I believe I have even tire wear, but whenever I get on the highway the steering wheel starts to shake a little.

Does this mean the wheels need to be balanced or do I need to get an front wheel alignment? And just a toe alignment probably would do right?

 

you prolly need balance. does it vibrate at certain speed?? or all the time at any speed?

 

no its more at highway speeds..its fine locally

 

Probably balance, alignment doesnt do much for vibration. Alignment helps when you have to steer actively to go straight.

If balance doesnt help then either your rotors are warped, or you have some play in your steering rack and maybe need new tie rods.

 

cool thanks!

 

good to know..i was feeling the same thing in mine

 

If rotors are warped..wouldn't I only feel the shake on braking?

 

Warped rotors have an uneven weight distribution, so depending on the severity you could feel it just when braking or at high speeds too.

 

it could even be a shifted belt in the tire, in that case get them replaced right away and avoid a big problem

 

How can you checked if it is a shifted belt? My Maxima started doing this recently.

 

Aftermarket rims?

 

it could be water in your rims had that happen to me in my bmw, took it to the tire shop and he said that it was water, popped the tore enough and there was about 4-5 ounces of water, with that being said it could be water or unballancing, youll need an alignment when your car starts to steer to the side when you drive hands free (1 second increments only, dont want you to kill anybody )

 

what do u mean my max steers herself isnt she supposed to ? i thought thats what cruise control is made for !!!



and how does water get into tires ? if there was a hole then shouldnt the pressure go down ? maybe condensation ?

 

On a straight and flat road your car should be able to go straight under steady speed, acceleration, as well as with breaking applied. This should be for far more than one second, and if not then you have brake balance, tire, or alignment issues.

 

I had this kind of problem when I first got my 97,tried a few things like new tires,balanced and re-balanced....tried new rims tried new rotors,well one was a bit warped anyway but still didnt help. Finally I replaced the LCA's/bushings nad voila,the problem went away. I couldny figure it out cause it was so intermittent,like under 65 I didnt feel it,then at 70 I would but sometimes at 72 it would go away other times it wouldnt.

 

I asked about aftermarket rims because I had an MR2 SC that had some rims on it with a little too much offset. At certain speeds it woudl vibrate the wheel.

 

That arises because different systems have different modes of vibration, i.e. certain frequencies (and their multiples) will drive a system well and many others will not. When speed changes, the frequency driving all the attached parts changes. When you hit the right one it will be stimulated and will oscillate at that frequency, which is the vibration transmitted into the car, and what you eventually feel.

 

This is the exact symptoms that I am experiencing. Did you replace the whole LCA or just the bushing?

 

I'm betting on LCA bushings. If the LCA is not bent and/or your ball joints don't have any play in them, the bushings should be all you need. I had the same problem, and that is what solved it for me.