Slight shaking @ ~60mph

[MattB]

When I take my car above 60mph, a slight shaking or vibrating seems to occur. At first I thought the roads in the Williamsburg area might just suck, but I drove an Audi A4 over the same section without anything similar. I figure I just need to have my wheels rebalanced (which wouldn't surpise me because I doubt the dealer I bought the car from did it and the car has 67K on it), but is there anything else that could cause this problem?

[danielekfuj]

im not sure, i experience the same thing whenever i go >100mph. I figure it might be my hands shaking though.

[Beancooker]

Rebalance is the most likely cause. Now, if you were like me, (and a total @$$) and took a bet from a workmate that your car couldn't bake the tires to the end of the parking lot, and locked the E-brake and then floored the gas, and smoked the fronts all the way across a long parling lot, then you would have worn flat spots on the rear tires, which will give the same effect as a WAY out of balance tire, however just like my stupidity, that is not reversible. You have to buy new rear tires.

[ddgsxr504]

You could also need to rotate your tires. If they are worn on the insides unevenly it could cause vibrations above 60mph. I have had it happen to me several times.

[MattB]

You could also need to rotate your tires. If they are worn on the insides unevenly it could cause vibrations above 60mph. I have had it happen to me several times.

Might as well have that done too since they have to take the wheels off the car to balance them anyway.

[nismo1219]

yeah, in my car its just like that. my steering wheel shakes between about 70-80mph, any slower or any faster and it goes away.

[A.Tech]

1.Bad tire or tires(like mine).2.No balanced.3.bad Wheel bearing...

Those are the major 3 with vibrations.

The others include warped rotors but they have to be REALLY warped to feel them without braking...

[MattB]

1.Bad tire or tires(like mine).2.No balanced.3.bad Wheel bearing...

Those are the major 3 with vibrations.

The others include warped rotors but they have to be REALLY warped to feel them without braking...

I can probably rule out #1 and #3 because I only bought the car from a Toyota dealer six months ago and they had to do a full mechanical check on it before selling it. A bad tire would have definately been found and bad wheel bearings from what I've seen make a lot of noise even at low speeds so they probably would have found that too. Plus the car only has 67K on it and wheel bearings usually last longer than that don't they?

[ddgsxr504]

A bad tire would have definately been found and bad?

Not quite, were not talking bald on one side and tread on the other. They could be cupped or unevenly worn and you wouldn't be able to tell visually unless you broke out the depth gauge. You can still have decent tread all across the tire but if they are worn a certain way they develop unstable characteristics at higher speeds. Have your tires rotated just in case. Shouldn't cost more than $40.

[MattB]

Not quite, were not talking bald on one side and tread on the other. They could be cupped or unevenly worn and you wouldn't be able to tell visually unless you broke out the depth gauge. You can still have decent tread all across the tire but if they are worn a certain way they develop unstable characteristics at higher speeds. Have your tires rotated just in case. Shouldn't cost more than $40.

Yeah I'll have them do that when they balance the wheels.

[ddgsxr504]

Ok cool, let us know if that fixes the problem.

[A.Tech]

See the thing is.. I thought my tires were fine until I go on the highway and travel like 60MPH and I feel a slight wobble and shaking in the steering. I also can hear the sound outside.

My tire happened to be cupped/warped due to the past owner never rotating the tires. And therefore the tire is a bit uneven on one side and even on the other on the front 2. I plan I getting them changed in due time around spring.

[MattB]

See the thing is.. I thought my tires were fine until I go on the highway and travel like 60MPH and I feel a slight wobble and shaking in the steering. I also can hear the sound outside.

My tire happened to be cupped/warped due to the past owner never rotating the tires. And therefore the tire is a bit uneven on one side and even on the other on the front 2. I plan I getting them changed in due time around spring.

Yeah I'd like new tires as well. The Goodyear Eagle RS-As that came with my car suck. I want Michelin Pilot Sport All Seasons but they're $180/tire which is frankly outrageous.

[nismo1219]

The Goodyear Eagle RS-As that came with my car suck. I want Michelin Pilot Sport All Seasons but they're $180/tire which is frankly outrageous.

yeah, wait till you shell out money for a set of bfgoodrich kdw2's!!

[ddgsxr504]

Yeah I'd like new tires as well. The Goodyear Eagle RS-As that came with my car suck. I want Michelin Pilot Sport All Seasons but they're $180/tire which is frankly outrageous.

Get Federal Tires, I know quite a few people who run them and they say nothing but good things about them.

[MattB]

Get Federal Tires, I know quite a few people who run them and they say nothing but good things about them.

Cool, thanks for the suggestion, I hadn't heard of Federal tires before. I was thinking about Continental ContiExtremeContacts but they seem to have problems with flat-spotting and premature wear. I want to get more than 15K out of my tires....

[ddgsxr504]

Cool, thanks for the suggestion, I hadn't heard of Federal tires before. I was thinking about Continental ContiExtremeContacts but they seem to have problems with flat-spotting and premature wear. I want to get more than 15K out of my tires....

FRsport (NICO approved advertiser) is running a killer deal on them right now. Search the forum you will find the thread. Otherwise just go to their link on the right.

[Beancooker]

Falken FK451's. Cheap, sticky as hell, and last a long time. Best $98. tire I've ever found, and I prefer them to the Badyears that used to be on there.

[MattB]

Falken FK451's. Cheap, sticky as hell, and last a long time. Best $98. tire I've ever found, and I prefer them to the Badyears that used to be on there.

Are they all seasons? I don't want to deal with switching tires in the winter.

[WI_S14_Goldie]

DIdn't bother to read the rest...but more than likely its ur tires.

[MaximA32]

Goldie, just FYI, your sig is GINORMOUS The max size is 600x200 and yours is well beyond that. Just lettin you know.

[Beancooker]

Are they all seasons? I don't want to deal with switching tires in the winter.

They work great in the rain, and I drove around in the snow with them... all season enough I guess.

Goldie, you have 500 posts, so you know the sig rules. Fix it! Any questions, click on "sig rules" in my sig.

[MinisterofDOOM]

I wholeheartedly agree than Goodyear Eagle RS-As are total and complete TRASH. I wish Nissan would drop them as their OEM tire and go with something that doesn't suck. I can understand a tire like that on the Altima or Quest. But on the Maxima? I expect my tires' quality and value to match m car's.The original set that came on our '04 Max ended up developing major sidewall cracks on all four tires. We ended up having to replace them with another set of the same crap tire, though, because options for 245-45-18 tires were pretty limited at the time and the Maxima doesn't like the other option we tried (lots of vibration, no matter how many times we had them rebalanced). I can't wait until we can get rid of the Eagles. Fortunately, there are a lot more options on the market for that size now.

Get Federal Tires, I know quite a few people who run them and they say nothing but good things about them.

I've run federals on my car a few times. Certainly never had any complaints. They're no Proxes, but they certainly aren't bad.

Are they all seasons? I don't want to deal with switching tires in the winter.

That's always a concern for me, too. I generally just run things like the best Federal all-seasons that whatever shop I'm at has on hand.

When I replace my tires for inspection this spring, though, I think I'm going to go with some Bridgestone all seasons that look pretty good: RE960AS. They're not much more expensive than the generics I have on now, but seem to be a much better tire. They also seem like a good compromise between stickiness and tread life. They have a great rating for snow and wet traction, as well as a great rating for dry traction. Fits my needs perfectly. I'll definitely post a review once I get them on the car.

[maxhopper]

I was thinking about Continental ContiExtremeContacts but they seem to have problems with flat-spotting and premature wear. I want to get more than 15K out of my tires....

I just switched to BFG Touring T/A's from a set of Conti-touring (which I don't think they carry any more), and got 50k+ miles out of the Conti's. The Conti's I had handled great in the rain and snow (until about 40k miles), but the dry traction was a bit lacking, and the road noise was a bit excessive. So far, I am extremely pleased with the BFG's.

[nismo1219]

BFG's FTW!! woo hoo!

[MattB]

Problem solved. Rotating and balancing the tires made the shaking disappear. I never realized how smoothly the car rides at high speed until now.

[ddgsxr504]

Cool, now remember that you need to rotate your tires every 7000 to 10,000 miles depending on your driving habits ect. Basically every 3rd oil change if you want to make it easy. (considering you change your oil every 3000 miles.) In the owners manual the interval for oil changes is 7500 miles.