Vibrations @70-80mph////SOLVED
 

First and foremost, amazing forum. I have found so much information on here about my Bonneville that has enabled me to diagnose and solve most of my problems.

However one problem has crept up lately that I am not sure how to deal with. In the past week or so I have started to have a vibration coming from the front passenger side of the car. It only occurs between 70-80mph. I do not hear any sort of grinding or whining noise. The odd thing is, when I press the brake within that speed range the vibration from that side of the car increases. However, I don't feel the vibration in the steering wheel as normally associated with warped rotors. I have new pads at all four corners and new rotors in the front. Once I move above or below that speed range the vibration goes away. The vibration seems to improve if I am just simply accelerating through the speed range rather than just cruising within it.

Well, now let me tell you everything I have done so far. The tires have been balanced and rotated, then balanced and rotated again and my vibration has remained in the front passenger area. I replaced the wheel hub on that side, hoping it was just a bad wheel bearing unfortunately that did not solve my problem. When I had the wheel bearing off, I took the time to inspect all the bushing and they seem to be in good condition. I also inspected the CV boots and did not notice any cracks or separation. I am able to squeeze the boots slightly, they are hard, but snap back into place. There was no independent movement in any section of the half shaft between the CV joints.

After checking all these items I am at a lost to what may be causing my vibration. I am suspecting one of the CV joints has gone bad, however since there are no tears in the boot and grease splatters on the wheel well, I am not certain. I drive about 160 miles a day right now (all highway) and I don't want to worry about breaking down in the middle of nowhere!

I currently have about 58k miles on the beast.

Did you inspect the tire? I had a vibration on my wife's SUV and it turned out to be a bad tire as it had a slight bulge from a broken belt.

Yes I inspected the tire, nothing wrong it. I've moved the tires on the passenger side back and forth trying to figure out if it was the tire or something else. The vibration stays in the front end despite what tire I have on there.

You have exactly what I have had for the last 3 years and never have solved. I've been through new tires, balancing, new rotors, new pads, new tie rods, and still it shakes at 68mph-71mph. I just go faster to get rid of it....that seems to work best! :lol:

i know when it was my CV, i could feel it when accelerating from 0mph. so maybe its not your CV since you only feel it on the highway but i could be wrong.

I have had similar problems. I had my wheels balanced with no success. CFoote put me onto a 'Road Force Balance' using a Hunter GSP9700 balancer. They have a service on their website to help you locate a shop with one. Even though my wheels had just been balanced, their machine indicated every one was out. I trust the shop I had my wheels first balanced at, but these cars seem to be horrible for this type of vibration. A regular balancer just doesn't seem to do the trick sometimes. Had it in my '02 SE as well. Wish I had known of these when I had that car.

Long story short, since the RFB on the GSP9700, no more vibration :D :D

Have a look here:

http://www.gsp9700.com/pub/search/findgsp9700.cfm

I found it worth every penny. This may not solve your problem, but it seems like you have exhausted just about every other possibility.

I agree about the Hunter 9700 RoadForce b alancing. Also he moved the wheels and the out-of-balance didn't seem to change.

I suggest: brake rotor could be out of balance. More likely a caliper is dragging. The one thing not mentioned was brake caliper replacement with quality remanufacturered units. I had the originals not releasing completely on my car. It was heating up the rotor and then would give an imbalance feel at that speed. Because the rotor was hot and warped when the brake was put on the imbalance really showed up.

I waited until time for pads and replaced rotors, pads, and calipers at about 45-50K. Gone.

Thanks for all the replies. With so many possibilities I am going to take it in to the shop to hopefully get it further diagnosed. I will post back the results in the hopes of helping anyone else out with a similar problem.

My '01 has suffered with front end vibration for 60,000 miles. The steps I've taken are too numerous to mention, but I will say that 3 sets of hi-per tires and 9 Hunter 9700 Roadforce balances have not corrected the problem. My car laughs at the 9700. I've just learned to take her quirks in stride because she is soooo purty. I think the SSEi's have a weird combination of front-end chassis parts that seem prone to transmitting road irregularities.

I had the same thing in my 02 till I replaced the driver and pass. hub.