Questions and Answers

Shuddering Mustang Q. Hello, I have a 1995 Ford Mustang convertible, auto transmission, 3.8 engine, power steering, 94,000 miles, fuel injection, ABS and A/C. Okay, my Mustang has a vibrating, shuddering problem, when it gets to around 45 mph when your accelerating it vibrates. Sometimes it does it around 65 mph.

Now it started doing this almost a year after I got it. This is what we have had done to it so far to try and fix it.

1. New 17" rims with new low profile tires.
2. Front alignment.
3. Tires re-balanced.
4. Brake job including rotors.

It had this problem before we bought the new rims and tires, it had 15" on it then. Since I got the alignment and the brake job and the tires re-balanced and rotated (which was done about 3 months after they were originally put on the car) the car does it less often and it doesn't shudder as bad when accelerating. I've noticed something that almost never fails to make it do it. It is when you hit a bad spot in the road.

I live in S.C. and we have bad roads. It drives perfect sometimes, without shuddering at all. So my question is: what is left that it could be? U joint? Drive shaft? My tires were spin balanced could it be that they need weights on them? That was something the guy at sears said when they did the brakes and alignment.

Thanks for any help you can provide.
E.M.C

A. If the tires were balanced properly, weights would have to be put on to get the tires in balance. However, this will not compensate for any defects that may be in the tires. Out of round is out of round with or without wheel weights. But for now we'll assume that all is well with the tires.

The prime candidate here are the front struts. They have probably never been replaced and are just worn out. The other possibility is a bad P/S rack or the inner and/or outer tie rod ends.

Additional Information provided courtesy of ALLDATA

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