[Longs]

I have noticed that my '67 GTO has a vibration in the front end at highway speeds. The suspension components haven't been touched in years (other than greasing) and I believe that I have a bad lower ball joint on the passenger side. The car also has the original springs all around. The tires are new this year and should be in balance. I'm assuming that the vibration is something in the suspension, not the tires or wheels or the drum brakes.

I'd like to get the problem resolved. I know there could be lots of potential sources, and a shop could probably diagnose it, but if you were going to refresh the more significant parts, what would they be? I'm thinking replace all the ball joints, control arm bushings, etc. - or should I just go for the front end kit from a source like PY? I could likely get the parts cheaper from a source like Rockauto.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts!

[gtospieg]

Don't forget to check the centerlink and idler arm

[fyrffytr1]

Did you have the vibration before you replaced the tires? It's possible that one or more of the tire weights have been lost. Or a belt in the tire may have separated. You could switch the front and rear tires and see if the vibration is still there.

[chrisp]

Re-balance the tires , check center link & idler arm for play , should re-build the entire suspension .

[Tempest]

worn front end parts do NOT typically create a vibration, but rather poor steering (wandering/drifting), uneven tire wear, and a pull to one side or the other.

A vibration is associated with the spinning wheel assembly.

I would re check the tire balance (as stated above) and have your front end components checked and replaced where necessary, just for safety sake.

[geeteeohguy]

What Tempest says. 100%. Unless the suspension is totally shot and causing a shimmy, you will not get a vibration with a worn out front end. Out of balance tires cause vibration, as well as too much wheel run-out (bent rim), out of balance or tweaked drums/rotors, etc. The solution here is to re-check the front wheels for balance and trueness. Your front end may indeed need rebuilding, but is not the cause of your problem.

[GT182]

I've had a wheel bearing up front vibrate indicating it's about to crap out. Then the vibration will turn into a screeching noise and tell you a wheel bearing has given up it's job and it about to come apart.

[TedRamAirII]

if its in the front you will feel it through the steering wheel. Jack it up and spin the wheels. Check and make sure the tires are round and spin true. look at the tire from the front and make sure the treads are straight and not wavy.Spin the wheel and touch the coil spring, does it feel smooth? noises? if all is ok, get the tires balanced. If the car sits a lot on a flat surface the tires can get flat spots but usually get round again after driving 30 minutes. A bad tire you can usually feel at parking lot speeds, the steering wheel will go left and right or you can feel your butt go left and right.

[Longs]

Thanks to all for the input and suggestions. Whether it's a shimmy or a vibration, it doesn't show up until the car's getting up around 55 or 60 MPH, below that speed it is fine. Someone above said that worn suspension components don't cause this type of issue, but on another car I had a bad tie rod end that caused a vibration above about 40 mph.

I do a lot of work on the car but one of the areas that I don't have the tools, facilities to do is stuff like changing front end components like ball joints and springs. There's a shop local to me that works on classic cars and lets the owners supply the parts, just charging a flat rate per hour. I was thinking about getting the front end kit from a place like Performance Years, since the car likely needs a lot of components - control arm bushings, etc. but I could just have the shop check it out first, and then get the parts needed.

[arcitech]

IF everything is good in the suspension and tires are balanced properly, one other problem could be the driveshaft, either out of balance or slightly bent. This can feel like a front end problem sometimes. First I would replace any worn suspension parts first, get a good alignment, check all bearings for wear and have the tires balanced on the car, in that order.

[TedRamAirII]

I would play it cool. Tell them when the vibration happens, then let them at it and have them tell you what it is, see if its makes sense and what its going to take to fix it. Nothing is worse than a car owner telling a shop what to do. Most of the time the owner is wrong, and putting the parts on that the owner wants installed does not fix the original complaint. Then the car owner isnt happy when his parts (which are usually low on the quality scale) dont fix anything or are worse than the parts that were replaced and of course the shop owner isnt happy because he just did what the car owner wanted and its still not fixed, then the car owner....well you get the story. I had a guy with a 70 Buick want his starter and alternator replaced. I did as was told. 2 days later he said it still would not start when it was hot. I load checked the battery (good)and alternator (good), but the voltage was a little low, found a bad ground cable from the engine to the battery. He was upset that I replaced his starter and alternator and it didnt fix his problem. He declined me to check it out as his nieghbor that "used to be a mechanic" already did all that and he wasnt paying me to do what he already did (Why his neighbor couldnt do it?). FINE. If he paid me to find a hard to crank problem, when hot, I would have tested everything and told him what needed to be fixed. So he got what he paid for. ; )

[TedRamAirII]

Originally Posted by arcitech

IF everything is good in the suspension and tires are balanced properly, one other problem could be the driveshaft, either out of balance or slightly bent. This can feel like a front end problem sometimes. First I would replace any worn suspension parts first, get a good alignment, check all bearings for wear and have the tires balanced on the car, in that order.

Drivehaft problems usually show themselves at lower speed. The driveshaft turns roughly 3-4 times more rpm than the wheels. Joints can get loose, or tight. The best way to check them is take the driveshaft out and feel them by hand.

[arcitech]

Originally Posted by TedRamAirII

Drivehaft problems usually show themselves at lower speed. The driveshaft turns roughly 3-4 times more rpm than the wheels. Joints can get loose, or tight. The best way to check them is take the driveshaft out and feel them by hand.

I would tend to agree with you if I would not have had the problem myself recently, only started shaking above 50mph. (Also had nasty noises at 15mph!)

I will admit that 99.9% of front end shakes, shimmies and jiggles can all be found in the front end parts. Having a good shop check everything out (including a test drive) is the best way to find and fix those problems. If you try to do it yourself, then you take the risk of doing it twice.