the last year.  any ideas. 

[tan top]

 if it was previously , driving wobble / vibration free , after the new tires were fitted, &  nothing has been replaced ,  but every thing has been checked suspension wise to be ok ,
check  to see if a balance weighs have  come off  ,   loose or buckled wheels , tire under or over inflated ,  flat spotted ,   tire wall damage , any slight bulging etc even the slightest bulge / damage to the wall , can give vibration at speed , sometimes they  difficult to see , & only pick it up by running your hand or palm round the wall ,

 just because a guy has done alignment , dont mean that he looks at tires , &  can spot any damage to the wall , especially if on the inside top , when its was parked in the shop  , no offence ment to anyone, or tire shop guys reading this ,    

[cowboy4x4n]

Ill check That first.  I know then front end components should be upgraded soon even though they r tight.  The ball joint boots were cracked and greese coming out

[cowboy4x4n]

Tires look good and weights all there any other ideas guys

[RogerDodger]

Try rotating the front wheels to the back to see if it goes away. That would rule out the tires/wheels.

[cowboy4x4n]

rotated and nothing.  any other ideas.  what could be the problem other than tires

[cdr]

if it has drum brakes,a weight could have fallen off the drum.

[tan top]

Tires look good and weights all there any other ideas guys

oh , never that simple is it   ,    so its only just started making this vibration ?





silly question i know  , when you say no play in wheel bearings ,  when you felt for excessive play , ie one hand at 6 other hand at 12 o'clock , & rocked the wheel ,  if you did not adjust the brake shoes to close them up , move them away from the drum or  on a disc brake car open the pads up , ie press the pistons back in to the calliper , or remove pads ,
**** remember to re adjust brake shoes  , & or pump the brake pedal a few times so the disc pads move out to where they were before ,  other wise you will have no brakes for the first few pumps of the pedal ****

 wont be accurate , can feel ok with the slightest amount of play , do said procedure with brakes , there  has been , 3/8 " play on one  customers car , although when i road tested it before i took it in the shop , could hear that wheel bearing wuring / groaning noise , not bad  , but it was there , also could feel a slight vibration through the steering wheel , sort of in time with the wuring noise ,    had more than one customers cars come in , like that ,

think what i would do at this stage , **** just to rule them out ****

have a look at front wheel bearings , check for any damage to the rollers or race , re pack with correct grease & adjust  correctly , either by the FSM way or by the hands to 6 & 12 o'clock & feel for the slightest movement , both ways  ! wheel should be rotating when adjusting the bearing .


difficult to diagnose stuff over the net with out actually being there , i asume that nothing is loose , with steering box , coupler , column  , steering centre link rubbing on header tubes

[cowboy4x4n]

ill have a look at the bearings tan top.  just weird it only does it with the steering wheel straight up.  turn the wheel ever so slightly left or right and it goes away.