Steering wheel shakes at cruise spped.

[THELMALOUIE]

I have a 2003 Forest River Georgetown 325 motor home with a Triton v10. Saturday while traveling home I filled up gas and got back on the road. About 5 miles on the road the motor home started acting funny. Driving 65mph cruise control on the following happen. going down hill or up hill (tranny shifting to lower gear)the motor home seemed fine. At cruise speed the steering wheel started shaking.Stopped later and put in 28 gals. still same thing Anyone have this problem or ideas?

[silver]

I had a similar thing happen with my Berkshire. Violent shake of the steering wheel while at speed on my last trip last year. When O queried on the forum got no replies. I did find my front tires were low by 10 PSI due to cold. Added air and things were better but not right. I was told when I got coach inspected that I had a broken Belt in the front tire. I don't know how someone could tell as it looks the same as the others to me. As my tires are due for change I plan to get new tires in the spring and have alignment on coach checked.

I have read on the forum that a lot of people are aligning their Georgetowns.

[THELMALOUIE]

My tires are at most 3 yrs. I had traveled about 250 miles that day and everything seemed fine til I left the gas station. Last alignment was 4000 mile ago. Not sure just trying to get some input. Thanks for the help.

[wana65stang]

Shaking of the wheel could be as simple as you lost a wheel balancing weight and need to rebalance tires or you have a belt shift in tire ( which usually you feel more at low speed). I don't think alignment will give you a steering wheel shake at cruising speed only (but I may be wrong).Good luck !

[wmtire]

Being a tire guy, the first thing we look at in a high speed vibration complaint is the balance.....and if the customer has put fix-a-flat products in the tire (which will cause out of balance problems at high speed).

We also see if there is mud caked on the inside of the wheel (very common down here in gumbo mud country) that also adds a lot of weight to cause the tires/wheels to be out of balance. You wouldn't believe how many we get that just washing the mud off the wheels fixes the problem. It's very common for people who travel/live on dirt roads a lot, as well as rural route mail carriers.

If the balance is good, and the tire is not separated.....then you can go to mechanical issues. Driveshaft balance, broke/loose motor mounts, transmission, etc.

[donanddona]

Don't forget to look at the steering linkage. A idler arm or inner connecting rod could be a issue. Easy to see just have someone rock the steering wheel back and forth (engine off and while in park) , just go slow with the inspection. If something is loose you should see movement that isn't normal.

[Mojojojo]

Also may be a tie rod end noticeable from underneath when doing the steering wheel test, wheel bearings can be checked with the tire off the ground check for too and bottom movement in the tire it will feel as if the lug nuts are a little loose.

[ValMelton]

check for broken or welted belt on tire, balance weight missing and such. it doesn't matter the age of the tire for a belt to shift or break. I had 4 brand new firestone tires on a car that had bad belts and I even had a warranty from firestone and they would not honor the warranty. so I have never bought their products after that. or it even can be a shock going bad

[THELMALOUIE]

Come to think about it could be mud as we were tuck the night before. Will check all those things mentioned. Thanks to all of you for your help.

[wmtire]

Originally Posted by THELMALOUIE

Come to think about it could be mud as we were tuck the night before. Will check all those things mentioned. Thanks to all of you for your help.

Yes, if you were stuck the night before, there is a high possibility you may have some chunks or more of mud stuck to the inside/outside of the wheels.

You might can go to a car wash (or if you have access to a pressure washer) and see if you can wash a bunch of the dirt/mud out of the wheels. If you have hub/center caps on your coach, it can be more problematic to be able to get to, in order to wash everything out.

Hope it's something that simple.

[THELMALOUIE]

Only think that concerns me is I drove a couple hundred miles before this started.

[extremebike]

HI!

My F550 did the wheel shake on the left front at 80 km/hr. Very annoying. I took it to the dealer and they said it was normal. I took it to a commercial truck tire place and they bead balanced it for me. No problem now!!

The beads cost $20.00 for a 19.5 inch wheel. Plus installation which they did without removing the tire. It's a cheap way to go to eliminate one potential issue and you get balanced tires. I was so happy I got the rear duallies done too.

[wana65stang]

Originally Posted by THELMALOUIE

Only think that concerns me is I drove a couple hundred miles before this started.

As I and couple of others have stated,this would lean more to a wheel balance problem, as in you lost a wheel weight.To put your mind to rest you can get your front end checked but worn steering components would give you move of a wander at all speeds not just cruising speed. Another thought is, and I HATE to say it is, while you were in fueling did you leave your rig for a period of time out of eye sight and some A- Hole loosened your wheel nuts

[THELMALOUIE]

I will check out everything everyone has mentioned, Currently it is bad weather and can not get to any of it, As far as someone tampering with the lug nuts we were with the rig all the time, I will get back to you on what I find out, Thanks again