Can't seem to figure this one out... need advice
 

Okay so I bought my Max in March 06'. The previous owner (505max) had hit a median/curb and shattered one of the wheels. From then on the car slowly started making a vibration noise somewhere up front. It's been getting worse and worse to the point where now it is very loud and the steering wheel shakes about a 1/4" to an 1/8" back and forth at lower speeds now. So far I've replaced the driver side wheel bearing, hub and CV axle. The noise sounds like its coming from the driver side front. I dont know what else to check. I've checked for play in all the steering components and there's none. Tie rods maybe? I'm about to give up and take it to a shop and have them do a diagnosis on it which is hard for me to do, I disagree with taking my car anywhere. Any ideas or advice? thanks. :gotme:

just sell it and buy mine

I wish, I dont have that kind of money though. And Im kind of attached to this car now unfortuantly

damaged driver side control arm prolly bro i remember in my maroon 93 se i hit the curb front end over the crub and bent both control arms bro might check into the control arms being damaged how does the wheel look does it look closer to the rear of the front tire well or what?

The tire on that side may defective,the steering wheel shake/shimmy you speak of is consistant with what a bad/severely out of balance tire would do...

A bent control arm could be responsible for the damage to the the tire,but i dont think it is causing the actual "shimmy" itself...

I just had this problem with my car. The wheel would rock back and forth
at low speeds and would smooth out the faster I went. I thought it was
out of balance tires or a broken belt. I was getting gas one day and thought
the tires needed some air.Each tire had about 20 psi of pressure,so I pumped
them up to about 38ish and the wobble went away. Hope it's just that simple for you,and if not I would check for out of balance or broken belts. gl

balljoint/tierods ok?

I know it has nothing to do with tires because I've swapped the wheels and tires recently and no change. Also it's not just a shimmy problem there a rubbing/scraping/banging kind of sound with each revolution of the wheel and the steering wheel moves which each sound. I'm not sure how to check the tie rods and ball joints, I know there's no play when I move the tires back and forth and the ball joint isn't flimsy or sloppy it actually seems pretty decent.

You could jack up the front end/start it up,put it in gear/watch the front wheel movement,a good flashlight helps..



















BTW,i claim no responsibility if the car falls on your head..

Yeah I did try this also but I wasn't really watching the wheels I was trying to pinpoint the sound, maybe I'll try again and see what the wheels are doing.

Number one rule after an accident!!!! Before you buy parts MEASURE THE GD FRAME TO MAKE SURE IT ISNT BENT!!!

I did the same thing in my old Acura, and the control arm was bent. I constantly heard a grinding noise in my car. I know it's not a Maxima, but I thought this info might help.

Quick question on my Maxima. Rear Defrost doesn't work. Light switch on dash works, fuses are fine. Ideas?

Also, I never get a straight answer on how many quarts of oil actually go into my car. 3 or 4? I have a 3.0 sohc v6. I assume it's 3 because I have a 3.0 liter. help!

One last thing: How important is it to warm-up my maxima in the morning? Rule of thumb for me is about 2 or 3 minutes.

The wires that go across the glass probably have a few breaks in them..



http://i10.tinypic.com/33ae73l.jpg

Not very important,as long as don't drive it like a bat out of hell until it has warmed up a little,there really is no need to let a car sit and warm up..

Well here's a couple videos, I jacked it up and let the wheels freespin and now it sounds like its somthing in the passenger side knucle region. Just looking for some last minute suggestions before I tear it apart. thanks.

http://s143.photobucket.com/albums/r...t=P1080003.flv


http://s143.photobucket.com/albums/r...t=P1080002.flv

Sounds like a bad wheel bearing,or a bad input shaft bearing in the transmission..

I dont think it's the input shaft bearing because we rebuilt the tranny just last summer. I suppose it could be the bearing on that side.

could be anything on the suspension that's bent....
knuckle, tie rod end, warped brake rotor, bent control arm, bent axle...

I'd look for something bent in the rotating assembly... axle or wheel bearing/hub.

I've also had this exact problem recently on my chevy pickup.. bad brake line causing the fluid to not discharge from the caliper upon brake release. this caused the caliper to rub on one section of the rotor and eventually caused a SEVERE warpage and vibration issue while driving... new brake line, caliper, and rotor was required before the problem was solved (because I kept driving on it and ruined everything)

So you did actually islolate the sound to the passenger side of the car?? I thought it was the driver side?? The wheel that I broke was on the front, driver's side of the car and I really don't think that caused the problem. I broke the wheel because a median was sticking out into my lane. It was complete BS... After I broke the wheel the alignment was still good and there wasn't any vibrations... Which axle did you replace??

I've replaced everything that rotates on the driver side. In the car it feels like it's on the driver side but out side it sounds like its on the passenger side. Unfortunatly it's almost undrivable now. Which side broke when you did that reverse burnout?

I never did a reverse burnout... I did break the passenger side axle, but I replaced it... The problem wasn't there when I sold you the car and I doubt it has anything to do with how I drove the car. It almost seems like it's the passenger side axle support bearing. I can't really help too much because I'm not there, I wish I was... You should have a good mechanic take a look at it.

You drive a Cheby?
typical texan ;)

Nothing wrong with chevy.

:sprint: on the support bearing

I had the same problem when I bought mine, and it steadily got worse. It was completely shredded by the time I found it. Replaced the shaft, and it ran perfectly after that, no vibrations.

Duh.
I had my chevy longer than you :p

I get bored easy. Trading my S10 with V8 swap for another Chevy though. K5 full size blazer 4wd. More fun going offroading. Once you own a Chevy you cant have it any other way. You have to have one. Good ol' V8s.

Damn, I had a spare support bearing too. Check NWmaximas, Tony might have an extra. I sold him my spare VE30DE. It had one attached when I sold it and I don't think he needed it. Maybe MrGone has one still?

Yeah I thought about the support bearing awhile back but doubted it, seems like the only possible problem now though. If anyone does have an extra for sale let me know :thumbsup:

I have a beater truck for hauling stuff around. I wouldn't say I drive it... I've put maybe 1500 miles on it since I got it 1.5 years ago- and 500 miles of that was the drive home.

Sounds like backpedaling to me :hide:

I had that same problem and took it to the local tire shop. it turned out to be the tire belts were coming apart insite the tire.

they said I didn't have too much longer untill it would have blown out. I was pleased to find out it was someting that simple.
put your spare on the front on the side that took the brunt of the crash and see if that is it.

how's that backpedaling? the truck is a POS and I hate it, but it was free, so I'm keeping it. I spend more money on parts than I do on gasoline on it..
but yeah.. I own it.. I drive it when I have to. but it sits in the street 360 days of the year.