PSA for those of you with steering shakes: new findings and theories

[2021nightshade4x4]

What I’ve collected so far:

1.) Control arm bushings are extremely soft, users reported improvement after replacing with firmer material (Polybush, etc.).

2.) Alignment spec is great for low-speed and bump-forgiving, not highway comfort oriented. That’s why they benefit if you can get a little bit of positive caster in there. (Fixes the “pulling right” on road crown without compensating in a way that would cause it to pull left on a flat surface).

3.) Stock tires are only 245/60R20 on platinums. Thinner tires get squirrelly at higher speeds. Wider tires are just starting to wake up. Trade off is wide (especially flat, lower profiles) will “grab” and pull into every pothole at lower speeds.

Engineers were definitely “going” for something when they designed this, but a 60-80 MPH road warrior was not what was dialed in. Fortunately, it’s customizable to be better at this.


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[Shuutr]

It seems to have worked. No shake at 60 on the way home. Cheers

Like the OP said, it comes and goes. The more I drive, the less it comes.

 

[ahtoxa11]

Like the OP said, it comes and goes. The more I drive, the less it comes.

My theory is that the belts take a while to 'round out' after sitting and flat-spotting. It sounds a bit much, but in my experience, it can take 50+ miles in some cases for it to smooth out after sitting for a week.

At the end, it tall boils down to the steering geometry and the design particulars, which give a lot of feedback into the steering wheel. I can live with the shakes as long as they are more low low vibes rather than outright shakes. I've grown to accept it now.