All good advice, except for the lb-ft number for tightening the bolts... The
torque figure will be printed in the owners manual, and sometimes on a
sticker in the car or on the hub itself... Reason I say 80lb-ft isn't
adequate is because on my VW it's something like 88, and on my Volvo it's
only 65, some cars it's over 90, on Rolls Royce/Bently, it's something
really low, like 45 (and the knock offs on Ferrari's are something absurd
like 400) if I recall (had this discussion at a tire shop when I told a
friend of mine my Volvo only gets torqued to 65, he's used to at least
90.... they had a chart of every make and model so they could adjust their
torque wrenches accordingly).
"who_me" > wrote in message
...
> Princess418 > wrote:
>> Please help!!! I have a 2001 Cabrio. Two months ago I had my car
>> inspected and complained that it was shaking when I drived it. I had
>> an alignment done and the rotors resurfaced. After, about a month I
>> toke the car back to the same place that did the orginal work and
>> complained of the same shakes but it feels worse then before. So it
>> was suggested to get new tires which I did. I still feel the shaking
>> but it only happens when I go over 55mph and I am starting to feel
>> uncomfortable to drive it. Does anyone know what it could be ??? I
>> was thinking the rotors were not resurfaced correctly. Also, is this
>> a expensive problem??? I have already spent almost a $1,000 on this
>> problem. Thanks for your help.
>
> Resurfacing rotors is a bad idea, if they are truly "warped", the best
> thing to do is replace both the rotors and pads and properly break them
> in. "Warping" is caused by allowing the pads to touch the rotor when
> its not spinning when the rotor is hot. In otherwords, if you have to
> stop hard try to avoid coming to a complete stop. The rotors are not
> going to cause the car to shake if the brakes aren't applied. Also,
> you should make sure that all nug bolts are properly torqued, 80 ft lbs
> is good. I suppose its conceivable a dragging brake could also cause
> shaking, but thats less likely.
>
> There are a large number of possible problems, some of which could be very
> hazardous, others could be non-critical. The cost to repair completely
> depends on the problem, but they could include:
>
> 1) Worn out suspension components (ball joints, tie rod ends, strut
> bearings)
> 2) Improperly torqued bolts/nuts on suspension components
> 3) Improperly torqued lug bolts
> 4) Defective tire
> 5) Defective wheel
> 6) Improperly balanced tire/wheel assembly
> 7) Improper alignment
> 8) Car is not straight (should be detectable when they do an alignment)
>
> It shouldn't be hard to find the problem, maybe you need to find a better
> mechanic. Usually, if the problem is simply a vibration at high speed
> its tires, wheels, balance or improperly torqued lug bolts.
>
> dan