97_GXE

ok, now I'm even more pissed because I submitted the post already and I got logged out

anyway....long story short. car vibrates steadily but controlled at highway speeds. only on the highway it does this. and when you're driving 75 mph for 9 hours at a time, it's very tiring. the whole car shakes and I feel it on the floor, steering wheel, seat...everything in the entire car shakes. I've replace: steel wheels, rotors/pads, 4 struts, tires, inner tie rods (just did it last week, and am very upset that it did nothing to fix it). Still vibrates.

so, I'm thinking could it be:

1. cv joints
2. bearings,
3. regrease ball joints
4. new tires again since they are worn now
5. our cars just naturally vibrate.

acamara

Hate it when I post as well and get looged off, but ussually when I Log in and forget to click the "remember me" Box.

Now to the vibrating.

At what speed to you notice it Vibrating.

When you first notice the vibrating remove your foot from gas Pedal see it it stops vibrating. Then increase Pressure on the gas Pedal to see what happens.

If Vibration continues, place Shift lever in Neutral see if the Vibration stops. If it continues and the road is clear behind you, place in Neutral and turn Ignition off. Coast to a stop and restart Engine.

I would not replace another thing till I did more testing to try to isolate the issue. Could be Motor, Tranny, Tires

Could luck

vq4thgen4life

uh so did you get a wheel alignment after you did that last week? If not, that is your problem most likely.


I have a really bad vibration right now but I know why, its because I did not get a wheel alignment after I had replaced my front end suspension with all new bushings, Tie rods, New axles, Ball Joints, etc.


Tires- If not balanced could cause vibrations. Or old, etc.
Wheels- If you have aftermarket wheels and they are not hubcentric that can cause vibrations.
Wheel Bearings- Can also cause vibrations if they are bad or going bad.
Axles/CV Joints- Also can cause vibrations if they are bad.
Motor Mounts- If they are busted/cracked they can cause vibrations.


IMO the way you describe your vibration at high speeds that is def NOT natural/normal. Something is worn or not adjusted properly.

dwapenyi

iTrader: (3)

Maybe the guy who balances your wheels and tires, their machine is out of whack. Try another shop.

Wheel alignment does not affect vibration, it just makes your car go straight instead of wandering to the left or right.

Slamrod

iTrader: (11)

Wheels could be out of balance. Couple of weeks ago my car was vibrating violently on the highway and it turned out some snow was frozen to the inside of my rims and throwing them out of balance.

colt149

iTrader: (1)

Try this cruise your car between 55-60 miles , note for any vibration. Speed up to 70-75miles if the car start to vibrate , throttle it up to 75-85 miles (be a responsible and defensive driver while doing this test). If the car present no vibration bet 30-65 miles and start to vibrate between 70-80 miles then stop or less vibration between 85-90 miles. The main problem is tire, I have the same issue with my 2002 maxima SE with 110,000 mileage, the car vibrate at certain speed and stop vibrating at higher speed, the culprit is the Bridgestone tire. Even those tire (comes with the car )were new, I replace it with Michelin tire and went to a reputable tire center, request for high speed balancing. Problem of vibration disappear.

6cyl-97maxima

Alignment can and will cause vibrations at higher speeds. It just takes a while for your tire to wear unevenly then the vibrations start.

ac max 92

iTrader: (13)

Definately sounds like an alignment! Especially after doing tie rod ends. An alignment is rule of thumb after any suspension work. That and a combination of worn tires #4 on your list.

maxinout93

I have this same issue, car never vibrated even with bad suspension parts on the highway at speeds between 70-90mph. Since I rotated my tires and put a bridgestone tire on the driver front, I have been having this vibration even at low speeds, gets worse if someone else is in the car, and feels as if sumthing is loose, checked everything on that side and it seems to be tight, even got the wheel balanced and still shakes, I can feel it at low and high speeds of 80 plus mph it gets worse. I may put that tire bak on the rear and see if that fixes it.

mclasser

Have a reputable shop do a Road Force balance + alignment. I spent months trying to remedy a highway vibration and only a RF balance could fix it. Also look at your outer tie rods and lower ball joints.

miguel1885

it could just be the balance on your wheels... if they start after about 55mph its definitely the balance on your wheels

maxinout93

I would re-check to make sure your tightned everything bak up properly if you took the strut loose recheck, tie rod end ect. I did that today because I had a vibration on the highway, strut bolts were not as tight as the were sopposed to be and tie rod bolt either. Still has a slight vibration but not as bad as before, and of course I need an alignment, But I was doing the speed limit and passing by so many new cars, I thought my speedometer was reading wrong lol,

mista0406

iTrader: (22)

May want to check if one of your front rims are bent... Happened to me I had to replace one of mine

97_GXE

Hey everyone, thanks for all the responses. I've been out of internet for a few days. However, I did leave out a few things:

I had the alignment done already after I installed the tie rods. Handling was really bad afterwards so it would have been a safety issue had I not got the alignment done.

Also, this has been going on since I've had the car. I've done 3 alignments, 2 or 3 balances with Firestone, and bought the tires all 4 new from Firestone also. They weren't the most expensive tires, and actually were the cheapest (maybe $60/tire-205/55R16) I could find...so perhaps that may be the issue. They weren't Primewell brand, but maybe a step or 2 up. Firestone brand. But they were comfortable up until I went over the 40,000 warranty mark.

I had Firestone, the alignment place, and 2 different mechanics check everything else such as bearings/outer tie rods...but Firestone pointed to the loose inner tie road. All that ended up doing was give my steering wheel a little firmer feel to it However, I'm still convinced some new wheel bearings will make the car drive like new. Except, I don't know if that's it because a friend of mine has an Altima with bad wheel bearings and you can hear it LOUD on the highway. Mine doesn't do that.

I kind of am leaning towards the tires themselves being the issue. I know new cars are fitted with $100 a piece tires and up. But I only want to spend $400 a the most. For one they are worn and loud. I'm just going to get a whole new set and change brands or get a touring tire.

I already did that with the original 15" steelies on the car. 1 was bent. I ended up buying actual Nissan Altima steel wheels from a guy that only had 15,000 miles on them, and they were in perfect condition.

6cyl-97maxima

Then you tires are worn unevenly from BEFORE you got your alignment done. Are they worn more on the on one edge than the other? Also, I'm not sure where you live, but snow getting into the rims will seriously unbalanced them. At what speed does the vibration start?

CMax03

iTrader: (3)

rotate fronts to the back, and vice versa....or put your wheels on your buddies Altima and test drive it! What MPH does this vibration start by the way?

LuminousX

my car use to have bad control arms that cause the tires to get uneven fast, and when i would hit about 64 on the highway it would vibrate like crazy, you should jack up your tires, and try checking for shake by holding the wheels at 3 and 9 Oclock, and then at 12 and 6, if it's shaking then look for the moving parts then you have found your problem

CMax03

iTrader: (3)

Yeah I'm sure there's something worn like a LCA that is causing all this....

97_GXE

Nah, this has been going on for over 2 years in all weather lol. The vibration usually starts at around 55 mph, tends to get heavy between 55-75 mph, and gets worse when slowing down or speeding up at those speeds. Fixing the 2 inner tie rods has seemed to stop some of the real bad shudder I was getting. But I feel like alot of the vibration is coming from the tires.

I'm getting ready to buy tires this week, because from the many reviews I've seen on different tires, I think it might be the cause. The tires are not worn unevenly, as I've always had the alignment regularly. But they are just cheap passenger tires, and I'm going to upgrade to some touring tires with better quality and see if that helps.

klobbersaurus

throw your car on a hoist and spin the tires and see if you notice any weird, you could be having 2 issues,

im thinking the tires arent balanced properly, but sometimes a shaking on the seat could be one issue and the shaking on the steering wheel could be another issue

CMax03

iTrader: (3)

Well at that speed it's a balance issue! 55-75 mph is a balance issue...put your wheel/tires on your buddy's Altima and the Altima wheels on your car and see if the problem follows the wheels/tires!

maxgtr2000

iTrader: (29)

It is probably the tires. Have you ever put fix a flat in one of them? I hope not.

97_GXE

God, no! lol...I don't use that stuff. I also rarely ever get flat tires. I've only gotten a flat once in my life. I heard it pop, but I was able to get home before it went flat overnight.

lol, I can't do that. I bought the wheels on craigslist long time ago.

That said, I put my new tires on today. And they are decent tires that I researched online myself (General Tire). I have a 500 mile road trip tomorrow, so I can't say yet how they will hold up. But so far, it doesn't shake at 55-70 mph anymore.

However, there's still a 'rumble' feeling throughout the overall car. Might be time to change out those struts again. But could just be the roads though. It's nothing alarming per say, but I guess that's just the effect of having a car over 15 years old. Something about today's cars make them drive smoother and have less sound.

230

I have a 1995 that had an annoying rumble, got used to it but when other people would ride with me there would always be a what is broken comment .

I replaced all four struts and the rumbling went away. The two rear struts were very easy to replace, the front two took a little more time. I had to rotate the strut mounts on the fronts to get them to align with the holes in the strut towers. Overall a very satisfying repair.

dwapenyi

iTrader: (3)

That would only be a fair comparison if you changed every tired part in your 15 year old car. Every last bushing, LCAs, tie rods, brake rotors (yours must be warped because u said u feel alot more vibration when braking)

I would love to replace the entire front end on my car but I've done the sway bar bushings, and struts/springs. Gotta replace the valve cover gaskets, motor mounts, and I would still have many many other parts to replace to compare it to new.

Old cars just need some tlc

Patm-a32

Check the balance of ur wheels, allignment, axle, bearing, my back end vibrated when i needed a new hub assembly

97_GXE

Not when braking, but when changing speeds. I've done the rotors already...they went bad around this time last year.

So far with the new tires, there's still a bit of vibration but, the really heavy uncontrollable shaking has gone away with replacing tie rods as well.

Having just replaced the alternator AGAIN, I think I'm going to just leave it as is. And maybe by the end of the year, I'll have an i35 or q45 I looked around today and seen some good deals.

CMax03

iTrader: (3)

It sounds like maybe you don't know how to inspect nor check your suspension components to well...Rumbling or vibration is a sign that there obviously still something wrong....but not the tire issue that was causing your uncontrollable shake (Tires with broken belts), I would if I were you jack that SOB up on jackstands and inspect your suspension components for wear and play....axle bearings, LCA bushings, strut mounts, inner and outer tierod ends, lower balljoints, swaybar bushing, and swaybar links...inspect the rear suspension as well! The best tool to use would be a nice long pry bar for checking loaded components for play...Wish you were near me I would find your issue!

back2basics

iTrader: (4)

Welcome to the club.

I have had a vibration at 75-80 for years and it drove me crazy.

I changed the struts, springs, strut bushings, strut bearings and plates, lower control arms and bushings, stabilizer bar bushings, end links and bushings, wheel bearings, axles, boots and seals, ball joints, tie rod ends, power steering rack with new bushings and tie rods, motor mounts (all), subframe bushings, new kumho's, then new Michelin Pilot AS3, new wheels, rotors, calipers....have had multiple high speed and road force balances done, tried the wheels with and without centering rings and multiple re-alignments, etc. etc.

I could name off all the other crap this car has cost me besides my sanity and a ton of money that should have been better spent on a better car than this massive POS has been, but those are just the ones related to the problem at hand....their are others of course (why wouldn't their be)

And to answer your question...yes the bit ch still vibrates at that speed, I just stopped giving a crap.
I am fairly certain it will be the transmission because that will cost the most money to fix, it's this cars mission in life and it's handily beating me down.

brandnew

iTrader: (5)

My car shakes when I first take off from dead stop basicay my whole front is brand
New month old only thing I didn't change is the front strut mounts... So hopefully that's what it is

Jbroccoli78

I have the same problem on 08 Maxima. Had Roadforce balancing, 3 different sets of rims and tires including 2 different sets of factory all brand new tires. Alignment, Front end checked. I thought it might be control arm, bearings or tranny or motor mount. I feel it at about 40mph all the way up til 90 it gets worse. passenger seat shakes like a bastard. I feel it in the seats, floor, steering wheel. If you figure yours out please help.

AliasJR

so glad I entered this thread, I am having the exact same problems although I replaced the cv joints and lower control arms recently.

Car is good form 0-60 and start vibrating from 60 to 79, after 80mph is all good again

will get tires checked out

ReneeNYC

I wish you were near me, I'm having the same damn issue, vibration....50mph and up. New tires, new wheels, new rotors, new lotta sh$t, 7 alignments, multiple balance and I still feel vibration, drives me crazy!!! Only 34k miles. .....smh