[bender rodriguez]

Just spent 700 dollars on new sport tires and still have a vibration. The only thing I can think of is I didn't have the control arms under enough load when I tighten them. I used a jack and I don't know if I had put it up high enough to correctly simulate car load. I was reading somewhere that you should have 2 people in the car while you tighten the bolts down.

Are my control arms toast if I didn't tighten everything down under lack of a loaded suspension ?

[MrZ]

If you're jacking the hub up with a jack, it doesn't matter if someone is in the car or not, as long as you lift it close to a normal position.

Nut sure if that will cause vibration. Not tightening up under a standard load will just put unnecessary twist/flex on the bushing and they will go bad much faster (but not 2 weeks).

If you're sure the vibration is caused by suspension components, make sure all control arms (there are 4 for the front wheels) and tie rods are good.

[bender rodriguez]

Originally Posted by MrZ

If you're jacking the hub up with a jack, it doesn't matter if someone is in the car or not, as long as you lift it close to a normal position.

Nut sure if that will cause vibration. Not tightening up under a standard load will just put unnecessary twist/flex on the bushing and they will go bad much faster (but not 2 weeks).

If you're sure the vibration is caused by suspension components, make sure all control arms (there are 4 for the front wheels) and tie rods are good.

Well it is good to know that now I have the arms installed all I have to do is adjust the nuts to to correct that problem and no damage has been done yet.

It sucks to know that even if I did not correctly load the suspension to the correct height this wouldn't cause my vibrations.

I didn't check the rear control arms but I would assume the shop that told me the front arms were bad did? Maybe not but would the rear arms cause shaking in the steering wheels at high speeds.

I might bite the bullet and pay for a diagnostic somewhere or something. Every time I work on my car I have to pay for a lift otherwise Id be out there right now. Don't have a garage :C

[MrZ]

Does the vibration increase when you brake?

[bender rodriguez]

Originally Posted by MrZ

Does the vibration increase when you brake?

Not at all. My computer says my front brakes need to be in 2k miles. Already have the parts to do them. Could be rotors..maybe.. I heard build up on old rotors can cause the wheel to vibrate

[roadkillrob]

Only thing if you re-tighten, is that the nuts on the spindle end are one time use and should be replaced if you want to remove them and re-tighten.

[hockeyplayer]

I agree...if you can't figure it out just take it to an alignment shop and they can tell you whats causing it fairly quickly. Once you know what the exact problem is you can decide for yourself if you want to DIY the issue.

good luck!

[MrZ]

Usually when the problem is with the front control arm(s) the vibration will increase under braking (not sure if it is _always_ the case though). So you might want to look at other things.