I have been trying to track down a shake/vibration for a while now and can't seem to fix it completely. I replaced the front bearings a while back and have doubled checked those and they are fine. I have the rears on the list next so that might be it, but I tried the shake test on all wheels and everything seems tight.
I have had my wheels rebalanced twice and had one trued in between so I feel confident they are balanced and straight.

I did a search and went through some of the suggestions, like making sure air pressure is correct, which it wasn't and after filling to the correct level, the vibration is less, but still not gone.

I am reasonably sure the bushings on the car are original and it looks like those are next on the list (need to be replaced anyways) but I was wondering what are some of the symptoms of worn bushings? How does the car handle differently?

Couldn't find anything specific using search.

Thanks!

Is the vibration all the time or at certain speeds. Tie rods?

only at ~55-65mph...and it comes and goes. It seems like if it's vibrating, I can slow down to where it stops and if I slowly gain speed, it doesn't come back.

Also, it's only in the steering wheel and shifter, if I don't touch those when it is happening, it's nice and smooth.

Hi Bret,

Pulled my rear wheels some time back to do some polishing on my 2.0 Fuchs. When I remounted them I went for a drive on a freeway and when I hit 60 mph I thought my car was going to shake itself apart. Took it home and pulled the rear wheels again and this time mounted them with the bolt holes in a cross-like fassion. I used the following sequence: Holding the wheel in place I inserted the bottom lug bolt first and then the top lug bolt. Holding the tire in place with my lower legs (strattling the tire) I applied upward pressure to center the position of the bolt holes as close to center as possible and tightened the bottom bolt first to a snug fit then went to the top lug and did the same. Not rotating the tire I then inserted the two lug bolts (L/R of center) and snugged those into place. Again not rotating the tire I torqued the lug nuts starting with the bottom lug then top, left and right lug. Did the same to the other side then took the same drive and took it to 85 mph with no vibration.

Try this, hope it helps.

Tangerine Racing makes a Hub Centric ring that centers the rear wheel for the 2.0 fuchs...buying those soon.

Al

Thanks Al...I have the wheels off so I'll try that mounting procedure when they go back on, however my shake doesn't sound as bad as yours does!

Got the hub centric rings from Tangerine and put them on this winter and went for my first drive last Sat.(had to wait for all the snow to go away!) the little vibration I had is gone. Nice quality product, make sure you clean the hub before the install and they tap in real nice. Didn't mean to hi-jack your thread, just thought you would like to know my results.

Ian Stott
Moncton
Canada

Thanks Ian...I'll give those a look, however I would think the car shouldn't vibrate if everything is working correctly:)

Also, aside from possible vibrations, what other symptoms of worn bushings?

Speed dependent vibration is usually a harmonic in the wheel balance somewhere. I'd put some time into checking that before throwing new rubber at it. Take it to a GOOD tire shop and have them simply rebalance the tires. Tightening techniques are also good. There's not really a 'right' way, but there is definitely a wrong way.

My technique is to insert all the lug nuts/bolts.
Spin all the lugs on until they're finger tight.
Beat on the tire with your fist while simultaneously tighten a lug. This will vibrate the lug into its seat. Do that for all four lugs. Finally torque them to spec.

If that doesn't fix it, then the question is if you feel the shake in the chassis or in the steering wheel. Front end vibrations usually transmit through the steering wheel.