This is on my Maxima- it's got over 100k miles so I understand it's not going to be perfect- but this is something I'd like to remedy if possible.
The car has an off and on shake to it at beginning around 65-70 mph and gets worse the faster I go. It is the kind of shake where you feel it in your seat, on the stick-shift, and the steering wheel. (For some reason the top of the steering wheel has a lot more of a vibration to it than the bottom- if that makes any sense?)

I replaced both of the front struts (the front left was on its way out) and rotated the tires. This helped a noticable amount, but 60-70% of the vibration is still there. So I figured of coarse, the wheels are out of balance. So I took the car to wal-mart on a friends recomendation (he says they have a very high-tech computer balancing system), and had them balanced.

Well, nothing changed- it still shakes! What else could be the problem? Is there anything I'm missing? Could it just be the tires that are on there are on the cheaper side? Or maybe the guy at walmart didn't know what he was doing with the tire balancing machine?

Any suggestions would be appreciated!

-Kyle

 

up on the balance, but will cause the symptoms that you describe. Hit any curbs? Maybe part of the suspension is bent. Has an allignment done? Can you swap your rims/tires with a fellow Max-owner to see if if caises the problem on their car?

 

I don't see the first thing you should do for this problem in that list... get an alignment!

 

try a high speed tire balance. front end alignment

 

Jack up your front end, both wheels off the ground. Use jack stands to support the car. Next get in start it up and put it in drive. Both front wheels will spin. One might move faster then the other thanks to cheap differential. Anyhow, look at the tread on the tire from the side. Watch for a "HOP" in the tire. Also look straight on at the tire, look for side to side motion. This could be caused by a bent wheel, defective tire sidewall or even a bent hub.

It's much easier to spot these problems when the wheel is spinning on the car, rather then on the balancing machine. Your wheels and tires may balance perfectly, but still have a slight bend to them.

 

i have the same problem, balancing didnt help, i was thinking may be CVjoints or wheelbearings?

 

i had a bmw with the same problem, and it turned out to be slightly warped rotors, along with alignment issues. couldn't even feel it in the pedal. check that, make sure your wheels are balanced, and don't over tighted your lug nuts. you can try swapping your wheels front to back to see if that makes a difference. if it does, it's probably a wheel problem.

mike