2008 Dodge Charger vibration

Tiny
NUBANI2000
  • MEMBER
  • 2008 DODGE CHARGER
  • V8
  • 2WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 12,000 MILES
Wheel steering vibration. Started 8 months ago. Back and forth to dealer ship, no luck, I am giving up.
vibtation started suddenly, no symptoms. I had aftermarket wheels at the time. They told me the after market wheels is the problem, they suppose went out of shape. So I replaced them with original 20" dodge rims. Problem still exist, exactly the same at 60 miles hr as always never before 60 miles hr.
so they told me its the tires so I replaced them with new ones, and after balancing again, still exactly the same at 60 miles hr and up. They checked all suspension components, they said it was fine. The only thing they replaced was tie rod had little play in it on passenger side, but that did not fix sever steering wheels vibration. Balanced the wheels over 20 times at different shops, no improvement.
the only thing I noticed, that car will drift slowley to the right at high speeds 40 and over always to the right, never to left. Offcourse they aligned it 2 times, still drifted to the right, I even inflated passenger tire to 50psi and deflated the other to 25psi and still drifted to right, my steering wheels is always straight. Which is aligned. No noises or clunks from suspension, very smooth on hard roads and bumps. Please help. Very very bad steering play.
Saturday, April 3rd, 2010 AT 6:49 AM

11 Replies

Tiny
KEN L
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Hello, I have seen this problem before. It could be one of a couple of different things. First the lower ball joints or rack and pinion could have excessive play due to the previously installed large rims and tires. I have seen once were the frame had cracked causing the symptom you describe, but it is rare. Please let us know what you find so we can continue. Thanks for using 2Carpros. Com
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Wednesday, April 7th, 2010 AT 4:48 PM
Tiny
NUBANI2000
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Hello sir, thanks for replying. I had 20'aftermarket wheels according to specs. The car originally came in with 18'. Dodge has the 20' wheels option, thats when I switched to ftermarket rims with difference of low profile tires cheap yokohamas. The car drove smoothely for a year, then first vibrated I balanced them and it was fine again. After that will not balance anymore. Then put in dodge factory 20'rims. But did not cure problem. So replaced yokohama with cheap general tires, did not cure it! The car has zero accidents, garage kept. Dealer insist its wheel tire issue! So they tested thier own 18'wheels tire, test drove the car persoanlly and the vibration seemed has improved along with the alignment issue!How?
Is it coincidence that had defaulted tires two times on the row because of brand and low profile tires are more sensitive on road? I dont understand. The only thing they noticed is a tension bar bushing I beleive connected to lower control arm has minor crack on both sides but they said that would not cause vibration! Wheels are intact, no play period.
Could it be that or sway bars got weaker?What do you think?
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Thursday, April 8th, 2010 AT 6:59 AM
Tiny
KEN L
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Hello, We know for sure it is not the tires, they have been changed to many times to be the problem. If the lower ball joints are ok it sounds like the rack could be the problem. Please let me know.
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Thursday, April 8th, 2010 AT 1:13 PM
Tiny
NUBANI2000
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Yes sir the ball joints are fine. Could it possibly be rack and penion causing vibration at 60 mphs? If so why did it go bad for a car with low miles? I will check rack and penion today. Thanks
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Thursday, April 8th, 2010 AT 10:35 PM
Tiny
NUBANI2000
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Hello sir, I have not yet checked the rack and penion, but I discovered something new today during my test drive for the 50th time, and here is what I found:

driving straight line 65-70mph were steering wheel play at its worst. Steering wheel play is very bad.

Maintaing the exact same speed while the highway curves, either left or right, steering wheel play almost disappears completely during that turn or curve.

Returning the steering wheel to back to straight position, steering wheel play is back instantly!
Any ideas? Thanks
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Friday, April 9th, 2010 AT 1:18 AM
Tiny
KEN L
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It is beginning to sound more like a rack problem. Unfortunately there is no way to tell for sure except to replace the rack.
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Friday, April 9th, 2010 AT 11:23 AM
Tiny
NUBANI2000
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  • 15 POSTS
Everything checks out ok in suspension, so the only thing left is steering rack. Just wanted to know if steering rack would cause a shimmy at high speed 60 and over, although no odd sound comes out of it at all and no leaks? Do you think the previous aftermarket rims caused this due the heavy wieght of it 40ibs a wheel vs 15ibs factory?

And should I eliminate sway bars causing this?

Thanks again
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Monday, April 12th, 2010 AT 10:25 AM
Tiny
KEN L
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Yes, the aftermarket wheels could have caused this problem. The sway bars cannot cause the problem you describe. Let me know how it goes.
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Monday, April 12th, 2010 AT 12:56 PM
Tiny
NUBANI2000
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Dear sir, I have inspected the car furthermore personally. And I found what they call tension struts bushing is torn on both sides, driver and passenger. On one side, I was able to twist the rod slightley back and forth.
Would that also be a cause of vibration at high speed?
Thanks.
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Friday, April 16th, 2010 AT 12:05 AM
Tiny
KEN L
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Yes, it will, these bushing stabilize the suspension which can cause the wheel to vibrate. Please let me know how it goes.
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Friday, April 16th, 2010 AT 11:02 AM
Tiny
NUBANI2000
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Ok. Sir. Last thing I did, replaced the tension struts and road force balance tires, which I think they did a great job, although, they said it was difficult to balance these tires on road force were they had to match the rim with tires. Anyway. Test drove and my complaint about shimmying at 60mph and up had transferred into pulsating (tapping) in steering wheel without a shimmy. The higher the speed the higher is the pulsating, almost into a shimmy. It is an improvement but still cant explain the bad pulse, it feels as if the steering is vibrating but its not. Its tapping on the steering wheel, which was already there before, but transferred into a shimmy too soon.
So now I have almost no shimmy but left with bad tapping on steering wheel at all speeds after 60mph.
The only thing I noticed recently when they had the car up without the wheels, is the rotors, you can move the rotors in and out of the studs easily by hand, is that normal? Have not changed the steering rack yet because thats the most expensive part, so iam leaving that for last. What do you think? Thanks
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Monday, May 10th, 2010 AT 7:46 AM

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