Greetings,

I'm new to the forum and my car. I've put 1800 miles on it, bought it 2 months ago with 40000 miles.

When I'm on the freeway, or any speed above 60, I can feel the car vibrate in a sychronous manner when there's any bend in the road. It's not just the steering wheel, its the entire car. It's not violent by any means, but if you had a buddy next to you who didn't own a Z, he'd probably ask what that vibration is. When the wheels straighten out with the road, the vibration stops. I can reproduce it every time. Instinct tells me it's balance, so I took it to the shop for rotation/balance/allignment.

Drove it on the freeway right when I got it back, it wasn't as bad, but it was still there. I've driven a lot of cars, and I've never experienced this. The shop must have handled the camber problem, but it still feels like its toed out.

Someone here must have felt this, I can't be the only Z owner who has this issue. I can deal with loud wheels (if I wanted quiet I'd have bought the G35), however this vibration has me concerned for my saftey, the wear on the tires, and the overall wear on the car from rattling.

Any ideas?

 

Tires would be my guess. What are you running on the Z?

And welcome to the forums.

 

Thx,

The tires are different on the front and back, and he just rotated them so the rear set is in front.

Fronts are Coopers now, back are original. I'll get the exact models.

Here's pics - shes cherry

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Heads up, I don't race this thing. Of the 1800 miles, I spent 1 of them killing a BMW 745L on the freeway. The rest was very easy miles. The entire car is stock.

 

Errr, can't do that

 

Its the tires. Same thing was happening to me. Now I got new tires and it rides beautiful.

 

My mistake,

They didnt do that. 225 still in front, 235 in back. Still thinking my old Eclipse.




Fronts are Bridgestone Potenza re040

Rear is Cooper Zeon Sport A/S

 

What tires did you have? Are the Coopers I mentioned previously the original ones?

FWIW, original owner has all documentation. Car was serviced according to Nissan bulletin for howling wheels around 20000 miles.

 

For the record, there is no vibration on my 04 'Z.... not sure what the problem could be though

with my stock wheels and my new wheels

 

Vibrates when you turn? Bad wheel hub?

Inspect all the sidewalls of your tires. I think at least one might a bulging/blown sidewall.

 

I'll check it out again, but I've had a trusted mechanic for 15 yrs - I sincerely hope he'd catch it.

No indications of wheel rub in the wells or tires.

I have to be going over 50 mph to notice this, so it's not something I notice putting around town unless I hit a 55 zone. Mainly on the freeway does this occur.

Beast66 seems to have experienced this issue. What I want to know is if he was using the same tires, and compare that to the tires DjC is using. As much as I'd love to be able to buy Z rated tires on a whim, good ones are expensive. I just dumped $700 into repairs today - front rotors had a nice lip on them. Awesome...



Edit: Misread hub for rub, but it runs smooth as silk under 50.

 

are your wheels in perfect condition or do they have lots of noticeable curb rash? I'm saying this because my old wheels were curbed so badly that it wasn't beneficial to balance the wheels as too much of the original metal was missing - the steering wheel was slightly wobbly above 80mph.

 

That "howling" most likely was tire feathering (it was typically described as a howl). When my tires were feathered on my 03 I could only hear it at ~25mph and below.

You could double check your new alighnment specs, but its probably not that. I would think hub bearing.

It's not too likely, but maybe check that all the weights are still adhered from the balancing. Damaged sidewall as stated above could also do it. Since the vibe only shows up at high speeds it may be a real small imperfection.

 

these are correct. it is probably your balance, purchase lifetime so you can get it as often as needed. roads are not perfect as we all know anything can through off your balance and or alignment, even leaving the shop after having them checked.

 

I bet its one of your actual wheels.........this happened to me, would happen over 55mph or so...

it was an oem wheel that had a bent inside lip......minor i swear...but once i found it...and i mean it was hard to notice.......i replaced that "one" wheel and sure enough, same tire swapped to a new oem wheel and it no longer happened..

check your actual wheels again closely with a flash light.......inside lip and all..

-J

 

I dont mean to thread jack but i need some help and dont wanto start another thread about the same thing. My problem is that when i replaced my front tires i went with a set of new cheapo's for 80 bucks a pop. Now my steering wheel shakes above 60 until about 90. I got an alignment done and it didnt make a differrence. Someone suggested that i may have a flat spot in one of the tires...does this sound likely???

 

Welcome. A knowledgeable mechanic will have to drive and inspect the car.

Wheel run out.
Worn suspension components?
Suspension damage from an accident.

 

Suspension damage from an accident


Thats what i was thinking. Did you get a carfax?

 

Wheels are in great shape, no curb rash on any of them. Tires are the same.

Car had a single owner, middle aged lady. Even came with the dealership window specs. Clean title, no accidents. Very forthright about mechanical issues which she backed up with dealership mechanic recommendations. Problems were bad A/C belt, <20 on front brakes, and it needed an allignment.

Honestly I have no other complaints about this car. Its fast, tight, doesn't rattle, responsive, comfortable, convenient...

...except on the freeway, whenever the road is not straight, the car has a mild shake like its out of balance. As soon as the road straightens, the issue instantly disappears.

Theres no howl under 25. The wheels are loud but it just sounds like the factory didn't put enough sound dampener at the wheel wells - not abnormal. Eclipse had the same deal. You can tell because high frequency sounds such as tiny rocks in the wheel wells are very apparent.

 

I agree with your first comment. I gotta get Jim to take 15 minutes out to cruise round.

I don't suspect any of the three issues you suggest. There are no other symptoms which would accompany those problems.