Front End vibration.....

[OilPatch197]

The vehicle is a 1992 Buick Regal GS, with the 3800 V6.

I have a vibration in the front that "comes and goes".

Allow me to describe the vibration, it is speed related, I mean as you go faster the vibration gets worse, BUT the vibration can happen at any speed!

I can be going along at 20 mph and I get that vibration, at a lower magnitude, or I can really get the shakes going if I'm cruising around 60mph. The vibration is NO, IS NOT consistent. Sometimes it does not vibrate at all.

It feels like a tire that is unbalanced, BUT I've had the tires balanced.

I've checked my Wheel bearing/Hubs, they are fine, the Struts are in excellent shape, the drivers side outer tie rod has some play, will replace.

I just Changed the engine mounts (they were cracked) and I still got the vibration. These tires were on the car when I bought it, could the belt in the tires be bad?

Since I've replaced the Engine mounts, the next step is to replace the worn tie rod. Obviously whatever is vibrating IS Drive-line related, I get vibration through the steering wheel... HOWEVER it is not a consistent vibration, it just vibrates whenever it damn well pleases.

So what could be the cause of this vibration?

The only 'variable' is the tires.

The CV joints seem good from what I can tell. The Front hub assemblies have no wiggle, the motor mounts are new/good.

Do I just replace that tie rod end, slap on some new tires and a wheel alignment, you think this will solve the vibration?

 

[shane96ranger]

Yes it could be the tires. Check for cracking and separation in between the tread and the crown. Check the manufacture date on them too. I saw a news report that claimed you aren't supposed to run tires over 7 years old, no matter how good the tread is. Sometimes sooner if they get a lot of sun because it dries them out and they start to crumble. Here's instructions on how to tell the mfg date:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=11