steering wheel shakes pretty bad on the highway at all speeds. I'm gonna balance the wheels and do an alignment next week. Is there something else I should check too?

thanks

 

Balance and align first. If vibration is not gone then you have an out of round tire. Have a friend drive your car at vibration speed on smooth road and stick your head out and have a good look at all wheels. It's easy to spot which tire is bad.

 

is an alignment necessary since I had one last year around August? I'm just gonna balance them first and then see whats next

 

Steering wheel shake usually indicates one or both front tires need balancing. If you felt the vibration in the seat of your pants, this would indicate rear tire balancing. Try these first before you spend the $ on an alignment!

 

check your shocks. front shocks may be dead. if vibrating persists after alingment and balancing, then theres your problem.

 

well if you hit a curb drifting...

 

check the tires, you must.

 

Rotate the rear tires to the front. If you still feel the shaking, it could be an alignment. It could also be that all of your tires are unbalanced or out of round. How much tread remains?

 

no I didn't hit anything with it.

 

I will Monday......around 70%

 

in addition to having the wheels balanced and checking alignment and such, you can also check for loose (or missing) wheel studs/nuts. also, the rims could be bent which could cause similar vibrations.