Spindle play?

One of those issues Ive been fighting forever. After replacing the tie rods, idler arm, drag link and wheel bearings a year ago when I got new tires, the car drove great. When I got to Georgia and swapped to the rally rims, I started to notice a shimmy. Car has had several alignments, replaced wheel bearings again, and tires balanced many times, no real change. Shimmy feels slightly less, but still there.

This last time, they did a road force variation test. They said they all were out of spec but were able to get into spec. Better, but still there. I found last night the the drag link joint at the pitman arm was already sloppy. I found this after shaking the passenger front wheel and noticing a click when wiggling it. It doesn't do it when I put my hand on top and bottom, so i don't believe it's wheel bearings.

I replaced the drag link tonight and the car has much better feel with the slop gone. Only issue is I still have a shimmy. When I jack up the pass front and wiggle the wheel, I still have some play and a click. When done to the drivers side, I have some play but no click. I can't find anything else loose, so is it possible the spindle is worn front and back but not top and bottom?

You done the simple thing of checking the balance of tire/wheels?

"...and tires balanced many times..."

Sounds like it.

I just don't understand the click. Top to bottom click indicates a wheel bearing, but I have checkes and they are still tight. Plus it's only when front to back. Wtf

Sounds like my Caddy and Olds when I got them. They were hard to keep under control and steered like crap. Check the ball joints out, I'll bet you have a ton of slop in them. Jack it up by the control arm and wiggle it from the top and bottom.
Aside from that, could it be a bent rim being this happened with the rally wheels?

check your spindle nut and make sure it's on there snug.

When tightening the axle nut make sure you do not have it on too tight. Instructions call for rotating the wheel and applying 12 lb. ft. of torque, then loosening and retighten finger tight so that the cotter pin goes through the nearest hole counterclockwise not to exceed one flat of the nut.

Try rotating the rear tires to the front. If it persists, it is probably not the wheels or tires. Checking the trueness of the wheels is a good idea too. Try putting a set of wheels and tires from another car on it, and test it with them. The rear will not give you much feedback, so stick with the fronts. You can clamp a rod to a jack stand, and position it near the rim when rotating the wheel. You can see the runout if it is enough to cause a shimmy.

Do the rims fit tight on the centering ring on the hub? If not, you may need a ring to compensate for the size difference. You may be able to carefully tighten the lugs and get the wheel to center properly, but there is a chance that it will not if the hub is not a tight fit.

If the individual joints in the steering are tight, check the ball joints as mentioned in BRMW95s post. You should also be able to check the lowers at the grease nipple. For OEMs, if the base is flush with the bottom of the housing, they are worn out.

Another issue might be a warped rotor. Have them checked. You can do a "quickie" check by lifting the wheel and spinning it by hand. If it drags on one or more spots, it is probably warped. It should rotate with an even amount (or none) of drag.

Forgot to add that part. I replaced ball joints about 3 months ago chasing this problem. I wonder about the rims. They were brand new when I got them and the issue hasn't gone away when rotated. I can't imagine they are all bent, but maybe it's transferring through the whole car? U.S. wheel says that centering rings are not required for this application, but maybe they are wrong?

Spindle nut is snug. I've constantly has an issue here though. When I first got the car, the front end clicked. Both front wheel bearings were loose. I was able to snug them up and that went away. A few weeks later, loose again. So I snugged again. Appeared to have plenty of grease. A few months later I moved to Georgia and after I got here, I replaced the rotors and wheel bearings. All seemed good and soon after I got the rally's. About 2 days later, I felt a shimmy. Wheel bearings were loose again. Snugged and seemed ok for a few days, but still a shimmy. I did the 12 ft lb thing, but I can say it's past that now.

I took it in to the local tire shop today. They looked at it again, repacked the bearings, and kicked it out. While I now don't hear a click, I still have some play when I jack up one side and wiggle. It still has vibes , most noticable between 55 and 60. I think I will remove and replace wheel bearings on both sides this weekend. While everything is off, l will measure the spindles for roundness.

I've had the same issue with wheel bearings loosening up. Instead of the 12ft pounds of torque I just tighten the crap out of them as I spin them going way beyond that. Then loosen and set it finger tight.
Maybe try swapping 1 wheel at a time with your spare and see if it can be narrowed down to just one bad one?

FWIW, the video below is of my 9C1 after I put a set of wheels on it. I drove it for weeks like this and felt absolutely nothing. I checked it out after several people told me my wheel was wobbling pretty bad. Maybe you're onto something with the centering rings

Did you check the bushings on the arms? They can cause some weird issues if they are damaged. It could cause clicking in either front to back or up and down.

I agree with fred check all control arm bushings front and back,. try a 1/16" more toe in than specs call for,..

i tighten my wheel bearings down more than finger tight,.

If you buy cheap e bay balljoints ,. they just don't last,.
the centrelink,. and the idler arm really need to be really good quality,. like the moog problem solver line of parts,.
after 5000 miles on some cheap stuff on my black wagon , it was steering itself again,.
so i redid everything with better quality stuff,. and as they say,.  youget what you pay for,. and these are big cars with big tires,..

Well it's a half and half. Some of the parts are moog, some are store brand. The left lower control arm was replaced when doing the lower ball joint. It had new bushings. The remaining control arms are factory. I don't see play in them when moving stuff, but it's hard to notice. I'll do the better quality wheel bearings, if it doesn't go away, I'll move to the bushings

Here's another video (lol)
This is a bad control arm bushing I had

I can't believe it...phantom 309 agreed with me.


Did you tighten the control arm bolts with the car's weight on the tire. If not, the bushings may have tension on them. With the others being old, you may get a harmonic. You have 6 more to be concerned about. They are hard to see when installed, you almost have to take them off to check them, and if you take them off, you might as well replace them, and save yourself having to remove them again in a couple of years.

I can thankfully say my control arms do not move like what you posted, yikes. When I wiggle the wheel, I see the steering components flex, not nothing more than the other. I'm doing wheel bearings this weekend so we will see

71novaguy wrote:

. I'll do the better quality wheel bearings, if it doesn't go away, I'll move to the bushings

save your money they aren't the problem,. they are either adjuste right or they aren't,..

If you are gonna run the salt flats,. buy better bearings,..

71novaguy wrote:

Forgot to add that part. I replaced ball joints about 3 months ago chasing this problem. I wonder about the rims. They were brand new when I got them and the issue hasn't gone away when rotated. I can't imagine they are all bent, but maybe it's transferring through the whole car? U.S. wheel says that centering rings are not required for this application, but maybe they are wrong?

Spindle nut is snug. I've constantly has an issue here though. When I first got the car, the front end clicked. Both front wheel bearings were loose. I was able to snug them up and that went away. A few weeks later, loose again. So I snugged again. Appeared to have plenty of grease. A few months later I moved to Georgia and after I got here, I replaced the rotors and wheel bearings. All seemed good and soon after I got the rally's. About 2 days later, I felt a shimmy. Wheel bearings were loose again. Snugged and seemed ok for a few days, but still a shimmy. I did the 12 ft lb thing, but I can say it's past that now.

I took it in to the local tire shop today. They looked at it again, repacked the bearings, and kicked it out. While I now don't hear a click, I still have some play when I jack up one side and wiggle. It still has vibes , most noticable between 55 and 60. I think I will remove and replace wheel bearings on both sides this weekend. While everything is off, l will measure the spindles for roundness.

The spindles do not rotate, so roundness would not be an issue. You might check the inner race seats on the spindles if anything. If the bearing inner race is loose on the spindle, that could be an issue. Even so, that should not cause a shimmy of the magnitude you are experiencing.

Did you check for warped disks yet? If a disk has a high spot, it can "grab" every time it passes the pads. That would cause the car to shimmy, and at certain speeds it will have a harmonic that could amplify and feel like a noticable shimmy.

Well, out of curiosity and because they were still factory, I replaced the u joints. The factory u joints did not feel worn out. They turned freely and did not have any noticable play. So, drove it and all the shimmy had disappeared. I had the wife drive it just to make sure i wasn't crazy, and she said the same. Shimmy appears to have disappeared. Would not think the shimmy would transfer to the front like this, but maybe?

Well thats interesting glad you found it. Did you do the spindles? Jeff

Why do you go back to the start and find a known to be shimmy free wheels and tires,mount them and test drive.If you are always looking for looseness in the front suspension,its easy to find especially when the repair shops are constantly making money off of you.One last thing to check is your driveshaft for a thrown weight or worn u joint.

Because the factory wheels have no tires and it's quite pricy to swap back and forth. The alignment and balance was covered under warranty, so I kept testing. The u joints I had ruled out because I had the thing out once and felt the joints. No noticable play, no thrown weights, and the joints were free. The new u joints are much tighter than factory. Not sure why, moog super strength u joints. But, not complaining now.

Did not do bearings. Pulled driveshaft first. Not sure why, it just popped into my mind