2000 Pontiac Bonneville steering sound

I would expect it to be a tire balance issue on the higher speed problem. Do you mean vibration?

[quote:5db279d9ff="slav84"]Steering problem
2000 Pontiac Bonneville 6 cyl Two Wheel Drive Automatic 46000 miles
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thanks. i just got the car back from mechanic. he balanced the tires. vibration still there b/w 65 and 75 mph. he said rear left wheel is bent but it's balanced (with 5 oz. weight). i'm tempted to replace wheel just to rule it out but i don't have high hopes. i'm also having a clunking noise in steerinig column - a service bulletin says it's probably the intermediate shaft - could that be causing the vibration? finally, i'm hearing a moaning sound in the rear when braking and coming to a slow stop - 2 different brands of brake pads tried. i'm thinking i might need to replace rotor. could that be connected to vibration issue?[/quote:5db279d9ff]

5 oz is a heluva lot of weight and would be very suspicious of it.

Steering shaft should not have any relation to a vibration.

The rear brakes may it they are dragging at all.

Did you do the brakes? does the emergency brake hold and fully release? The noise may or may not be an indiction of the vibration. What brands did you use?

i did not do the brakes myself. don't know brands.
one outfit did front, and then during vehicle inspection my local mechanic did rear. i've had it back to both. the first place noticed a uneven wearing on the new pad but didn't make much of it. then, the 2nd outfit replaced the pads with different brand. it was great for a while but the moan is back.
the emergency brake seems to be releasing okay.

I have seen so many crappy brake jobs by "professionals" that just don't make the grade. IF these were cleaned and lubed properly, they may hang up. Since both guys looked at them again, I would hope that it isn't the source.

Unven wear is a sign of not moving properly; may be lubrication, may be a bad caliper as a couple possibliblities.

You can try rotating the wheels so the bent rim is on the front left and see if the vibration seems worse. 5 ounces coupled with a bent rim isn't a good sign. Bent is relative though, I would have to see how bad to know better.

i just put on a different wheel from a junk yard. the balance weight was 2.5 oz. most if not all of the vibration is gone. (by the way, i had a bad motor mount replaced prior to the wheel, which the mech. thought might be the problem - that didn't help).
regarding the original steering column noise, i learned there's a technical bulletin on it and it suggests the solution is replacing the "intermediate shaft". i may replace it or live with it.
thanks for the help.

Cool, one problem down eh?

The steering shaft...to my klnowledge is strictly an annoyance not a safey concern. The original tsb said to lube the shaft...which worked only temporarily.