Hey,
I just got my new 2001 Maxima GLE and I am noticing when I drive about 60MPH and above that me steering wheel is vibrating rapidly. I already just got an alignment and balanced the tires so I know that part is good. I did read up on the forums that it could be the bearings.... Is there any other way to tell if its the bearings other than putting it on a lift and shaking the wheels?
Any other ideas on what else I can try out?
When I brake it does not vibrate so my rotors being warped should be out of the questions.

thanks in advance

 

Jack the front of the car up and put one hand on top of the wheel and the other at the bottom of the wheel and shake it vertically to see if you get any play, if so it could be your wheel bearing. Another thing is just to rotate the wheels from the back to the front and see what happens, I know you just got them balance but its worth a shot.

 

how are the tires? are they cupped? what kind of tires (brand) ? right size tires? theirs a lot that goes into it. Did they balance them properly? I used to work at a goodyear location and ive felt every different type of vibration you could ever imagine. So tell us more and maybe we can pin point it. Any bent wheels?

 

warped rotors...common with our cars
its normally apparent when driving above 50mph (not when braking)

 

Warped rotors? What would the rotors being warped have to do with the car shaking if you aren't braking? If the brakes aren't engaged, how could the car shake? My rotors were warped very badly 2 years ago and the car didn't vibrate at all when i wasn't braking...

 

the rotors turn the same speed as your wheels. if they are warped, they arent rotating correctly which causes a vibration

 

had this happen to me,.. thats where i would look first

 

I guess the next question would be should I replace all 4 rotors?

 

the problem is normally with the front rotors since they do the majority of the braking.
you might want to have them turned first.

FYI, when you have "warped rotors", the rotors arent actually "warped". material from the pads sticks on the rotors making the surface uneven. when you get rotors turned, the material is removed.

 

Could be a tie rod, or there might be ice on the inside of the rims, or mud or something. If thats the case, take it to a DIY carwash and spray out the wheels, I have to do that everytime there is a snow storm

 

Jack the car up like said earlier. Check for play in the tire grabbing the tire @ top and bottom. Do the same from the left and right sides.
Why did you just get an alignment?? If your car needed an alignment you may have cupped tires. Run your hand across the tread and see if each line of tread is even with the rest. If one is high and the others are low or if the tires are wearing uneven then that's probably the culprit. (This also usually makes a loud road noise when cupped tires are on the rear.)
If no problems there swap the fronts to the rear. Typically when I mount/balance tires on a car I put the rims that took the least amount of weight on the front avoiding this type of concern.
I've never heard of the rotor issue..But I have seen rust behind the rotor (On the hub) cause the rotor to be slightly off causing both a warped rotor issue and vibration problem. If you do end up replacing the rotor it's a good idea to clean the surface between the lugnuts that the rotor pushes against.

If all that fails I would take the tires to get roadforce balanced. The machines are expensive and aren't that widely used YET. Roadforce balancing is 100 times better than regulaur balancing.

 

I just started having the shaking at 60+ recently, and it's annoying. I had stock 17" wheels on it before and it was fine. I just got some new aftermarket 17s and put them on my same tires (Nitto's). Discount tire mounted and balanced my wheels and tires. But they also rotated my fronts to the back. Ever since, I have that shaking at 60+ but stops at 80+.

I also thought it was the rotors. Yesterday I bought new pads and rotors and put em on. I have much smoother and firmer braking, but still have the shaking at the speeds above.

I'm thinking it's the tires. It's possible that the rear tires had waves on them like you get from having bad shocks/struts. I will now put my rears back and fronts back as before. I hope thats all. I remember on my old integra, the rear shocks/struts we bad so the rear wheels bounced alot while driving. Not really noticable bounce.. more like micro bounces, but the tires ended up with every other tread line was noticably lower. Like _-_-_-_-_ as opposed to ---------- even wear. It was weird.

I wonder though... if the rear tires (now on the front) have the waves from bouncing... can I just peel out a lot for a couple days to wear them down more evenly... ??

 

how bout u experiment and get back to us . . .

 

Could be a bent wheel rotate the front wheels to the back and see what happens. I see that all the time at work.

 

Read my post for a similar issue with my 01 GLE.

The final culprit was my lower control arms.

You may want to start with alignment and balancing, then brakes, followed by tie-rods and finally your LCAs.

How many miles on your car?

 

I have the same issue I am changing my inner tie rod strut mounts and sway bar links. I am also going to get my 20's road force balance. Hopefully this will work

 

It isnt the rotors, I have had vibration only when braking whenever the rotors starting warping. (And it isnt usually warping, it is usually residue from the brake pads caking onto the rotors.) When not braking, no vibration at all.

I would bet on a bent wheel. Just because the tire shop says it is balanced doesnt mean it is. Just as balanced as they could get it.