65 mph vibration, help me troubleshoot.

[srpowered240sx]

i have a vibration at 65 mph, feels smooth up until then. it seems to have showed up in the last few weeks, getting progressively worse. with my 18"s on it, the vibration comes though the steering wheel pretty severely. i slapped a set of 15"s on it, and the vibration is less severe, but can be felt through the steering wheel at the shifter.

ive checked play in tie rod ends, feel normal. ive checked the differential, all looks and feels well. the carrier bearing feels like it might have too much play in it, but hard to tell with all the rubber around it, no "clicking" of the bearing though, just seems to push too much from side to side and up and down.

wheel bearings feel good, all the wheels for that matter feel like they dont have any play in them. i want to know if anyone else has had carrier bearing issues, and can explain what it felt like as it went out. im getting a little frustrated having to stay below 60mph just so the car doesnt shake.

any help would be appreciated.

[cdhtang]

have you try tire balance yet? Had that problem with both 15's and 17's. After I balance the tires, the car don't vibrate anymore.

[Slappy]

Wheel out of balance , out of alignment , completely worn out tension rod bushings.....????

[1wayIsSideways]

I had this same problem i know how it is. I must have replaced half of my suspension and later found out it was my wheels. gl with the fix!

[sommmatt]

My Ford was doing the same thing after my little brother introduced one of the rims to a curb at low speed. Nothing noticable until highway speeds, the wheel was wobbling a little and vibrating ridiculously bad.

[frosti108]

well the carrier bearing is obviously suspect so i would change that out 1st.

do you think maybe the transmission mount could be bad?

[96-240]

It actually could be the transmission mount too because my s14 did the same thing at around 55. And so i put my car on the lift and since when i bought it, it was a 5spd swap i figured i would check that and what do you know it was stripped to hell and back. 110$ at local dealership fixed the most of it, the rest is my wheels.

[Ty P]

i would check to see if the tires are out of balance because it is pretty cheap and also check the front strut bearungs for play

[got chub]

some driveshafts have weights on them so they dont shake at speed. it might have come off?

[DougRoost]

Yeah, replace the carrier bearings. Oh, may as well rebuild the transmission, too. Wait, could be the flywheel. Heck, I once read on the internet that it was the kinuter valve, so replace that with a chrome one, blah, blah, blah.

As Slappy said, start with basics, just like anything else. Wheel balance is especially suspect when you move up to larger diameter wheels since they weigh more, and high speeds exacerbate this, so a vibration that you only notice at higher speeds is indicative of this. You could have thrown a weight, hit a pothole, etc. Alignment for the same reason. Also, any decent alignment shop will essentially do a free front end inspection for you since they don't want to waste time and $$ aligning a front end with worn out parts, so go there next.

[sleepyS14]

+1 wheel balance...also just for the hell of it... you might wanna make sure all your lugnuts are torqued to spec.

[Asmar]

Wheel out of balance , out of alignment , completely worn out tension rod bushings.....????

I would recommand what Slappy said. I think it might just be alignment?

[adrianfromthecastle]

jon, it sounds like a wheel/tire balance issue. Does the shaking stop after you go past a certain speed?

edit: I just realized I said bounce instead of balance

[xweav32]

my old car did this. wheel balance and lug torque, thats best bet. then go from there!

[mchkc240]

My wheels are balanced. But my car does that too... It starts to go crazy after 70mph

[binx_19]

dang, same problem plus a few others, the guy i bought it from said that it was unfixable that it was something 240sx always have done. what a lying sack of poo. not to mention the engine was "rebuilt" 80,000 miles ago.

[mchkc240]

I hate it when my car does that so that's why I always drive 75+ so it will go away

[adrianfromthecastle]

I hate it when my car does that so that's why I always drive 75+ so it will go away

LOL... definitely a tire/ wheel balance issue.

[ryan15]

yea haha I just replaced my tie rod ends inner and outer and I put poly tension rod bushings, still have the shaky steering, next stop is to check if my wheel weights are still on (got used tires put on the front 2 months ago!)

Ryan

[adrianfromthecastle]

yea haha I just replaced my tie rod ends inner and outer and I put poly tension rod bushings, still have the shaky steering, next stop is to check if my wheel weights are still on (got used tires put on the front 2 months ago!)

Ryan

depending on how used up your tires are, it may or may not be even worth trying to get it balanced. Some shops may not even offer tire balances unless you get new tires. :-/

[ryan15]

Yea I am in the market for some new front tires soon haha, so ill keep everyone updated. Just for the record though, I did replace everything related to the problem except tires, and of course I do need a slight alignment to after doing the tie rods, you can only do so much of an alignment with your eyes.

Ryan

[svenn]

+1 for balance and alignment.

I work in a tireshop while I'm getting through my apprenticeship training. Its incredible how many people we get coming in getting us to fix poorly balanced tires from other shops which cause all the vibration.

If you brought it into a dealership, its probably the first thing they'll do as well.

And more importantly then that, its about the cheapest thing you can do. If a balance doesn't do it and you get it aligned, 90% of the time, they'll tell you whats causing the problems while they're under there. Its all about parts sales for them.

[slaminsam]

Are you possibly running any spacers? I know that when i put some 5mm generic spacers on i developed the same problem.

[Loki]

I had this too...I was told it was my rotors. It was somewhat less noticeable after replacing them. Now my new one is doing it to but I don't have the motivation to do anything about it.

[srpowered240sx]

have you try tire balance yet? Had that problem with both 15's and 17's. After I balance the tires, the car don't vibrate anymore.

balanced the tires at our shop. only thing left to do balance wise is a high speed load balance.

Wheel out of balance , out of alignment , completely worn out tension rod bushings.....????

new poly tension rod bushings inserts, so its not that. alignment is gonna get checked today i hope.

well the carrier bearing is obviously suspect so i would change that out 1st.

do you think maybe the transmission mount could be bad?

carrier moves, dont know if its excessive or not, no clicking in the bearing, just the rubber surround that has play. gonna check a couple other s13's today to see if mine has more or less play. trans mount feels good and is torqued well.

i would check to see if the tires are out of balance because it is pretty cheap and also check the front strut bearungs for play

strut bearings?? if you mean the top hats, "upper shock mounts", they are new and feel fine.

some driveshafts have weights on them so they dont shake at speed. it might have come off?

didnt see any weights on mine....any idea where to look on the d/s to see if they were tossed?

Yeah, replace the carrier bearings. Oh, may as well rebuild the transmission, too. Wait, could be the flywheel. Heck, I once read on the internet that it was the kinuter valve, so replace that with a chrome one, blah, blah, blah.As Slappy said, start with basics, just like anything else. Wheel balance is especially suspect when you move up to larger diameter wheels since they weigh more, and high speeds exacerbate this, so a vibration that you only notice at higher speeds is indicative of this. You could have thrown a weight, hit a pothole, etc. Alignment for the same reason. Also, any decent alignment shop will essentially do a free front end inspection for you since they don't want to waste time and $$ aligning a front end with worn out parts, so go there next.

..............rebuild my transmission, change my flywheel.....you must be made of money to just start throwing parts at a problem. kinuter valve?? this isnt my first car issue. all my suspension parts are practically new.

+1 wheel balance...also just for the hell of it... you might wanna make sure all your lugnuts are torqued to spec.

torqued to 90#, same every time i slap on wheels. triple checked it when i swapped wheels.

jon, it sounds like a wheel/tire balance issue. Does the shaking stop after you go past a certain speed?

edit: I just realized I said bounce instead of balance

no, it doesnt seem to smooth out. but i havent really pushed it passed 75 just because of the increase in vibration.

+1 for balance and alignment.

And more importantly then that, its about the cheapest thing you can do. If a balance doesn't do it and you get it aligned, 90% of the time, they'll tell you whats causing the problems while they're under there. Its all about parts sales for them.

this is the plan today, i have a buddy at a shop that says he might have time today to look at it. the only thing that makes me think its not the tires, is it still vibrates with a set of stock 15s on it. but a load force balance and alignment inspection is next.

Are you possibly running any spacers? I know that when i put some 5mm generic spacers on i developed the same problem.

ive had 5mm spacers in the rear for a long time, never any issues.

I had this too...I was told it was my rotors. It was somewhat less noticeable after replacing them. Now my new one is doing it to but I don't have the motivation to do anything about it.

rotors look good, and it doesnt seem to change much if i put pressure on the brakes, except for going away as soon as i drop under 65.

[amolao]

Mine is been doing it for years. Replaced every single component from tires, suspension and even the steering rack "spring fix" to no avail. I'm replacing the rack bushings next month just to see what happens. This has been a major issue with early S13's. Nissan even came out with different solutions that helped sometimes. For some reason the front end is pronned to vibrations.

Check your power steering fluid, if low, it will air in the system and cause vibrations...

[srpowered240sx]

Mine is been doing it for years. Replaced every single component from tires, suspension and even the steering rack "spring fix" to no avail. I'm replacing the rack bushings next month just to see what happens. This has been a major issue with early S13's. Nissan even came out with different solutions that helped sometimes. For some reason the front end is pronned to vibrations.

Check your power steering fluid, if low, it will air in the system and cause vibrations...

good call, ill check the ps fluid at lunch, then my buddy at the alignment shop is gonna help me troubleshoot some more.

[Eddie]

I have been a tire tech. for the last 2 1/2 years so I speak from experience. These tips are assuming that the wheels and tires are true.

i) Get hub centric rings if you don't already have them.

ii) Make sure they are dynamically balanced (weights on both sides, inside and as close to outer face as possible0. A lazy tech might static balance the wheels because it is a little faster. The problem with static balancing is that it balances the wheel and tire as if it were a disc. (imagine balancing a brake rotor)

If your tires are in bad shape or in need of replacement then this third step may be a waist of money.iii.) Get a road force balance. A tire can balance and look uniform when it rolls, but still causes vibrations. The road force machine will find any run out in the rim and tire. It also measure variations in sidewall stiffness. These variations in sidewall stiffness can cause vibrations on a wheel and tire that appear to roll uniformly. The machine then indicates points on the rim and tire to match up to have an assembly that rolls a smoothly as possible. This machine will find any problems with the wheels and tires.

When ever you get new tires or have a tire dismounted and remounted, make sure the tech. lubes up the bead of the rim and the bead of the tire so the tire will seat up better on the rim. You can never use to much lube (I have made tires pass the road force machine by simply re-lubing the beads). Because beads are lubed up take it easy on your tires for a couple of days after wards. No hard braking or accelerating so the tire does not shift from the balanced position. This is hard to do, but it does help.

[srpowered240sx]

very good suggestions eddie. already have a road force balance planned today. the wheels and tires are pretty damn new, with almost no wear. they have only been statically balanced so far though. thanks for the advice.

[srpowered240sx]

just got back from my buddies shop. we did an on car balance, and can actually see the tire shake and wobble while the lip of the wheel stays stationary. guy says the tires are out of round for some reason. gonna try to road force balance tommorrow, and if they still wont balance well, gonna get different tires. ill keep this thread updated to help anyone else with the same problems out.