shaking steering wheel Options

[jumpinccv]

i dont know if this right forum but just a little question. Ive had my celica since june, but about two months after i started noticing a little shaking in the steering wheel. I had the fronts balanced and the rest of the stuff checked. It was a little better for a awhile. Then it came back. so anyway i had to rotate my tires, did that and it helped a lot for like two weeks. now it starting to come back again, its better sometimes and worse others. And not always on rough road and smooth road too. So any info about past experiences would help. thanks guys

[CelicaLE]

I used to work in a service department at a car dealership...so I know a little bit bout this...lemme see if I can post my two cents worth! LOL

If the wheels shakes first thing I think I'd check would be the balance on all four tires. Only thing is, whoever you take it to...ask them to what speed they balance tires. at the dealership I worked at, the computerized balancing machine only balanced to about 72-73 MPH...so if you were over that speed you got the vibration.

Second I would check the alignment. if the alignment is off just a degree or so your car can ride horrible. Also, ask the shop you go to about possibility of checking the rear wheel alignment, to make sure everything is ok there. I know our cars are FWD, but it's a possibility something back there on the back end could be wrong and need to be checked.

Also, check your wheels. If you have curbed the car *hope not* but if you have, it is a great possibility the overall balance of the wheel is far enough off center, that you can't truly balance the tire. I've seen this happen many times where you can do a close job, but no matter what you do, you can never get the wheels in true balance.

Another thing I used to see is where the tires were wore wrong, like the alignment had been off, and the tire got bad wear in it, and it caused vibrations. I've seen that a lot too.

Those are probably the cheapest options to try to check. If that doesn't fix it, by all means take your car to someone who deals with suspension problems cuz it's in the suspension for sure.

Sorry this post is so long, and it may not be nothing new to you, but it's all I know from workin at the service dept! LOL