question: Steering wheel vibrating BAD...

[rnln]

I am not sure if it's only the steering wheel or the whole car. All I did was trying to swap wheels. I use a small jack to jack up the front at the right front tortion bar mount (or A arm mount). Took the front passenger wheel off and realized that I don't have the thin wall socket to take the wheel adapter off. I then put the wheel back, torqued to the 96 ft/lb. So basically I didn't make any change.

In the morning, when get up to 60 or above, the steering wheel shake like someone if trying to yank the wheel off the car. I pulled over and double checked lug/nut. Everything look like it's in order. I even pulled the torque wrench out to check all the front wheels' nuts. Everything is in order, again. It is still acting the same now.
Anyone can think of anything to check now?

[Rot 911]

What wheel adapter? What wheels do you have on the car? Obviously something did not get reinstalled correctly or you knocked off a wheel weight.

[oldE]

Is it possible you got the tie rod end caught in the jack and bent it?
If so that would cause an alignment problem. You would notice a bit of 'hop' if it was bad enough.

Les

[rnln]

Wheels are Fuch, turbo wheels spec 16x7x9, with some wheel adapters because my car is a carrera modified to turbo wider body. I want to swap wheels and adapter out to install some deep dish, without using adapters. I couldn't take the adapters off so everything come back in the same as original... and now I have very bad vibration. I never have driven any car with that bad of the vibration... to the point I don't know if it's safe to drive it.

I went home and search to see any piece of weight I accidentally knocked off, but the whole floor was clean, notthing I could find.

For sure the jack wasn't even touching the tie rod becaue I jacked it up at the front point of the a arm. I hear a clicking noise when I loweed the car back down when I was done. I think it's the same noise I heard when I was driving up and down the payment. Most people on this board guessed it was the torsion bar bushing.

I affraid I accidentally broke some part while jacking up the car.

[Netspeed]

You might have loosened the weight enough that it came off as you went driving. I'd take the wheel off and see if it's sitting flush on rotor. If it doesn't fix it, take the wheel to get rebalanced.

[tcar]

Did you tighten/torque the lug nuts in proper order?

Still couldn't figure out where you put the jack from your description.

[DRACO A5OG]

Hey Ron,

Take pics of where you jacked it up at and maybe the spacer. It sounds like a balance issue.

Jim

[old man neri]

Wheel adapter? Is this like a spacer? Sometimes with spacers it pushes the wheel away from the hub and thus it can't always be centered correctly. Just a shot in the dark.

[rnln]

Today, couple more hours into the car again and I think I found the problem. It might be my steering rack, or tie rod.

First, I jacked the car up one side at a time, at the jack point behind front wheel, so that front wheel is off the ground, while the other wheel is still on the ground. I crap the tire with both hands and shake the wheel as you test the wheel bearing. On the right, I don't feel any play, but on the left, I found a lot of play. The play is not between the wheel and the "whatever it is, I don't know how to call it". The play is actually between the tie rob and the steering rack. Which means, when the right front wheel is on the ground and stay still, my left tie rob can move. Does this indicate my left tie rob is bad (at the portion inside the rack)? Or is my rack bad?

NetSpeed,
I thought so and I did check the wheels. I think if any of the weights just lost, the spot where it sat should be clean, but none that I found. And both front wheels were sitting flush to the adapter and torque were all still good.

tcar, DRACO A5OG,
yes, torque in proper order, cross nut, not next nut. The original place I used to jack the car was the front mount of the A-arm, where the crash bar mounted to. Also, it is the place where the front tow hook is. It is in front of the gas tank.

DRACO A5OG,
I hope it is, the wheel/tire balance but I am so sad that it might not be, regarding the steering rack/tie rod I described above.

old man neri,
wheel spacer is a flat piece of spacer acts as a washer with 5 holes for the bolts to go through. You will have to use longer bolts.
Wheel adapter is the same thing but there are 5 bolts on it, mount to the adapter. The adapter mount to the hub using the existing bolts on the hub. The wheel will be mounted to the adapter's bolts.
And no, the adapter is tight to the hub. I didn't have a chance to take it off.

Thanks all. Please input if you know anything about my tie rod play, at the point where it is inside the steering rack.

[rick-l]

Just a data point and YMMV but my 88 cab used to do that, vib in wheel at 60-70, and it went away after I rebuilt the front brakes. (New seals cleaned out the rust)

I rebuilt the brakes because they made a groaning noise as I started off from a stop light.

Edit; rebuild included pads seals, boots and hose

[rnln]

Rick,
Alright, a thing I have not check. Thanks for the idea. Will check this one.