2002 bonneville front end shake/vibration
 

:confused:..i've been getting a vibration/shaking whenever i'm on the highway and vearing right..whenever i drive straight or vearing left no problems it was light at first but has been getting worse the more i drive changed front bearings rotors and brakes still have the shake/vibration.. what could be causing that and possible solutions

Bad CV joint?

rotate the tires and see if the noise moves, if not likely cv joint

Is there a speed that this primarily occurs at? Our Bonneville platforms, along with GM sister platforms on the Cadillacs and Buicks all share a common vibration problem fron 60-75 miles per hour.

Your issue appears different, as it only occurs when veering to the right. After the tires are eliminated as a possible problem, I would be looking at wheel bearings, tie rods and possibly a proken sway bar end.

He already replaced bearings.

My Bonneville does this once in a while. Every time it does I find there is a 3 or 4 psi difference in air pressure between the 2 front tires. I bring that both back to the proper pressure and the vibration goes away. This may not be your problem, but sometimes you have to check the simple stuff.

I'm keeping an eye on this thread. I'm having a similar problem in my Century..new bearings and brakes, etc, and it still vibrates when turning right..

yes it's not a ticking/clicking sound you will hear in a bad cv axel it's more of a bad shaking whenever veering right i'm thinking maybe a bad shock or bad tie rod end or ball joint just my guess was looking for a more professional opinion:D

The Bonneville was built on GM's H- platform (really the G platform but GM continued to label it H). This platform was shared with the two following vehicles:
Buick Park Ave, LeSabre
Cadillac Seville, DeVille
Olds Aurora

These vehicles all share one major common issue- vibration from the front end while driving. What they don't share is the cause of the vibration. Vibration is most notable between 60-75 miles per hour.

The vibration has caused dealers and GM engineers much frustration. Seems every fix identified for one vehicle, did not solve the issue for another vehicle with the same symptom.

Fixes have included replacing tires, wheels, alignments, wheel hubs- the list goes on and on. No dealer will commit to replacement of any part, or any one service as a fix to the vibration. It is a matter of looking for something out of spec and/ or replacing a part and testing to see how the replacement impacted the vibration.

Justin has suggested inspecting/ moving the tires from front to rear. Roy suggested ensuring tire pressures are exactly at proper psi. Those are two low cost and low effort places to start.

There is no professional silver bullet with this problem. Problem is inherit with this platform, and any one of many issues can result in the vibration issue. Many of wealthy Cadillac owners traded in their Caddy because of this issue.

If you are patient I am sure you can identify the cause.

Have the front tires been switched left-right? Obviously, if it changes, then tires are involved such as a road force variation.

Has the alignment been checked along with the rear alignment settings?

Have the bushings on the A-arms been checked along with the ball joint. That is something that might move with a turn in one direction and not change enough to be noticed with a left swerve, e.g.. Also carefully check the outer and inner tie rod ends.

But one factor in the vibration is constant in the chassis they share: the light weight of the moving suspension parts. That made their smaller mass easier to move with slight variations in up-and-down movements in the tire/wheel assembly. So Road Force balancing became important. Getting the road force effect below 10-12 ounces was necessary.

GM also switched to Michelin tires. My leSabre came with Symmetry tires same as shipping and being switched on Cadillacs to abate the symptoms.

[quote] The vibration has caused dealers and GM engineers much frustration. Seems every fix identified for one vehicle, did not solve the issue for another vehicle with the same symptom. [/quote

Requires analysis just as all of us here have been suggesting to determine weak spot.

I'd suggest jonniewalker check the new hubs for any movement in or out.

I'd suggest switching all 4 wheels with a known good set of tires to eliminate those. Of course most of us don't have a 2nd car with same rim bolt pattern nor a tire shop or car dealer willing to switch for testing. But that works to eliminate a belt or wear pattern in tires.

I was fooled by noise and vibration from aged tires and replaced a Timken front wheel bearing on my 98 under warranty. My neighbor, who had worked in a tire store earlier in his shade tree life, could feel the problem was tires when he drove it and felt the tire. Aged belts and hard tread on OLD Michelins.

On my own new 03 leSabre and less than 10K miles with Symmetry Michelins a variable vibration was felt from tires at 62-72 at times, especially under slight acceleration on slight uphill grades (changes the pull on A-arm bushings and alignment slightly) but not on downhill. Service manager checked alignment; rear was off on toe-in, but within the wide specification. That fixed it.

My guess for jonniewalker's problem if tires are not the fault is play in the front alignment, tie rod ends, ball joint, or wear in the A-arm bushing.

FWIW:

I've had Goodyear RSA's with bad belts that caused vibration.

I had the same problem with Good Year RSA's, but it was constant ... not just when veering one direction.

On my Park Avenue the 60+ mph vibration was fixed by the dealer re-balancing the tires. They had been previously balanced by a tire chain shop but apparently not closely enough. Easy peasy.

Speaking about wheel bearings: How long should one expect the wheel bearings to last?

I am hearing some sounds now that may be wheel bearings. The sounds are noticeable above about 45-50 mph. The car is a 1994 Buick Le Sabre with 91,000 miles on it. It is more noticeable at 65-70 mph. The tires are 3 years old with about 55k miles and are Pirelli P4s. There is still a lot of tread on all of the tires. They are guaranteed for 99 k but I don't think thaey will make that.

I understand that wheel bearings in these models are not serviceable but an R and R kind of job. Wheel bearings that you don't grease is a new idea to me.

It is interesting to read about the vibration issues with these cars. One thing I have noticed is that the chassis/body is not very rigid and wonder if that adds to the vibration issues.

wheel bearings make more of a vibration that you can feel, and will go away or vary greatly if turning or hitting the brakes. the tires make more of a howl like big mud tires and doesnt really go away so much when turning or braking

If the tires' treads have begun to harden with age, a tire might be causing the noise. If they haven't been rotated regularly, they may be more likely to give the noise, in my experience.

The only sure way is to rotate the tires front to back and see if the sound and noise changes. I tried the swerving test where on a sweeping curve at 35 mph turning to the left puts more load on the right front bearing and takes load off the left, and that would indicate the left bearing was suspect if the noise stopped. But my older Michelins quieted down on that test. A neighbor who had worked in a tire store before being a very competent shade tree mechanic felt the treads and said it was likely one of my front tires. I rotated front-back and the noise changed, quieted. The tire actually had bad belt according to Michelin selling store.

I actually replaced a front wheel bearing under warranty because I thought it was the bearing that was a year old.