# Steering wheel shimmy **URL:** \ **Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\ **Tags:** mercury, sable\ **Created:** [September 4, 2009, 4:56pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/steering-wheel-shimmy/36111 "2009-09-04T16:56:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bisstess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8dc957/32.png) [@bisstess](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bisstess)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2009, 4:56pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/steering-wheel-shimmy/36111/1 "2009-09-04T16:56:30Z")
2000 Mercury Sable Wagon, 108,000 miles. Car is in very good condition, all maintenance kept up. Recently, at speeds above 50 miles an hour, the wheels develope a litte shake that I can feel in my feet and through the steering wheel. Could it be that the wheels need to be balanced? Any other thoughts? ---
**Author:** ![edb1961](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/edb1961/32/122_2.png) [@edb1961](https://community.cartalk.com/u/edb1961)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2009, 5:19pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/steering-wheel-shimmy/36111/2 "2009-09-04T17:19:03Z")
A couple of thoughts 1. One or more the tires may be out of balance. Check the wheels in case a weight fell off. 2. Check the lug nuts for tightness. Have any of the wheels been removed recently? I had changed a front tire on my wife’s 98 Windstar. A month a so later there was a slight shimmy/vibration at 65 mph. I pulled off the highway and found the lug nuts were coming loose on that wheel. 3. How old/worn are the tires? One of my cars started to shimmy around 45 mph. The tires were worn, but had about 10k left on the tread. I replaced them anyway and the shimmy stopped. 4. Have the front end checked for wear and tear, i.e. ball joints, tie rods, etc. Ed B. ---
**Author:** ![bisstess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8dc957/32.png) [@bisstess](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bisstess)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2009, 5:28pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/steering-wheel-shimmy/36111/3 "2009-09-04T17:28:03Z")
Thanks Ed, I will check the lug nuts. I rotated the tires about a month ago. I used a torque wrench and tightened the lugs to specifications. The tires have about 15,000 miles on them and have a lot of tread left. ---
**Author:** ![petworthian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c6cbf5/32.png) [@petworthian](https://community.cartalk.com/u/petworthian)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2009, 5:34pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/steering-wheel-shimmy/36111/4 "2009-09-04T17:34:50Z")
These cars are noted or weak tie rods. Both of mine have been replaced on my 2001 and I’ve only got 57,000 miles on it.