Quote:
Originally Posted by taurussmiley
I hope you find your answer, I have the exact opposite with my 2000, it shakes horribly until you apply brake or stop. Good Luck
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Most shimmy stems from the wheel/tire. Assuming you've had it balanced (probably more than once trying to stop it), and in doing so the tech most likely would have noticed a bent wheel. The next most likely cause is bad tires. Tires can be ruined by over-inflating, which can cause belt separation and may not be noticed when looking at the tires. They also can have this happen even with the best maintenance. In this case a new set of tires is the only fix. This happened to me on a '96 Jeep Cherokee and no front-end shop could find the problem. I finally decided to sell it, and because the tires were worn, I put a new set on it. Instant gratification! Turns out that the oil change joint I had been going to for years was over-inflating the tires by at least 10 PSI every time I went there, and over time this destroyed the tires. In those days I had not yet learned to get a good gauge and check religiously every time somebody else touched the car. I have not had a shimmy problem since then on any car except one that suffered a slight bend in a front wheel.
But the Jeep was perfect after that and I kept it several more years.
I also have had the braking shimmy many times over the years, and that of course requires brake work. But you can have the braking shimmy come back if your tires are bad. This happens over many miles - when braking, an out-of-round tire or one with belt separation causes the wheel/rotor to 'rock' into the inner pad, resulting in more wear on a certain spot on the rotor. All it takes is a slight bit of play in the wheel bearing for this to happen. To cure this, you have to replace the tires and rotors at the same time.
I despise a shimmy in a vehicle but after over fifty years of driving I now have a pretty good idea on what's happening and how to fix it. Shimmy wasn't that big of a deal until they started to build the Interstate Highway system and freeways around large cities, which enabled cars to sustain highway speeds on smooth roads for long distances. This is when many drivers started having problems with it, and it became known as 'freeway hop'. Over the years the industry developed better balancing methods and better tires, but it still is a huge problem because of poor tire maintenance practices. 4WD vehicles can also get it even with perfect wheels and tires, which is why they usually have a shock absorber mounted horizontally in the steering linkage called a 'steering stabilizer'. Still, joints and bushings in the front end wear out and it can be expensive to cure.
2000 Sportage front end shake
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