Ok.. so I just got the engine running awesome and something else goes wrong

I was driving today and the wheel was shaking back and forth extremely hard, to the point where I had to pull over. I also noticed my car was pulling to the right pretty bad when I braked and it didn't feel like all 4 were working correctly.

I pulled over, checked the tires, turned the wheel side to side a few times and then limped her home. I did notice that when I hit the gas, the shaking gets worse and It's very random when this happens. Theres no real pattern to it all and it's bad enough when it happens that I'm afraid to drive the car.

Any ideas? ***** joints & swaybars were my first thought.. but all of those bushings are from 83 too, so the front end may just be wore out.

 

An alignment is in order first off by the sounds of it. After that just check if anything is loose like a TC rod or an old tie rod. Also check your rotors for warping and makes sure the calipers and pads are fine.

I'm still using almost all the factory parts up front in my Z and it scares the crap out of me but it still works lol

 

When you were stopping did the wheel feel like it was being turned out of your hand? Like the car was steering itself?

If so Check the tension rods, most likely the passenger (right) side one. If it snapped or worked loose it would cause those issues...

 

This is my first post, so hello to everyone, but here is my two cents:

My dad has a Grand Cherokee whose steering wheel shakes terribly when braking as well. It pulls to the left while braking. This is because it has a warped front left rotor... so I would check that, especially if it only happens when braking (seemingly random, but not really...)

Mine does it mostly from 55 down to 45 or so, but it helps if i pump the brakes instead of hold them down, because then they keep shaking until 20 or so.

Just thought I'd help; I think that could be your problem, though perhaps these Z cars are finicky in some other manner that would make them do this; I just picked one up so I dunno yet.

 

I'm assuming this is a bad thing... lol

I got new front rotors & when I was removing them, the nut that holds the wheel bearings / rotor assembly on wasn't even hand tight on both sides.....

This could cause a wobble.... right? The bearings seem to be in awesome condition though.

 

yes thats a BAD thing lol

 

I replaced the wheel bearings, pads and rotors and it did have somewhat of a effect.

Eventually that shake came back out of nowhere, although no where near as dramatic as it was beforehand... It's still extremely random when it happens and is starting to annoy the crap out of me

 

Are your balljoints bad?

 

OH almost forgot! Bad tires can do it too! go get them balanced

 

pretty sure I figured it out.

The tension rods and sway bar links were pretty worn out.

The bushings were all cracked, dry and pretty loose, so I just tightened the crap out of everything and ordered new bushings for the front end.

There is still a slight wobble when I edge the steering wheel left, but it's 500% better and the wheel stays dead straight & the front end feels tight again.

It's nice to be able to take semi sharp corners now without feeling like the front end is going to slide out of the car lol

 

Congrats again! lol