Front end Vibration 2000 Caravan

I have a problem with the front end of my minivan I feel a shudder from
the front end, which is more pronounced at speeds below 35 mph. I have had
the tires off & balanced & the brakes are fine. It is not noisy when
turning like a bearing, or clicking like a CV joint. The shop said they
could not find anything wrong with the steering or suspension, yet the
vibration is bad enough to make the steering wheel twitch.

Any suggestions or ideas?
RAndy
Thanks

 

Try rotating the front tires to the rear. See if the problem doesn't clear
up a bit.

Sometimes tires have runout just like brake rotors do. If you hit a pothole
and create hidden damage to the steel belts inside the tire, or knock the
rim itself out of true, you can create a wobble. Sometimes balancing will
fix it; sometimes not. Most of the time, out-of-balance conditions worsen
somewhat as speed increases; you seem to be saying that this is more of a
low-speed thing. That leads me to suspect tires.

Of course, this assumes you're talking about a shimmy that occurs during all
driving. If it only happens while braking, then your assessment of the
brakes is probably incorrect. And, of course, if the shop failed to do a
complete check, as it sounds like they did, they might've missed a worn
suspension component.

If they couldn't come up with an answer on this one, they didn't do their
job properly--a reproducible problem like this one is reasonably easy to
diagnose. Find another shop. On the other hand .... if you didn't ASK them
to find the problem, but instead just directed them to 'check the steering
and suspension', you really should go back and let them have another crack
at it, and stop trying to do their diagnostic job for them. Explain what
the problem is, and have them solve it. If they can't, move on.

--Geoff

 

Do you get your brake rotors shaved? I had the same problem and was informed
it was the rotors. Once I changed them, the shuddering went away.

 

A couple of things to consider: 1) symptoms of a bad inner CV joint
(clicking is symtomatic of a bad outer CV joint). With a bad inner CV
joint, you get shuttering at around 35mph and when under load (going uphill,
accelerating). 2) One of the engine mounts may be out of position. This
could cause one the axles to be pulled out of the inner CV joint just enough
to be unstable causing the vibration. The inner CV joint is designed for
this movement, but if you pull the axle out too much, it becomes unstable.

 

Have the tie rod ends checked. I had a similar problem with a 94
Caravan, that's what it turned out to be.

Jon

 

I had a similar problem in the past it was worn axles

 

check the run out of the tires in the front i would bewt they is some excessive
runout on the tire which should not be anymore than .030 and the rim even less