Shake and Rattle
 

I'm new to this place and I was wondering if you guys and gals could help me with a small problem. My 2002 Alero has a rattle that sounds like it is coming from the front drivers side. It is quiet on smooth pavement but when I hit even the smallest bumps in the road or when I let off the gas it starts rattling. Another problem I've started having is the steering wheel shaking at speeds of 65 mph and above. I recently had the tires balanced and rotated thinking that it would help. I had to ballance them again since the shake in the steering wheel started at 60 and it only helped that samll amount. Other than that, no one I've had look at it has been able to find anything wrong with it. If you could help me out it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Garrett

tie rod ends for the shake

^^ Could be the rattle too

Cost me $97 to get it done at a shop, but you'll need an alingment afterwords ;)

tie rod end could be the shake, but IT IS the rattle. i just had the exact same problem, put in a quick strut which didn't fix it, so put on a tie rod end and had my dad align it for me, solved the problem. the part isn't too expensive, but you will need an alignment afterwards, probably just better to get it done at the same time.

Did you try alignment ? I balanced my tires at work couple of times past week and it shakes too. Try alignment, I should do it tomorrow if I find some time so I can let you know if it helps.

Btw. I just thought about it. No matter how many times you balance your tires, if the wheels are out of being aligned, it will shake and will not really make a difference. Same story with alignment. If you align tires that have been balanced long time ago, it will still shake. Go for alignment + balancing.

I've haven't seen to many alignments cause a shake as much as a pull or tire wear through bad toe and camber. But a bad tie rod end will cause a shake. Fix the tie rod then do an alignment to set toe to spec.

One easy way is jack the car up and grab the tire horizontally and wiggle. If theres alot of play without the rack turning you have a bad tie rod.

grab it vertically and if there is play - you have a bad wheel bearing

Thanks, I'm definably going to look into all of these problems. I wanna get this thing fixed asap!! Again, thanks for the help. I'll fill you in on what it was.