Wheel Shake

Having trouble figuring out a wheel shake issue. When the car is cold, right after a start, I get about 4 miles of smooth driving in. Just as it seems to warm up a bit, the steering wheel begins to shake, rather hard too. It does this for about 10 miles, then it stops, and goes back to smooth for the remainder of the drive. I've checked the wheel bearings and they seem fine. Ball joints and tie rods are good. Struts are new. One thing I do notice is a heavy brake smell when I finally stop, almost like a caliper is sticking. I'm not sure if that is related to the wheel shake or not though. If it is, why does it seem to be temperature related? The wheel shake does seem to go away as I turn right as well. The faster I drive, the worse the shake. Thoughts? Thank You!

To check if the brakes are dragging, when you stop, put your hand near the wheels / brakes (don't touch them as they can be very hot if you recently used them a lot), and see if one is hotter than the others.

I've heard of a lot of different things that make the wheel shake. Its always somewhere between the steering wheel and the tires, rarely in the suspension though.

I had a wheel that busted a cord in it and had a buldge in it.
Unbalanced wheels (lost a weight perhaps?)
Bent wheels.
Bad tie rod arms.
Bad ball joints.
Bearings usually start to growl before anything noticeable happens to them.

If it seems to go away when you turn right, its more likely to be an issue with the right side as the left side is more heavily loaded in a right hand turn. Does it get worse if you turn left?

That is where I would start.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Daox

To check if the brakes are dragging, when you stop, put your hand near the wheels / brakes (don't touch them as they can be very hot if you recently used them a lot), and see if one is hotter than the others.

I've heard of a lot of different things that make the wheel shake. Its always somewhere between the steering wheel and the tires, rarely in the suspension though.

I had a wheel that busted a cord in it and had a buldge in it.
Unbalanced wheels (lost a weight perhaps?)
Bent wheels.
Bad tie rod arms.
Bad ball joints.
Bearings usually start to growl before anything noticeable happens to them.

If it seems to go away when you turn right, its more likely to be an issue with the right side as the left side is more heavily loaded in a right hand turn. Does it get worse if you turn left?

That is where I would start.

---

Gets better on a left turn. What I can't nail down is WHY it follows the same pattern every time I drive. Why good, then bad, then good again. I've never seen that before.

It was the left front brake caliper.