I have a 2006 Ford Focus ZX4 with about 60,000 miles on it. A few months ago I noticed that when I was on the highway at about 65 the steering wheel shook like crazy. Everyone (my dad and the guys at the car place) thought it was a simple balance issue. To make a long story short, I ended up getting all new tires about a month ago, and balanced every couple of weeks because each time I bring it in they say it must be the balance. It doesn’t fix the problem. I also got it aligned two weeks ago, and they checked the tie rods and said everything looked fine. One of the times they worked on it they said someone drove the car and it was fine, but it wasn’t when I drove it to work the next day. It’s especially noticable if I use cruise control.
The last idea that I have is that the rims on my car are easily damaged and perhaps that’s the problem.
If anyone has any suggestions I’d appreciate it.
Rim (wheel damage) is easily seen during wheel balance.Steering wheel shaking is not dependant upon who is driving,use of cruise control will not cause steering wheel shake.Find a second shop tell them your steering wheel shakes,let them determine what needs to be done to cure this concern,don’t advise the shop about all the previous work and diagnosis,let the new shop start fresh on this concern,thats how I would do it.
Another possibility is that one or more hubs are bent. There is a spec for how much they are permitted to wobble when spun around. If they exceed this, the symptoms are identical to what you are experiencing. The only cure is to replace the hubs with new ones. We had this problem with an old Honda Civic. Ours was OK around town, but unpleasant on the highway.
Find someone with a Hunter GSP9700. That will eliminate all the tire / wheel stuff, then you can concentrate your search elsewhere.
Don’t forget to check the rear suspension. Shakes occurring above 35 mph frequently are caused by rear wheel vibrations. If the tires are round and balanced (and CapriRacer’s suggestion is the only one that will verify roundness as well as balance) then your answer is in the suspension somewhere.
How about checking out the engine mounts? I offer this from similar experience with 2005 Ford Focus Wagon:-)