Vibrations in steering wheel

[CrispyFoo]

Hello,

I was wondering if I could get some advice before throwing cash at service shops, as I am significantly low on it.

I am getting severe vibrations in the steering wheel, due to vibrations from the front tires of my 2004 Saturn Ion 2 Coupe.

The vibrations begin when I enter speeds past 55 mph, BUT the vibrations only occur when I am maintaining a constant velocity...when under acceleration the vibrations disappear, both light and heavy acceleration. I have tried to find this same symptom on the web but it is not surfacing.

I am under the impression that it is one or more of the following :

unbalanced wheels
malfunctioning tie rods
worn wheel bushings
worn steering dampers

although I've come to the conclusion that it is one or more of these, all the cases of which I researched these problems do not have the specific symptom being corrected by acceleration.

Any advice before I bring it in for repair? Thnx!

[Rupe]

A few specific things to check....

Check the front end for anything worn and repair as necessary. (not likely)
Check the tires for odd wear and do an alignment if needed. (possibly due to normal maintenance)
Check the tires for an "out of round" condition and replace them if there's a problem. (tire defect or wear from above issues)
Balance the wheels / tires and / or rotate them as necessary.

Bottom line is the front tires should be free from defects and perfectly balanced. The rear tires can take a little "fudge factor" but the front needs to be right on the money.