NYC GS4

iTrader: (2)

I'm the new proud owner of Ethan's(emax02) former Maxima. I bought it at a great price, so I was ready to spend whatever it took to bring it back to stock, as it had a few relatively minor issues. (Mainly, some weird vibration under acceleration, especially over 40 MPH).

I started out changing the warped front rotors which vibrated like crazy when stopping, it already had new front pads. I also changed the rear brake pads which were shot, but the rear rotors were surprisingly smooth. This helped a lot and some of the vibrations were adressed.

I went ahead and did the right side outer tie rod which was shot, and an alignment as well as balancing all 4 of my 18" wheels. This also improved the overall feel of the car, made everything nice and tight.

I also took out the front and rear motor mounts made(filled with Polyurethane) by Steve at Frankencar, and changed them with brand new stock motor mounts. Which made the car idle much better, overall much smoother, but the vibration under acceleration still remains.

Now, I dont even know where to start but a few intelligent people have actually told me that they think it might be the 18" aftermarket rims and nothing to do with the drivetrain. Luckily, I have a set of 2K4 Maxima 18's, so I will try those out one of these days but I have a feeling it wont change anything.

Side note, dont know whether it matters but the driveshafts were recently rebuilt by ethan.

So, looking for some opinions on how you people would tackle this?

BTW, not a newb, this happens to be my 6th Maxima, lol (94GXE, 97SE 5 Spd, 98 SE 5 Spd- SR., 96 SE V2 SC 5 Spd, 98 SE 5 Spd- Jr.)

Thanks in advance.

Sp00ks01SE5spd

It sounds like you have your work cut out for you. I dont' know anything about the history of the car but have had bent/warped aftermarket rims before. I took mine down to my local tire shop and had them put on the balance machine to find out they were bent. It shouldn't cost you more than about $20-30. The car would vibrate at about 40-45mph and 60-65mph and the steering wheel would shake.

In all honesty this is a hard thing to track down, so many things could be causing this driveshafts, bearings, tires, rims etc. I would start with rims, one good pot hole and your done. I don't know where you live but where I live its like a slalom course driving to work to miss all the pot holes.