After having the wheels aligned, my 1997 Legacy wagon developed a vibration. It started to shake at about 60 mph. Now it vibrates when the car is “under load”, going up a hill and excelerating . The vibration disappears on the down hill or decelerating. I had the drive shaft rebuilt ($500.00), and the problem is basically the same. Before my machanic makes some more costly guesses, I’d like some advise. Anyone have any ideas?
I think you need a realignment. My concern might be with the trailing link bushings. To change the caster, the tech has to remove these bushings and add or remove shims. If he didn’t get the nut for the trailing arm bushings torqued correctly, you can get this vibration under load because the wheels are “pulling ahead” of the vehicle.
You can also get something called caster shake if the caster is set too high.
This is just a shot in the dark, so to speak, but if the problem only appears when the engine is under load, it is possible that the problem lies in the CV joints, and not in the alignment or front end components.
This is just something to think about, in addition to getting a new mechanic who doesn’t just “throw parts” at a problem…
Throw motor mounts and transmission mounts into the mix, along with a second opinion?
Thanks for the help. This has gotten me pointed in ther right direction.
I am thinking that this is an Auto trans? If so are your front tires a matching set? PLEASE dont tell us you have two different sized tires up there? What I am getting at is similar to what Waterboy is thinking… Under load the trans is actually kind of “motorboating” by using he torque convertor to allow the enginew rpms to fluctuate without seeing a change in wheel rpms…SOMETIMES the tranny will make the car vibrate when the T-convertor is having lockup issues or other issues along the same lines. I binding CV joint would also produce similar vibes… Again real hard for me to determine whats up via the net… Me and the other knowledgeable guys on here could solve SOOOO many more issues if we were in front of the car…
I know that you are trying to associate this with wheel balance, but wheel balance vibrations and torque convertor vibes may seem the same to the uninitiated.