utas424

my car shakes as if I need a wheel balancing or something but it shakes only between the speed of 80-100. Over and under that speed.....it's smooth. Can anyone please tell me what can be the possible reason?

Thanks in advance for your help.

digitalfish

actually that is wheel balance, it will be most noticable @45 and or @90, not sure why but thats where it's most noticed

Stardust

iTrader: (10)

Do the speed limit.

DRopinski

If you have ceramic brake pads it could be warping your rotors. Otherwise check your alignment and tire balance.

04BlackMaxx

yea i was thinkin how often u goin over 80 anyway..i do at most 75 on the thruway in a 55.

jpadayao

I have the same problem too. I brought the car to the dealer and told them about it but they won't do anything to fix it since it happens over the speed limit. I tried balancing (numerous times with different shops), alignment (with different shops) and replacing rims and tires with the same original spec 245/45/18. It started shaking after I hit a pot hole one night on the freeway and I was going fast at the time between 80-90 mph. I might replace the rotor later on and see what happens.

04BlackMaxx

Ill tell ya what, when I replaced just my wrn out 64,0000mi pads on the front I ntced a reduction in shimmy at speeds around 60. I think it might have been the worn out pads....if u have ghad ur wheels balanced and still hav e shi,mmy my advice is look at the rotors and pads.

rmd0311

iTrader: (4)

Its wheel balance... Just go to a good shop. There are many flaky shops out there...

utas424

but it only shakes between 85-100....... when i go over 100 its smooth again. So I'm confused if its because of the balancing.

xoomer.com

iTrader: (19)

Who said anything about braking? the guys said he is going 80-100 mph not braking at 80 mph

xoomer.com

iTrader: (19)

Yep lots of bad shops out there.

I had my tires installed at COSTCO and noticed slight steering wheel shake. Had costco rebalance and nothing has changed, different shake. Went to a guy I've always trusted and he showed me on the Hunter 9700 how each rim was misbalanced. Rebalanced all 4 ($60) and shake is GONE. Huray

utas424

I moved to TX not too long ago and I'm from NY. So with the traffic gone i go over 100 almost everytime i go out. ;-)

6thGenSmoke

iTrader: (1)

i dont see to many people going that fast over there in the dallas area. im from houston and go to dallas maybe once or twice a month and im the only one switching lanes and passing people just going 80 mph. its weird cause in houston thats keeping up with traffic

hpric

My guess are the rotors or it could also be a bad tire(s). when I had my TL it started doing that whenever I went over 65. turned out two of my tires were not perfectly round and it was impossible to balance them correctly. Replaced tires and all was well again.

Scope

iTrader: (5)

Either a bad wheel alignment or weel balancing. Check your tires for uneven tread wearage. One side of the tire should mostly likely be balding quicker than the other side. Usually on FWD cars the inside of the tire balds quicker than what you actually see in my own experiences. Just feel and you may notice that if you put some miles on them already.

xoomer.com

iTrader: (19)

I'm in NY and there is plenty of occassions to push it past a 100. Car rides smooth even at 120. Love it. All the cars I have driven previously would start falling apart at around 100.

On the other hand UTAS, I am sure you don't miss the f-cked up roards of NY.

utas424

To be honest with you. I do like the less trafic over in Dallas but still miss NY. nothing like NY bro.

utas424

I do see that my tires are weared out and in need of a change. I'll try your method and see if it's uneven. But the damn tires are so expensive. each costs me over $150 to $275. I'll go broke with buying all 4 tires :P

Appreciate the tip

4drsleeper

This is gonna sound crazy but I had the same problem and you wouldn't believe what fixed it. I tried the tire alignment and balance but it didn't help at all. However, when Nissan did the alignment and balance they also messed up my from bumper and had to buy me a new one. As soon as the new bumper was put on I had no more shakes. Not sure why, maybe some loose screws, plugs, bolts, whatever...but all shakes gone.

Additionally, I've had rotors turned and had new rotors put on, each time it helped with the shimmy issue. So your shaking could be a combination of several things. Do keep looking for the "one fix" wonder.

utas424

I'll keep that in mind......... Thanks bro

Marcos951

Hey Utas check your email. I think i know what the problem is. It has to do with a plastic cover underneath the radiator that if warped or not securly fastened it will cause air to go in to an area that causes vibration in the streering wheel. I hope it helps

haunt14

marco can u send me the email also, im experienceing the same problem with my max

utas424

I chekced it already and made sure its secured tight. thanks for the tip though.

Marcos951

Do you still have the problem with the car shaking though? Nissan specialist recommended that the plastic piece be removed and not put back on. After the dealer removed the plastic piece off my car the car stop shaking. after a few days of no shakes, i was skeptical that something that small was the cause of all that shaking so i securely fastened the piece back on to the car and after going for a test drive car started to shake again. So it turns out the plastic piece was warped at the front were it goes on to the bumper. To get rid of the problem I installed the piece just slightly different in the section that attatches to the bumper. I tucked the piece in to the bumper as apose to the piece being place right over it so that air would not easily go in, and placed the plastic fasteners inside out to hold the plastic cover in place. In the case this fixes your problem and you need pics of what i did let me know.

Marcos951

haunt, ill just post it what i emailed utas here for the benifit of others. I hope no one minds the length of this message. OK so I had this same problem with my max and after taking it to the dealer and them staying with the car for a few days, they did all they could including something called road forced balancing, checked the tires for unever wear and checked everything in the streering colum and suspension to make sure that everything was fastened and working properly. They could not figure this out and said that it was perhaps a common problem with my model. So i went on a test drive with a tech in a car from the dealer that was exactly like mine options and all with similar mileage (about 5,000 miles). After driving the car at speeds over 80mph and up to 105mph the car never showed any signs of the slightest shaking what so ever. Then the tech an i went on a test drive in my car, and after experiencing the shaking for himself the tech was convinced that this wasnt normal and not safe. The tech was cool about helping me out knowing that nissan might say something about the problem because the problem only occured when going at speeds of 80mph and higher. So he left a message with Nissan vibrations and drive department telling them of the problem and it occuring only at highway speeds. I guess nissan was busy during the holiday season that it took two months for them to call the dealer back. A tech was sent out to the area and diagnosed the problem. He said that some of these maximas have this problem and the cause of the problem is the plastic cover that goes attached to the front bumper and chasis. He said that these pieces are sometimes warped and allow air to go in to an area of the streeting colum that causes vibration at the steering wheel when going at highway speeds. So the Nissan specialist suggested to just remove the plastic cover, so thats what the dealer did and this got rid of the problem. After a week with no shaking, being skeptical I of coarse installed the piece back on and confirmed that this was the cause of the problem. That shaking came back once the piece was put back on and went away once it was removed. Even thought the plastic cover was the problem i managed to find a way that the cover could be placed back on my car in a slightly different way so that I could have the cover on but have no shakes occuring anymore at speeds over 80mph. I got rid of the problem for good. I would just recommend taking the cover off first to help diagnose the shakes problem. Hope this is of help.

Gianniali

iTrader: (2)

I agree, I drive 55 miles one way to work and of course back home, I drive on average 100 - 110mph most of the way. Being that I go into work at 11pm there's light traffic, car drives smooth as heck. Even at 120-130 very smooth.

Back on topic, true he didn't say anything about braking... so as most people stated, my two cents... tires and/or balancing. Though that statement about that plastic cover by the bumper is very interesting as well. Good luck.

kidd4l

Marcos951, if you have pictures, please post them. Thank you.

utas424

thanks bro...I'll try that....

Marcos951

Umm..how do i post pictures?

JWONG1399

Utas, I have experienced the same problem after I installed the Eibach Lowering Springs. Can anyone tell me the BEST set up in shocks? Much appreciated!!

InfinitiBoy

Keep bugging the dealer about it. Even say you took it to another mechanic and he said wasn't right. For my company car first they did the alignment, then changed 2 front tires. Lastly the reprogrammed the computer. And it worked fine after that. They were saying that if this doesn't work could be the transmission mounts, since it tends to shift more at higher speed. Don't know how true though.

Marcos951

The mechanic would have to confirm the problem on a test drive, and they would have to be willing to reproduce the speed velocity which is 80-100mph to help diagnose and make sure the problem is fixed after the perfomed work has been done, but not to many dealers will risk getting a speeding ticket.

Utas... One thing that i forgot to ask, do you feel the shaking comming from he steering wheel? When i had this same problem my streering wheel would kinda shake up and down as if it was bouncing. Then it would transfer the shaking to the dashboard, this is what convinced the tech that it wasnt a balancing issue. Way after this problem was taken care of I had some aftermarket wheels installed, my steering wheel started shaking from left to right at speeds of 45-65mph due to a badly unbalanced tire.

AJA_MAX

utas also if ur driving on 635 , the road has lines in it and my dad told me that it makes the car shake because that happens to me when i was going around 80-90, sorry if it doesnt help im still a noob at driving bout to get my license in 8 days, cant wait. =D

edit: if this isnt the reason i need to get my car checked too dam maxima lol

utas424

Yeah the steering wheel shakes. even the psngr can feel it. Pretty soon i'll change my tires and i'll get free wheel balancing with it. Hopefully i'll go away after that.

utas424

Your dad is right AJA_MAX. 635 does make your car shake. but i tried in other highways as well...like the 75, 183, 35.......same problem. So I'm pretty sure its not the road.

Good Luck on that license and congrats...

gen2000

One thing that has not been mentioned is the steering rack sliding force adjustment mentioned here; http://www.nissanhelp.com/Ownership/.../NTB04-084.htm
And before you say it does not apply because of the mentioned speed consider that this in effect is a motion damper. If all else fails at least ask the dealership to check it . A lot of problems have been fixed by this one adjustment. But, the adjustment has to be very subtle or the steering will be very stiff.

Marcos951

Hey Utas you havent mentioned if you tried taking off that plastic cover????? and does you steering wheel shake up and down or left to right?

GhostDeany

i have the altima and have the same problem and its from the air dam

utas424

I haven't taken off the plastic cover yet. I'll do it soon. As per the steeringwheel shake, it shakes form left to right.