Steering vibration finally gone. Yeah!
01-28-2005, 06:41 AM
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2003
Posts: 129
Steering vibration finally gone. Yeah!
Well, after having to tolerate steering wheel vibration for as long as I have had my Maxima (4 years), I can finally say that it is almost 100% better. How, you ask? It could be a number of things.
1. I just changed out my stock wheels for some new aftermarket ones. Kept the same size. Except the new wheels are 2 lbs. lighter each. Lighter wheels may cause less vibration or my previous wheels may have had a bend in one of them (doubtful since my mechanic always checked them for this).
2. The new wheels came with hub centric rings. This centers the wheel more accurately on the axle. Possible fix.
3. When the new wheels were balanced, my mechanic placed the weights on the inside of the wheels. Possible fix.
Anyway, initially when I first drove the car with the new wheels, I could still feel a vibration between 60-80 mph. I thought, crap! The wheels and balancing did nothing to fix this problem. Well, at least I have new cool wheels. What the heck. Then, something strange happened a few days later. I am ready to get on the highway and I gun it like a usually do (can't help it, I drive a "pocket rocket"!) and I noticed no shake, no vibration! I go to 70 mph, no shake no vibration! I hit 80, I sense a very minimal vibration but still going steady! I take it to 85-90 mph, smooths right out! It's been this way since.
I can't explain what changed in the few days since I had the new rims put on, except that somehow the tires settled into the rims as I drove it those few days and perhaps it all came together. The car is feels much lighter now with the new rims and the ride has improved dramatically. I had given up on trying to figure out how to correct the "Maxima Vibration" and refused to spend hundreds of dollars (like some of the guys on this forum have) to correct it. But, I am glad that after replacing my old rims with new ones the problem corrected itself for the most part. I still, on occasion feel a slight vibration when going faster than 80 mph, but that is because I didn't get the wheels balanced at a shop that has a Hunter Road Force machine. That is my next step and I am sure that when I do, it will really smooth out the ride even more!
I am loving my Maxima now, more than ever!
1. I just changed out my stock wheels for some new aftermarket ones. Kept the same size. Except the new wheels are 2 lbs. lighter each. Lighter wheels may cause less vibration or my previous wheels may have had a bend in one of them (doubtful since my mechanic always checked them for this).
2. The new wheels came with hub centric rings. This centers the wheel more accurately on the axle. Possible fix.
3. When the new wheels were balanced, my mechanic placed the weights on the inside of the wheels. Possible fix.
Anyway, initially when I first drove the car with the new wheels, I could still feel a vibration between 60-80 mph. I thought, crap! The wheels and balancing did nothing to fix this problem. Well, at least I have new cool wheels. What the heck. Then, something strange happened a few days later. I am ready to get on the highway and I gun it like a usually do (can't help it, I drive a "pocket rocket"!) and I noticed no shake, no vibration! I go to 70 mph, no shake no vibration! I hit 80, I sense a very minimal vibration but still going steady! I take it to 85-90 mph, smooths right out! It's been this way since.
I can't explain what changed in the few days since I had the new rims put on, except that somehow the tires settled into the rims as I drove it those few days and perhaps it all came together. The car is feels much lighter now with the new rims and the ride has improved dramatically. I had given up on trying to figure out how to correct the "Maxima Vibration" and refused to spend hundreds of dollars (like some of the guys on this forum have) to correct it. But, I am glad that after replacing my old rims with new ones the problem corrected itself for the most part. I still, on occasion feel a slight vibration when going faster than 80 mph, but that is because I didn't get the wheels balanced at a shop that has a Hunter Road Force machine. That is my next step and I am sure that when I do, it will really smooth out the ride even more!
I am loving my Maxima now, more than ever!
01-28-2005, 07:20 AM
#2
Sounds good. I could use some lighte rims since mine are 26lbs each. You say 2lb difference and your car felt lighter, damn I bet if I got some 18lb rims I would feel weightless! I get some wheel vibrations myself and it is a pain the a$$. What are the width on your new wheels? Im going for 18x8 at 18 lbs 
01-28-2005, 07:21 AM
#3
Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,883
Originally Posted by maxsthebest
Well, after having to tolerate steering wheel vibration for as long as I have had my Maxima (4 years), I can finally say that it is almost 100% better. How, you ask? It could be a number of things.
1. I just changed out my stock wheels for some new aftermarket ones. Kept the same size. Except the new wheels are 2 lbs. lighter each. Lighter wheels may cause less vibration or my previous wheels may have had a bend in one of them (doubtful since my mechanic always checked them for this).
2. The new wheels came with hub centric rings. This centers the wheel more accurately on the axle. Possible fix.
3. When the new wheels were balanced, my mechanic placed the weights on the inside of the wheels. Possible fix.
Anyway, initially when I first drove the car with the new wheels, I could still feel a vibration between 60-80 mph. I thought, crap! The wheels and balancing did nothing to fix this problem. Well, at least I have new cool wheels. What the heck. Then, something strange happened a few days later. I am ready to get on the highway and I gun it like a usually do (can't help it, I drive a "pocket rocket"!) and I noticed no shake, no vibration! I go to 70 mph, no shake no vibration! I hit 80, I sense a very minimal vibration but still going steady! I take it to 85-90 mph, smooths right out! It's been this way since.
I can't explain what changed in the few days since I had the new rims put on, except that somehow the tires settled into the rims as I drove it those few days and perhaps it all came together. The car is feels much lighter now with the new rims and the ride has improved dramatically. I had given up on trying to figure out how to correct the "Maxima Vibration" and refused to spend hundreds of dollars (like some of the guys on this forum have) to correct it. But, I am glad that after replacing my old rims with new ones the problem corrected itself for the most part. I still, on occasion feel a slight vibration when going faster than 80 mph, but that is because I didn't get the wheels balanced at a shop that has a Hunter Road Force machine. That is my next step and I am sure that when I do, it will really smooth out the ride even more!
I am loving my Maxima now, more than ever!
1. I just changed out my stock wheels for some new aftermarket ones. Kept the same size. Except the new wheels are 2 lbs. lighter each. Lighter wheels may cause less vibration or my previous wheels may have had a bend in one of them (doubtful since my mechanic always checked them for this).
2. The new wheels came with hub centric rings. This centers the wheel more accurately on the axle. Possible fix.
3. When the new wheels were balanced, my mechanic placed the weights on the inside of the wheels. Possible fix.
Anyway, initially when I first drove the car with the new wheels, I could still feel a vibration between 60-80 mph. I thought, crap! The wheels and balancing did nothing to fix this problem. Well, at least I have new cool wheels. What the heck. Then, something strange happened a few days later. I am ready to get on the highway and I gun it like a usually do (can't help it, I drive a "pocket rocket"!) and I noticed no shake, no vibration! I go to 70 mph, no shake no vibration! I hit 80, I sense a very minimal vibration but still going steady! I take it to 85-90 mph, smooths right out! It's been this way since.
I can't explain what changed in the few days since I had the new rims put on, except that somehow the tires settled into the rims as I drove it those few days and perhaps it all came together. The car is feels much lighter now with the new rims and the ride has improved dramatically. I had given up on trying to figure out how to correct the "Maxima Vibration" and refused to spend hundreds of dollars (like some of the guys on this forum have) to correct it. But, I am glad that after replacing my old rims with new ones the problem corrected itself for the most part. I still, on occasion feel a slight vibration when going faster than 80 mph, but that is because I didn't get the wheels balanced at a shop that has a Hunter Road Force machine. That is my next step and I am sure that when I do, it will really smooth out the ride even more!
I am loving my Maxima now, more than ever!
I have 18x8 that were new in July, balanced on a top of the line wheel balancer and also aligned at the time. What a bunch of shysters they told me $25/each on the phone and only charged me $19.99 in person, just goes to show they make things up as they go along (bought tires from tire rack).
I told them about the vibration and they said my tie rod ends and lower ball joints are tight--if they weren't, they'd fail me for inspection. My theory is the shake on a higher mileage (103 in my case) Max is due to worn but not failing front end parts. If it's like a Volvo (of course different geometry) it will never be worth it to pay to replace all those bushings etc., just too expensive.
01-28-2005, 07:24 AM
#4
Originally Posted by maxsthebest
Well, after having to tolerate steering wheel vibration for as long as I have had my Maxima (4 years), I can finally say that it is almost 100% better. How, you ask? It could be a number of things.
wow 4 years you must really love your max i couldn't deal with mine vibrating for a week but luckily one wheel was just out of balance when i got new tires and it was an easy fix when i brought it back into the shop
glad to hear its running smooth tho
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