Started driving this morning and thought i had a flat tire, checked the tires, they are all fine. The vibration feels exactly like a flat tire or a loose wheel and at higher speeds less evident. I checked if the wheels are bolted tight and they are. As soon as I stop the noise is gone, so it seems it is coming from wheels.
Could it be the wheel bearings or the transmission? There is no noise just a dull thumping feeling. Car brakes fine , no jerking when braking. I am lost as to what it can be?

 

tires off balance, some times the weights they use to balance fall off. happens to me all the time. usually when its slippery out and i get tire spin.

 

Oh today i spoke to a friend and he told me it might be the worn out tires I have, i was meaning to replace them in a month anyways. So is it possible that worn out tires may make the flat tire sound ?
The sound is most apparent crusing around 25-35 mph.

 

Yep. If you have a flat spot or a broken belt, it'll thud like that.

 

tires 90%
bearings 10%

 

You giving an "over-under"? If so, I'll take $50 on the over! j/k

 

hey whtmax'01, i'm wondering if new tires fixed your vibration issues or not.

my 2000 se also has vibration issues. figuring it was the worn out cheapie tires i replaced them and the vibrations have not gone away. i thought the problem had something to do with the wheels because the frequency of the vibrations have a direct relationship to the speed of the car. my stock rims have some nasty roadrash from faring chicago winters but i never had issues like this before and i don't believe a bent rim could be the culprit. i'm clueless. the problem really came out of nowhere.

i really do not want to have to take it into the stealership to pay $80 to simply have them tell me what is wrong with the car... can someone tell me how to diagnose bad wheel bearings? i also have a set of jics to install but i want to make sure this problem is fixed first...

insights anyone?

 

Tires came in, but I'll mount them in 2 weeks. I' ll tell you if new tires helped as soon as they are on the car. So far, it is strange but that thumping noise went away as soon as i put more pressure into the tires, about 34psi all around. However on the highway some vibration does exist. I usually run 32psi all round, but maybe with worn out tires pressure has a greater effect.

 

darn what you used to have in them? i am at 40 in mine i think... 33 feels like a sponge.

 

The max psi on my tires is 36 psi , so i dont want to go above that, and actually 3psi feels just right.