2000 Pontiac Sunfire Car wobbles around 45-55mph.

2000 PONTIAC SUNFIRE
188,000 MILES • 2.2L • 4 CYL • FWD • AUTOMATIC
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MSEIFERT92
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My 2000 Pontiac Sunfire (FWD) tends to wobble around 45-55mph then stops at higher/lower speeds. I dont really feel it unless i have the tires rotated and balanced. I have gone to several mechanics and no one can figure out what it is.
Apr 28, 2014 at 1:53 PM
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CARADIODOC
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Common causes are a broken belt in a tire, a bent wheel, a warped brake rotor, and worn spots inside an inner cv joint housing. The wobble will be in the steering wheel when it's caused by an inner cv joint housing, and it will only occur under load. A broken tire belt will cause a shimmy in the steering wheel that you can usually see when going very slowly, as in a parking lot.
Apr 28, 2014 at 2:35 PM
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MSEIFERT92
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Tires are all new, under 1000 miles, new calipers, rotors, brake pads, lower/upper ball joints. Had a front end alignment about a month ago. haven't really driven it anywhere.
Apr 28, 2014 at 3:40 PM
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CARADIODOC
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The next step would be to measure the "lateral run-out" of the front wheels. That is done with a dial indicator that measures down to .001". If run-out is excessive, as in more than about .045", a bent wheel is a possibility, but first you would remove it and remeasure run-out on just the brake rotor. If any is found there, the new rotor would be the first suspect, but you also must check for any rust, scale, or other debris that got stuck between the rotor and hub, or between the rotor and wheel. That happens rather often, especially with cast aluminum wheels that are starting to corrode.

It's pretty common too for new rotors to be warped. A light machining will take care of that.
Apr 28, 2014 at 4:05 PM