I just went off roading with a few friends, nothing hard at all, mostly on a marked trail along a farmers field. There were a few ruts, but again nothing crazy. Well, once we got back on the road, i noticed my steering wheel starts shaking (about a 1/4") side to side starting around 25 mph all the way to 55. The shaking seems to calm down as i accelerate and brake, but its at its worst when im going at a steady speed.

I did a search and found that bent tie rods and unbalanced wheels could be the problem.

My tie rod is slightly bent (i have a rock krawler tie rod sitting in my garage, just waiting for the ends to come in). After i bent it a few weeks ago, i re centered my steering wheel and haven't had a problem after that.

Im just having a hard time thinking its unbalanced wheels, i was only on the side of the field for 30 min tops.

Has anyone else experienced this? What else could it be? Or is it most likely the unbalanced wheels?

 

Coulda knocked a weight off or there's mud still in your rims. Mine do that after muddin.

 

Might be a wheel weight. I've scraped them soo much they are definitely lighter than when they first went in. Have the same thing, steering shimmy at about the same MPH you stated.

 

I had this problem from 50 to 55 mph. I went to Discount Tire for a balance, and now it is worse. I am going to go back and have them try again. Is it really that hard to balance a tire correctly?

 

I'm thinking that it could either be a tire wieght that was knocked off or mud. I had mud up in my wheels one time and it shook like a mo-fo.

 

Thanks for the advice, ill power wash he today and let you know the outcome!

 

Balance issue, you lost a weight.

 

like the others have said, most likely a weight got knocked off or you have mud in your wheels - common problem.

 

Sounds like the good old mud on inside of the wheel problem....happens every time I find mud or snow.

 

If a re-balance does not work, check your intermediate steering shaft, specifically going through the fire wall. I recently delt with this and the dealership had to replace the upper portion. This solved the viabrations and knocking for the time being.