I've been going around my car, trying to fix most everything within reason as the Maxima is back to being my primary vehicle, and will be especially this winter.

The front end has been vibrating worse and worse, and with the various threads I've figured its the tie rod ends, ball joints, LCAs, whatever, yet the shops who did the state inspections the last 3 years have said those are all fine.

Yesterday, I got an alignment, and no improvement. Then, I put on some new rims/tires that I got from the Tire Rack, as one of my 18x8's has been dented for some time, and finally those tires have worn out (37k on Kumho Ecsta ASX).

Couldn't believe it, the front is now smooth as silk--so all this time, it's been the tire/wheel combo. They've been rebalanced twice, so it's something about the wheels/tires themselves. It's like I'm driving a different car, and it's got 133k.

Granted this is not a typical solution, but I am very surprised to find there's nothing at all wrong with the Maxima's front end...all this time it was the aftermarket rims/tires causing the shaking. I actually ordered a new car because the shaking was getting pretty annoying at even 65-75, and I assumed it would be extensive repairs to the front end to correct it. The Maxima drives so sweetly now....

 

Probably a buckled rim?

 

Interesting. Maybe I need to install my stock whhels.

 

Yep. After driving the car all weekend and on a trip, it feels like a new car, I'm very surprised. I'm so used to the vibration and shaking, since it lasted well over the last 3 yrs., and started as early lately as of 45 mph right through 80. It really was a lousy feeling. So I guess those shops knew what they were doing in saying there's nothing wrong with my tie rods, ball joints, and LCAs. I was going to investigate the wheel bearings next.

I had two bad habits that I'll probably change--first, I only did alignments when getting new tires. That meant around every 30-35k, probably could benefit from one every 12-15k. Next, I tended to overinflate, keeping the tires around 35-37/32-34. I believe that makes the 18's while riding on 40's very susceptible to damage. Going to try 34/31 for now.

If I had known my car was fine, I'd have waited on getting a new one, but at the same time, what's done is done and we learn. The new car will have 35's on the rear, so I'm going to be even more careful about not overinflating. Plus they say run flats are more difficult to repair and I've never been a big fan of Bridgestone--I may pay $700 for a tire protection pkg., first time ever as I usually just say no to all those dealer add-ons. People are also recommending some 3M bra that costs another $600....