98 RIV Left front shakes

New member. First time posting. Good to be here. I have a 98 Riv. The left front wheel vibrates. I have changed, wheel bearings (both sides), new tires with high speed balancing, rotors and pads, half axles, the A frame on the left side. I put on two preloaded struts. This raised the front in pretty high which increased the shaking. It now vibrates while taking off, which it didn't before. The left front has always vibrated cruising down the Eway. It seems that when I brake, and the L front wheel grabs, and the entire front end shakes. I love my Riv. This is my 2nd one. The first was a 95. I sold it to a friend. He's still driving it with over 350K on it. Mine just rolled over 200K, and I want to drive it another 200K!  ANY suggestions are much appreciated.

Thanks for your response. I have been gone for a while. I drove the riv from s. Kentucky to Detroit. I shook all the way there and back. While I was there I took the riv to a pretty good mechanic I've known for years. He put it up on the hoist to check it out. He said all the bushings look fine etc. He said, the only suggestion he had was to replace the rear wheel hubs. Even then, he didn't know that would solve the problem. While driving back home, it does seems like the whole car shakes. I have rotated the wheels, new shocks all around, etc. I have not changed the rear wheel hubs. I thought when rears hubs go, they make a thumping sound? Also, he said whoever did the 4 wheel alignment, might not have done it correctly. Another thing that I think is strange, is that all 4 tires are wearing evenly. I am really perplexed. Thx.

Bushings on the Riv will look OK when they are wack.  You kind of have to go by miles/age. I had a shake that absolutely would not go away until I replaced those ^%&^%&^ control arms, although it was minimized by a very careful balance.

Whose struts did you install?

Did you measure hub, wheel rim and tire for runout? You'll need a dial gauge.

I got my shocks from Detroit Axle in Ferndale MI. I plan on calling them this afternoon to find out why, after I installed them, it brought the front end up much higher than before. The front fenders set up a good 5 inches above the tires. I know this is shifting undue weight to the back of the car. The rear air shocks are maxed out trying to keep the car level. I have not yet tested for round out.
Thx!

noteek1 wrote:

I got my shocks from Detroit Axle in Ferndale MI. I plan on calling them this afternoon to find out why, after I installed them, it brought the front end up much higher than before. The front fenders set up a good 5 inches above the tires. I know this is shifting undue weight to the back of the car. The rear air shocks are maxed out trying to keep the car level. I have not yet tested for round out.
Thx!

what was the SKU on those struts?  IF they are sitting so high something is obviously wrong. The FSM has measurements for the datum points on the chassis, maybe Abaddon can quote us how the fenders should sit.  I think the number you wanna measure is from the top of the wheel arch to the center of the axle or to the ground I forget which.

Det Axle makes rack/pinions and CV joints.  All the rest supposedly is jobbed.  Why not take a cell phone pic of the thing and send it back to Axle and ask them if that's what it's supposed to look like?