A strange issue has surfaced on my maxima. At low speeds, especially between 15 and 25mph, it feels like my rear tires are ovals. The car bobs up and down, its extremely annoying! Any ideas? Maybe my rear brakes are sticking on warped rotors?

At higher speeds, above 60mph, the car gets the shakes.....i think it may just need a tire balancing. Could the issues be related? Would really appreciate some input, its frustrating as heck.

 

Good call. Either warped rotors or deposits from the brake pad's transfered and fused to the rotors.

I'd raise the rear of the car some. Then would put the car in neutral. Followed by spinning each wheel by hand until you find the problem.

It's possible that the front wheels could be causing the problem as well.

 

Hit any pot holes lately? Usually when alloy wheels hit pot holes, the rim(s) get bent and most likely leave a flat spot.

 

i have steel wheels. Its strange, because i would think a dent big enough to cause this much wobble would be very obvious visually....ill yave to inspect more closely.

 

wheel hubs may be coming off

 

A long time ago I had a 1979 280ZX that would cause the rear tires go out of round. There was something about the rear suspension that would cause tire cupping. Back in those days, you could get a tire trued to smooth out the rough edges. I haven't' seen a tire truing machine in years.

How old are your struts?

 

 

i just got the car from my uncle with 69,000 miles on it, with new front struts. Rears i'm pretty sure are original. They seem to dampen pretty well, and don't "bounce" at all when 3 of my friends push down on the rear of the car. My friend's mazda b2000 pickup is a trampoline in the back by comparison!

 

I would get the the tires balanced. They should be able to sell you if the wheels are warped.

 

good idea!

 

another possibility is old tires with flat spots from braking hard, or from excessive burnouts. Ask me how I know.

 

Wizard,

Your comment brings back a memory from 12 years ago. I had just bought my Maxima. It was in great condition, but needed tires soon.

I was going down an off ramp and around a curve. A bit faster than I thought. There were a line of cars stopped . Much closer than I had planned on.

I discovered that my 4 wheel disk brakes performed admirably. I finally came to a stop a yard behind a car. The cloud of tire smoke was both impressive and embarrassing.

Traffic started moving again once the light changed. Ker thump bounce, wiggle etc afer that.
New tire time.

The old tires died so that the car could live.

Worth the sacrifice.

 

If the car has been sitting for a long period of time without ever being moved, you can develop flat spots on the tires. Check air pressure and see if it's where it belongs. (free) LOL

And like mentioned above, check for 12/6 o'clock and 3/9 o'clock wheel bearing play when jacked up.

 

Huh....the car did sit for awhile. I currently have 35psi in all 4 at the moment, but i'll be sure to check those wheel bearings. Thanks for the tip!

 

Cool story
I've performed a few burnouts by accident on wet pavement, both my front tires were on the white crosswalk strips when i tapped the throttle a bit too hard.....same coming out of a toll booth the other day. Revved to about 5k