I have had a slight vibration in the front left wheel area when gradually turning left on certain roads. I changed the tires to see if the tire tread caused this. This was happening for a few months. I took it to nissan and payed them to tell me that nothing was wrong. Now I the problem has gotten worse. There is a click/popping noise when i turn the wheel back and forth when I'm not moving with the car on and off. There seems to be play in the wheel which makes the steering response weird. Also the car will jerk if i hit a bump going through a turn. I took it to another nissan service department and was told once again that nothing seems to be wrong. It seems as if alignment is bad because there is vibration in the wheel at 80mph to 90mph, but the car stays straight as an arrow when I take my hands off of the wheel. The nissan service mechanics checked the wheel baring and said it was fine. I don't know what is going on other than my handling is affected because of this. Please help and please don't say to search it because I have and am not finding anything. Thanks.

 

Sounds like a wheel hub!

 

is that the same as the wheel bearing? thanks i will check it out.

 

try raising the front of your car and check for any play in the wheel down to the suspension (arms/tie-rods etc).

I had the same thing happen to me and it turned out to be a busted bushing on my upper A arm.

Good luck.

 

Is there any sound associated with the vibration? The Wheel bearings are inside the hub assembly so essentially the same thing. I agree it sounds like the hub. Sounds like these techs aren't very good.

Lift the car where the problem is leaving the other front wheel on the ground. Grab the tires at the 3 and 9 o'clock position and try to shake it left and right to see if there is play. Then grab at the top and bottom, 12 and 6 o'clock position and try to shake it vertically, up and down.... see if there is play. Then also take the wheel and spin it quickly, look closely for a bent wheel, vibration, etc. Observe the inside perimeter of the wheel as well as the outside to make sure it isn't bent.

If you don't find anything there start going for the suspension... grab suspension components and try to shake them, see if you have worn bushings or loose bolts...

You may also want to try this exact same wheel hub check on the other side of the car... often times vibration can transfer through the sway bar to the other side and it may feel and sound like its the other side. These things can be real tricky sometimes and it takes a bit of effort checking everything. Service techs usually don't spend much time checking for other stuff, they work on a straight-line-only thought process because they don't have time to screw around.

You can also try some local suspension and steering shops, or other dealerships... sometimes you'll get a tech with a niche in this specific area or has experienced themselves and can find the problem easily.

 

a little bit of sound with the vibration. I appreciate all of the help. thanks