Minor shimmy at 60-70 mph, brand new pads and rotors.

[cji4130]

ive owned my 35x since june 09(purchased with 53000 miles, im now up to 93000). since i bought it ive had the rotors that came with it resurfaced, as well as new pads, and it continued to shimmy. i have just put on my new brakemotive kit(all four corners of the car have brand new pads and rotors) on monday. also in january i had two brand new tires put on the front, as well as a wheel balance and alignment. WTF!?!? why do i still have this minor, but annoying shimmy?

[mexillis]

Check your wheel bearings.

[anotheraznguy]

and ball joints...

[cji4130]

easiest way to check those by myself?

[szh]

And go to a good tire place and "force-balance" all four tires on a Hunter system that can do this force-balance.

What model tires are you using, by the way?

Z

[anotheraznguy]

for ball joints.. jack up car and wiggle wheel. something wiggling you have issues..
for bearing same thing.. also spin wheel and see if you hear something funky or scraping outside of standard brake pad noise...

[MOWellsinVA]

I have a similar situation with steering wheel shake that is most noticeable at 70 and above. Alignment has been done, wheel supposedly balanced, front tires are less than a year old. Within last 6 months have had front hub bearings replaced and also bushings replaced on I think the sway bars? I will have the items described above checked out ASAP.

[MOWellsinVA]

My rotors and brake pads are also less than a year old. Ball joint sounds like the first place to check.

[anotheraznguy]

so.. we just replaced out front wheel bearing. which was bad. but then we found out that the front left lower ball joint is shot so that needs to get replaced now.

[cji4130]

And go to a good tire place and "force-balance" all four tires on a Hunter system that can do this force-balance.

What model tires are you using, by the way?

Z

Nankang AS-1 all around. also id like to mention i played with my tire pressure a little bit and set them all to around 36psi. just took the car into jersey to fill up and im not sure but the shimmy feels to have diminished, is this possible from tire pressure? i mentioned in a separate thread that my tpms is not working so i checked all 4 with the oldschool tire gauge(all 4 were in the 40psi range, i dunno who did that but it wasnt me)

[CPJ LB]

I would also check the front sway bar links and outer tie rods....I just had mine replaced and the car feels really stable at higher speeds.

[wingFeather]

I usually start with the wheel balance, then replace the tie rod ends. These are the two least expensive, easiest things to tackle.

Glad to see you are on track

[atlM35]

You can try taking it up to 60mph and slam on the brakes until you're just shy of coming to a complete stop... like when you're bedding in new brakes.
Repeat 3 times and drive around to let it cool down.

Well, that worked for me on the 35. I had the shimmy when braking at high speeds. I thought the steering wheel was going to shake itself off.
Replaced the rotors and pads with new ones, but no difference. Got the new rotors replaced under warranty, but it turned out that the rotors weren't the cause. I put the car up on a lift and shook things around, everything was pretty tight. Pissed off one day, I went through the above mentioned process and the problem went away.

I can't explain if i knocked a loose part back into place or if i loosened a stuck caliper, but it didn't matter, my problem was gone.
Good luck!

[szh]

You can try taking it up to 60mph and slam on the brakes until you're just shy of coming to a complete stop... like when you're bedding in new brakes.
Repeat 3 times and drive around to let it cool down.

Yes, indeed! The above is a good thing to do with new pads and/or rotors too - it is part of the normal installation procedure, and I would do it more than 3 times too.

I agree with you on the "just shy of coming to a complete stop" ... the Infiniti procedures recommend a complete stop, and they are wrong! Rather than lining the rotor surface with a thin amount of pad material, resting a pad for a few seconds on a very hot rotor can deposit a clump of pad material right there! Sometimes you can even see the outline of the pad on the rotor.

Then this clump of deposited pad material can cause vibration when braking, and is then best removed with a resurface of the rotor - which is a waste for a new rotor or pad.

Z

[cji4130]

I live in new york city so i have to stop completely at several lights and stop signs before i can get to a long stretch of highway, do these several stops before the bedding in procedure affect the rotors or pads in any way?

[SteveTheTech]

Are you talking about a shimmy at highway speed?
or a pulsation while braking?

If it is only while driving not braking. The tires, wheels, and steering components are the primary source of your problem.

Those tires are not very good and cause all kinds of complaints when they start to wear. The aggressive tread design can wear unevenly and cause vibrations at speed.

As suggested by Z a road force balance will tell you exactly what the wheel and tire system is doing as it travels down the highway under load.

Driving within the city has probably knocked at least one of your wheels off of center. I see it all the time down here.

[atlM35]

Are you talking about a shimmy at highway speed?
or a pulsation while braking?

Good point, my brain automatically assumed the problem was while hitting the brakes... Probably because that was my most recent experience.
If you feel the shimmy even when you're not braking, could be balance, tire issues, or suspension. However, it probably wouldn't hurt to give it a try.

[cji4130]

for me, its definitely NOT when im touching the brakes. just coasting at around 60-70 mph, once above or below those speeds, its smooth sailing....wish i invested in better tires, i thought the as-1 would be fine =(

[SteveTheTech]

These cars have always been sensitive to tires. The suspension and steering should have zero play in them and transfer a good deal of road feel and tires as aggressive as those do not dampen much.

How much tread is remaining on them?

[cji4130]

the two front were purchased on jan 29th, so theres less than 1000 miles on them. the rears were originally on the front but i had them put on the back after i bought the new fronts. the rears were also purchased new, about a year ago, so id estimate they have about 11,000-12,000 miles.

[atlM35]

Sounds like re-balancing the front wheels might be a good place to start.

[MOWellsinVA]

As posted earlier, I had noticed significant shimmy at and just above 70 mph when I drove on the highway last Thursday. But when I was driving it today at the same speeds, I barely noticed any steering wheel shake at all. I can't understand why it would be so very pronounced on one day and not on another. I'm wondering if it may be more of a tire issue than steering components.

[SteveTheTech]

How is the warmer (relatively to a month ago) treating your problem?

It is probably all tires.

I have a co-worker who had a set of cheap tires that would develop flat spots over night they would go away about half way to work so every time he got to work the problem was undetectable.

[MOWellsinVA]

Steve:

Well, it has been kinda wintry here in Virginia lately. 3.9 inches of snow this past Sunday. We should have some warmer weather in the next few days; I will try running on the highway and see if the shimmy is there and in what degree.

[cji4130]

mine still isnt fixed =( im bringing my M to the dealer to have the spark plugs replaced, my TPMS reset and my transmission fluid changed, should i mention the shimmy to them, or bring it elsewhere? ive been dropping a lot of money on my M lately, what should i do first?

[Infinity_818]

I was having the same problem shaking when braking from 60 mph and up on my new to me 06 m35 after one week of owner ship, had the pads changed and resurfaced rotors, all gone except that pedal feels less firm and far distance, my mechanic said its because it needs to be driven like 200 miles and should get to normal, no bleeding is needed which I think that's what I need to bring the firm braking pedal. Am I right or is my mechanic right or are we both wrong?