Steering wheel shimmy at 65-75mph

[Jimbojolly]

I have an 05 base model with auto trans. It has 116K miles, I bought it with 63K. When I'm on the highway the steering wheel shimmies at 65-75mph, sometimes a lot and sometimes only a little. I have put on new tires, had them rotated front to back, and balanced twice. I had all 4 wheels alignment checked. It just passed inspection and the tires seem to wear evenly. A few times I've sped up to 80-85mph and the shimmy almost disappears. Under 65 there is no shimmy at all. The brake rotors are in great shape and I have recently changed the front brake pads.
Anyone had this problem and solved it? I read through past postings and one person posting in 2010 seemed to have the same problem as me but no solution.
I don't know if there is a connection but it also seems to pull slightly to the left, which makes me wonder if the steering rack is the issue. Any thoughts, info? THANK YOU

[lannvouivre]

Changing the brake pads without resurfacing the rotors won't do anything. The rotors will just press their pattern into the pads.

Get new rotors or have your old ones resurfaced, put a crosshatch pattern on them for bedding in, and sand your pads totally flat on some rough sandpaper.

Next, pack your sliding pins with fresh grease so that when you put them inside the caliper bracket holes, they spring out and stop with the bushings stretched a little bit when you press on them. Clean the brake hardware and bracket slots that the pegs on the pads slide in.

If that doesn't solve your issue, ask your tire guys to take the tires off and turn them 180 degrees if the machine keeps asking them to add weight, as that almost always fixes a non-balancing wheel/tire problem.

Also maybe check your wheel bearings for wear, and try inspecting your suspension components yourself.

I don't think your steering rack is the problem, either. That's not a typical problem at all. It's most likely an issue with your brakes or alignment or traction. To check for a problem with your calipers sticking, drive straight and apply your brakes, then release them while still driving forward. If it pulls to the left while braking and then pulls right when you release, a right brake line is blocked. If it pulls left and then stops pulling as hard when you release, a left brake is sticking or seizing up.

[handmedown03]

I have been dealing with this on a 03 base for sometime, changing out brake pads, rotors, swapped a wheel out for a spare. Thought I was a pretty decent mechanic after 30 years so it was killing me to not find it. No indication whatsoever of a sticking caliper. So last week I am driving to work and it does this jerking like a flat tire but I drive it into work anyway. Get out. Right caliper is stuck just enough to make the rotor hot. Replace it and what do you know? Shimmy goes away finally. Honestly i think the bracket was bent but the reman came with it and new bolts and I could care less that it was $55. It fixed it and it even came painted. A1 Cardone supposedly only does this for NAPA. What I suspect also is that as these Vibes age and the tierods get looser even the most minute drag, especially from one side will cause a shimmy. That is my experience, your mileage may vary.

[lannvouivre]

I found lubing the sliding pins to be sufficient, but they seem not to take long to dry out even though the boots are new.

[B14CK_H4WK]

Its your lower control arm bushing are bad. Check the bushings. This is assuming that you balanced the tires already, got the car aligned, and swapped the rotors and brake pads and its still shaking.

[Jimbojolly]

Well I drove the car up to 60mph and hit the breaks firmly while taking my hands off the wheel. It stopped smoothly and stayed straight. Then I took the advice of lannvouivre's post and pulled off both front wheels and checked all the suspension components. Then I pulled the caliper slide pins, which I discovered were well lubed and seemed fine. I cleaned them and put some new grease on them. I pressed the pistons all the way back and they seemed OK, but I'm wondering if one of them had been sticking a little. I am convinced that the rotors are not the problem because if they were the shimmy would be felt during braking especially. Plus, I've dealt with warped rotors a few times and this is not the problem.
Then I noticed that on the right axle there was a buildup of dirt and power steering oil which had accumulated before I changed out my slowly leaking pump about a month ago. I scraped all that sludge off the axle thinking that maybe it had thrown the axle out of balance; seemed a little far fetched but I figured it wouldn't hurt to do it. So whatever I did has fixed the problem! I've only driven the car about 20 miles and over 65 a brief amount of time but so far no shaking wheel. So either an out of balance axle, or a sticking caliper piston. If the problem comes back I will try changing a caliper, or both calipers.