My 00 SE was totaled and I'm looking at buying an 04 as we speak. Reading the 6th gen forums I'm getting pretty nervous reading all this info about the shimmy.

I've read pages and pages of threads. I'm seeing anything from removing the plastic, to fixing the steering, to a Hunter 9700 wheel balance.

Is there a definitive answer as to what causes this shimmy? Is it only in 04s? I did test drive two of them so far and did not see any shimmy, however I wasn't really looking for it.

Do 05s have the same problem?

 

IMO, either way just get different tires right off the bat.

It is mainly the wheel balance and the POS plastic that cause the "shimmy"

 

Does yours do it?

 

It did, until I got a wheel balance and then it did it very little until one night I was driving with my buddy in front of me and he calls me up and says that something is flopping under my car, so I pull over and it's that pos plastic crap. It was held on by 2 or 3 clips, so I just ripped it off and miraculously the slight shimmy went away! In the end I think it's more of a mental thing, I mean if your wheel is visibly shaking like crazy, then you have a problem, but if you "think" that you feel it, then it's more along the lines that you WANT to think there is something wrong...I've been in that position many times

 

Best thing to do is test drive the car.

My car has the shimmy back - probably needs new tires, new rims, new rotor, new struts and shocks, and aligned. This sucks but because of the all-too-small steering wheel bushing, anything out of the slightest perfection will cause you complete and utter dissatisfaction as your wheel flails about like a partially aborted cow.

I'd suggest getting on 05 so you won't have to worry.

Has anyone asked if we can have the steering wheel bushings replaced with bigger ones?

Joshua

 

has nothing to do with the 05's the 7's do the same thing i got a good force balance and the shimmy is gone

 

I have an 05 and I don't have and have never had a shimmy issue until Discount Tires rebalances my tires. Then they don't mount the weights correctly, so I take it back, have it corrected, and I'm off for coffee!!!! All is well.

 

Again it's all in the balance

 

I had 2 or 3 Hunter balances and it only got worse. They finally took the wheels and tires off of a brand new 05 Max on the lot and put them on my car and the shimmy has been gone for 2 years. Someone once said on here before that with enough weight you can balance a brick but it still doesn't make it round.

 

Rich96 - Check for the shimmy before buying.

The shimmy on the 6th gen is something you feel through the steering wheel. Any unusual motions, vibrations, etc that are not clearly felt through the steering wheel are another problem, NOT the infamous 6th gen shimmy. Vibrations during braking are also not the dreaded shimmy.

Find a reasonably smooth open road. Start the test around 35 mph, put the fingertips of your hands loosely on the outside edge of the steering wheel at the 9:00 and 3:00 positions, then very gradually accellerate up to 80 mph. You will probably need to test the lower speeds on a lightly travelled surface road or street, and the higher speeds on a freeway.

If at any point or range during the test, the steering wheel begins to vibrate side-to-side (noticable via both the fingertips and the eyes), the car has the shimmy. A little vibration will always be there, but if you have the shimmy, you will clearly feel the steering wheel moving more than it should.

If the car has the shimmy, it may be that the dealer can eliminate it via careful balancing and alignment or tightning the steering rack or replacing a tire(s) and/or wheel(s) or removing the plastic thing under the front or other means. But I would probably skip the car if the dealer is not willing and able to fix the shimmy before you drive off the lot.

As info, build date is inside the driver door jamb. '04s were assembled from January 2003 until July 2004. Maximas built late in that span are less likely to have a bad shimmy. My May '04 SL rides as smoothly as glass.