It is currently Fri Mar 29, 2024 2:10 am

All times are UTC - 5 hours [ DST ]




Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 9 posts ] 
Author Message
PostPosted: Fri Mar 25, 2011 8:41 pm 
Offline
SE Member
SE Member

Joined: Wed Mar 23, 2011 9:44 am
Posts: 20
Year and Trim: 2001 Bonneville SSEI
Working on ironing out all the quirks of the new bonneville, took it on the freeway for the first time and noticed above 50 mph the steering wheel / front begins to shimmy/vibrate - not a violent shake. Recently replaced the struts and there was no excess steering part movement. Also, the front motor mount was falling apart and was shaking at idle, fixed that. I rebalanced the tires, no change. I noticed this is a common problem, but I don't see any real solutions. I dont want to start throwing parts around if someone can guide me in the right direction. Thanks.


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Fri Mar 25, 2011 11:49 pm 
Offline
Certified Bonneville Nut
Certified Bonneville Nut

Joined: Sat May 24, 2008 5:18 pm
Posts: 4938
Location: Sycamore, IL
Year and Trim: 05 Chevy 'Hoe
1997 'maro (3.8L M5)
89 SkiDoo
Was the rest of your front end shaken down?

_________________
Image

00Beast wrote:
Less off-topic than Lane's Heated Steering wheel, but yeah, back to the topic.


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Tue Mar 29, 2011 11:52 pm 
Offline
Posts like an LG3
Posts like an LG3

Joined: Thu May 22, 2008 10:29 am
Posts: 347
Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba
Year and Trim: 2000 SSEi
Every available option
dematka wrote:
Working on ironing out all the quirks of the new bonneville, took it on the freeway for the first time and noticed above 50 mph the steering wheel / front begins to shimmy/vibrate - not a violent shake. Recently replaced the struts and there was no excess steering part movement. Also, the front motor mount was falling apart and was shaking at idle, fixed that. I rebalanced the tires, no change. I noticed this is a common problem, but I don't see any real solutions. I dont want to start throwing parts around if someone can guide me in the right direction. Thanks.


I have been trying to figure this problem out for many years. Just about the only thing I haven't replaced in the front is stuts and strut mounts. 190,000 miles on my car. I wonder if a GXP strut brace would help, hmmmm.

If you can live with it I would say save yourself a lot of money chasing it like I did. You find speeds at which it's less obvious.

_________________
Mark
The Familyman's Trans-Am
Intense 3.4 MPS, Intense FWI, Intense PCM, copper NGKs TR55's, MSD wires, MSD coils, BWD ICM, MagnaFlow High Flow Cat, drilled 180 'stat, solid front mount, Monroe Max Air rear shocks, Moog rear mounts, Moog suspension bushings, cleared front corners, 190,000 miles
Image


Last edited by golfyeti on Tue Mar 29, 2011 11:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Mon Apr 04, 2011 7:56 pm 
Offline
SE Member
SE Member

Joined: Wed Mar 23, 2011 9:44 am
Posts: 20
Year and Trim: 2001 Bonneville SSEI
I've noticed this is a HUGE problem with these cars...etc. But no one has a SURE FIRE solution that solved THEIR problem. Being I don't know the most about these cars I was hoping someone could point in a direction - oh well, time to go my own direction. My struts were bad anyway, so they got replaced, helped the ride, not the shimmy. Next plan is to replace the side motor mounts - they are horribly rotten, then road force balance the tires. After that, there isn't much left but something vibrating in the trans??? My car only has 137k miles, but the previous owner put on tires which I don't categorize as high quality, but they balanced out without much weight so I don't really think the road force balancing will do much but gotta start with the cheapest fixes... Thanks for all the feedback...


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Mon Apr 04, 2011 10:47 pm 
Offline
SSEi Member
SSEi Member

Joined: Wed Mar 09, 2011 6:34 pm
Posts: 160
Location: marion, Illinois
Year and Trim: 2002 pontiac bonneville ssei
I have the same shake. I've changed rims and tires and that didn't help so I went back to the rims and tires I have now. I've checked inner and outer tie rods. Ball joints. Thought the steering shaft but was told that wouldn't do it by the dealership. I'm thinking maybe the rack and pinion. Don't the ssei models have something like a magnasteer? If so can that be malfunctioning?

_________________
2002 Bonneville SSEI 170K

Image

"Three men walking always has one teacher."


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Sat Apr 16, 2011 2:05 pm 
Offline
SLE Member
SLE Member

Joined: Wed Jan 20, 2010 8:58 pm
Posts: 64
Year and Trim: 2003 Pontiac Bonneville SLE
dematka wrote:
I've noticed this is a HUGE problem with these cars...etc. But no one has a SURE FIRE solution that solved THEIR problem. Being I don't know the most about these cars I was hoping someone could point in a direction - oh well, time to go my own direction. My struts were bad anyway, so they got replaced, helped the ride, not the shimmy. Next plan is to replace the side motor mounts - they are horribly rotten, then road force balance the tires. After that, there isn't much left but something vibrating in the trans??? My car only has 137k miles, but the previous owner put on tires which I don't categorize as high quality, but they balanced out without much weight so I don't really think the road force balancing will do much but gotta start with the cheapest fixes... Thanks for all the feedback...


ive had this same problem in my o3 bad, after changing parts to no avail, i found...assuming front end is tight and wheels arent bent or anything. clean hub surface, inner and outer rotor surface, and wheel flange mounting surface, balance tires, and torgue lug nuts to 100 ft lbs, cured my problems for good. try it!

_________________
2003 Pontiac Bonneville SLE - Sylvania Silverstar Fog lights, 5000k HID conversion low beams, Disabled DRL, cranking headlight delay kit, GXP style exhaust tips, solid front mount. Approx. 86k miles and still kickin strong!


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Mon Jun 13, 2011 8:43 pm 
Offline
SE Member
SE Member

Joined: Wed Mar 23, 2011 9:44 am
Posts: 20
Year and Trim: 2001 Bonneville SSEI
Problem solved - road force balanced. Didn't think it would work but it did.


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Mon Jun 13, 2011 8:49 pm 
Offline
Certified Bonneville Nut
Certified Bonneville Nut

Joined: Sat May 24, 2008 5:18 pm
Posts: 4938
Location: Sycamore, IL
Year and Trim: 05 Chevy 'Hoe
1997 'maro (3.8L M5)
89 SkiDoo
dematka wrote:
Problem solved - road force balanced. Didn't think it would work but it did.


But now when you rotate your tires theres a chance it will come back.

_________________
Image

00Beast wrote:
Less off-topic than Lane's Heated Steering wheel, but yeah, back to the topic.


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Tue Aug 21, 2012 7:12 am 
Offline
LE Member

Joined: Tue Aug 21, 2012 6:52 am
Posts: 1
Year and Trim: 2001 Pontiac Bonneville SE
I had the very same problem, shake at highway speeds. After trying everything a friend told me it was the clutch in the lock-up torque converter. Found a low mileage wreck at the local junkyard and replaced the transmission and installed a new converter. Now it's smooth as silk. If you don't replace the transmission make sure to flush the old one out, as the particles from the clutch can get into the transmission and cause more problems later on. Try everything else first because this is a lot of work.


Top
 Profile  
 
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 9 posts ] 

All times are UTC - 5 hours [ DST ]


Related topics
 Topics   Author   Replies   Views   Last post 
There are no new unread posts for this topic. Shimmy and shake

Alabass

3

1735

Wed Sep 02, 2009 12:25 pm

HurstGN View the latest post

There are no new unread posts for this topic. Wheel bearing shake/ shimmy?

flatlander745

6

1771

Fri Apr 25, 2014 8:35 am

nos4blood70 View the latest post

There are no new unread posts for this topic. 2001 SSEi engine shake/vibration

RentzM63B

5

2582

Wed Feb 20, 2013 5:20 pm

RentzM63B View the latest post

There are no new unread posts for this topic. 2001 Bonneville SSEi engine shake

camoman733

4

1522

Thu Jul 24, 2014 3:16 pm

harofreak00 View the latest post

There are no new unread posts for this topic. Poll: How many 00-05's have the 70mph death shake/shimmy?

[ Go to pageGo to page: 1, 2 ]

Ken_W

32

11306

Thu Sep 30, 2021 5:15 am

mikesica View the latest post

 


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 9 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Search for:
Jump to:  
cron
Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group


phpBB SEO