[lizzy1081]

Hi, I've been looking through the forums to find answers, mainly I always get stuck with the jimny. I have a grand vitara 2003 model 1.6L 3 door.. at around 50-60km I get a pulling type feeling and once I get on the highway and get to 90km/h I get a pretty bad steering shake, it goes through the steering wheel and pretty much the front end of the car. I've had wheel balance and alignment done on the car, put free wheeling hubs on it, can not actually see anything wrong with the car so to speak. Wondering what causes this and how to get rid of it?

[henno]

I assume, by having the alignment done, they checked the condition of the tie rod ends (both ends) and ball joints? Does the car 'wander' around the round when not wobbling, or does it drive dead straight and accurate with no steering issues only to wobble violently out of the blue?

[sezed]

I know this sounds silly, but do you have mud caked inside the rims, I had exact same symptoms and it took a pressure wash to fix it...

[lizzy1081]

I don't know if they did check them, as my farther took the car in for me. The car does not 'wander' it drives dead straight. The only time you get the shake is when it gets to about 90km. It drives perfectly otherwise. I also do not have mud caked on the inside of my rims.

[fordem]

Swap the wheels front to rear & see what effect that has.

Assuming the vehicle is stock (no lift) about the only things that can cause that type of a shake are all wheel related - out of balance wheel, bent rim or a defective tire. In my experience worn rack or rod ends will allow or contribute to, but not cause the shake - I've had rack ends with "visible play" and no shake - in fact, the only reason I knew about the play was the mechanic noticed it whilst servicing the vehicle.

[oldschool]

Had a similar issue with mine, turned out the tyres weren't round, balanced but not quite even.
I'd give them a spin in the air and check if they run up and down.