[chevyfreakster]

During the past 5 yrs, I noticed my van ('95 Astro, 2WD, 284,000 miles) developed a shimmy/vibration beginning at 68 mph and getting worse as the speed increases. I feel it in the steering wheel, seat, and brake pedal...not to mention things rattling in the van bed and the visors doing dances. Different tires can make it worse, or better; it's pot luck. Balancing was a waste of money, even Road Force Balancing. Over the net, I've read all the articles addressing this very problem with Astros, S-10's, Blazers, and other GM vehicles, all of them with 100,000+ miles, and not many solutions. Actually, none.

After spending hundreds of dollars on 'this and that' to no avail, my new brakes began acting up. They started surging, like the new rotors were already warped. With a spare set of turned rotors as back-up, I decided to try them. This time I replaced ALL the bearings and races. I had never replaced the inner bearings since the seals weren't leaking and the bearings looked ok. Lazy me, I know. Got the van up on I-4 (central Florida) and low and behold, the shimmy was gone. I don't mean lessened, I mean completely gone; smooth at 70 and beyond. Funny thing is: When you checked the tires for play, you couldn't feel any slop. Hell, two auto shops aligned my front-end without a word about loose bearings. HALLO-FREAKIN'-LOUYA!!! Hope this helps someone. And don't forget your axle bearings/seals too. I'm doin' those soon, to avoid my next ulcer. WOOHOO!!!

 

[TurnNburn]

I wonder if this is a FWD specific occurrence?

 

[rpina]

I hope this thread is not too old. I have the same issue. Been chasing a fine shimmy for a long time and a lot of $. Did you do the ear bearings and seals or just the front? Do you think the new brake rotors helped too?

 

[cdoublejj]

ALL new rotors need to be turned they do not turn them at the factory so they are not true out of the box.

if your having issues i might suggest but, i'm not brightest tool in shed...."chassis ears" they can help narrow down the location of the harmonics.

 

[bryancraftyhands]

I see this is a bit dated also, but it just might be an issue I'm having with one of my other rides I haven't been otherwise able to find despite as well.
This may or may not be relevant as it's a totally different year, make, model, and drivetrain config, and you may not be following anymore, but at what mileage did you NOTICE the shimmy? At the above listed 284K (Impressive! by the way)?
The other ride I'm referring to I bought used at 89k and has had it all that time, but I'm going to look into that regardless.