Front Vibration - How much more do I have to replace
 

So I had highway vibration (which I could live with). I repacked the CV joints and noticed that the right hand side had slight pitting but not real bad and I replaced the CV Boots.

Then I had shimmy under braking and clunking over bumps so I replaced both front and lower control arms on both sides and all associated ball joints.

Now all of the shimmy has gone except for at 50 mph +/- 3mph around a left hand bend I get bad vibration and steering shimmy. Only around left bends not around right bends.

Could it be that the harmonic of the CV shimmy has changed due to the tightening of the suspension and now I'm feeling it more pronounced at a lower speed. Can a slightly worn CV joint cause large vibrations considering it doesn't click at all in slow tight turns?

or

Do I need to replace the Tie Rods and see if the tyres need balancing? (It's been like this since I bought it and had new tyres installed and wheels balanced then

I feel your pain as I have been going through the same delimma. I replaced everything as you had (made sure the tires were on the ground when Thrust bushes were torqued), got the rotors turned, put new OEM pads back on (I'll live with the dusting), had an alignment and no more shimmy, braking or turning vibrations. I do need to get the tires balanced as well but, overall no more white knuckles when braking.

Based on the speed when the vibration occurs, have the tires balanced and possibly road force matched to eliminate that as a cause.
Is it the steering wheel shaking/vibrating or can you just feel it in the seat?

wheel bearing bad? have you had the tires road force balanced (makes a difference trust me)


If the boots weren't leaking on the axles when you repacked them, I wouldn't worry about the internals of the joints being worn. How did you take the axles out for repacking, you didn't hammer on them too rough or damage the joint on removal or reinstallation did you?

Did the problem exist before you put the new tires on and had them balanced?

How many miles on your X5 and do you know what suspension work has been done in the past? Yes, you should replace the tie rod ends as part of rebuilding the front suspensions if they have the same miles on them as the rest of the suspension. Generally, when a vibration only occurs in a particular speed range it is a tire out of balance. In your case since it is only on the left side in a turn at a particular speed range it doesn't sound like a tire issue. I suggest looking over the right suspension where the weight is transferred when turning left. Even though it doesn't sound like an out of balance issue or a wheel that is not true it is the easiest 'potential' problem to eliminate. Before you do that I suggest you check the tie rods and the torque on the suspension components already replaced. Also check the sway bar links as they have about the same life as the rest of the suspension.

Thanks everyone

I actually pulled the CV joint apart and visibly inspected it, it was damaged as I said slight pitting so there is a tiny bit of play compared to a new CV joint. It could be the issue.....

I don't know, the tyres were replaced just before I bought it.....

110,000 miles on the clock, Again I don't know what work had been done but the CV boots were both split and it seems that the previous owner had done as little maintenance as possible....

The steering wheel visibly shakes in my hands, it was only ever minor before replacing half the suspension components but now that I've replaced most of them it's got much worse (but as I said about 10 mph slower than before). Its almost like they were allowing the overall vibration to be dampened and now they cannot do that as they are tight.

Would the sway bar links really cause a vibration issue? I understand they may play havoc with the rolling characteristics during hard turn driving but not around a countryside bend....


My thoughts are that the CV joint is causing a slight vibration that is at its resonant frequency at 50mph and the tie rod end is worn allowing the vibration to violently shake the steering wheel......

Anyone agree or disagree with that thought?

It doesn't sound like sway bar links are the problem but they are easy to check, not that costly and easy to replace. The sway bar is restricting suspension roll so if a link is "broken" there will be more body roll which will result in more load on the wheel on the outside of a turn and less load on the wheel on the inside. 50 +- 3 mph could be just the load or unload point to cause your shimmy. CV joints should make a clicking or clunking noise if they are bad. Jack up your X5, put the transmission in park and see if you can turn the wheels forward and back. Those are two most common symtoms of a CV issue. I suppose it could be the combination you suggest but even then I would replace normal wear suspension parts before replacing CV joint. The tie rod ends are part of normal front suspension wear parts.

It doesn't sound like a wheel out of balance because it is only when turning left. I still would try that first just because it is cheap and the shimmy is at a narrow range of mph.

If that is not a cure I would complete the front suspension rebuild. if you do all that is left to replace you will save yourself the time it takes to tear it done twice and the one of the two alignments you will need.

If you are not sure of the parts you need you can see a suspension rebuild kit at ecstuning.com. Be sure to replace the nuts and bolts and do final torque with wheels on the ground.

I've ordered new tie rod ends and a replacement CV joint and will replace them soon.... hopefully that'll be the end of it

Recently, I am having some issues with clunking from the the left from. So after much research and reading posts on this board I purchased to sway link bars and replaced both fronts. However, i am still having this clunking noise from the left front whenever I go over bump at low speed. Where do I go from here.