Hey Guys,

I've been battling this steering wheel vibration/shimmy thing for quite some time now and it's pissing me off... In about 20 mins of driving my hands would get numb from the vibrations.

I've balanced the tires 6 times... road forced 3 times at 3 different places with the hunter 9700 machine...

4-wheel alignment twice...(at the same town fair tire)...

I've remounted the wheels 3 or 4 times making sure it sits flush against the rotors and hand tightening the lugs before i lower the car...then torqued to spec (80 ft. lb).

took off all 4 wheels and played around with the tie rods, and making sure all nuts and bolts were nice and tight...

and theres STILL a slight vibration!! am i missing something here?

The vibration is very slight now, but it has a sort of low amplitude, high frequency type of vibration. Enough to get your hands numb after 20 mins of driving...

What can this be? Should I check Engine mounts... how do i check it (2007 G35x sedan)?

Please help

 

Aftermarket or OEM wheels? Condition of tires?

 

17" OEM wheels, all 4 Tires = Brand new Michelin Pilot Sport A/S Plus. Just got them installed 3 months ago. but this vibration started happening just recently... It's like you can "feel the road" on your steering wheel from 10pmh - 45mph... which is not normal. and when it hits 55mph - 60mph... the vibration is even more pronounced.

 

A few things come to mind:
- You need a new tire shop, balance and alignment specialist
- Tires could be defective
- Wheels are bent

My bet is on the third one. If the wheels are out of round, there's only so much balancing can do.

 

Hit any big potholes lately? Seen this time and again with a bent rim. Go to a wheel specialist and have them check them out, or look for a possible tire defect.

 

There is alot of things it could be.

Bent wheel (try changing wheels from front to back)
???Bad hub???
Lose strut bolts
???Bad Hub???
Lose tie rod
???Bad hub???

Is it making any sounds?

 

hmm... i dont think i hit any huge potholes lately. I always drive staring at the ground looking for potholes to maneuver around lol ("my eyes on the road"...literally ) . Also, wouldn't the Hunter 9700 tell you if the wheels are out of round? i watched the tech use the machine and saw him balance it and checked the rims, etc. and he told me the machine didn't indicate any defect in the rims... or the tires...

 

There are no sounds. Just shimmying. in the wheel...sometimes i can feel it on the floorboard when i put my left foot down.

 

i had installed new brake rotors and pads a week after i got the tires installed. It didn't show any signs of vibration until i got it re-aligned (cuz the steering wheel was not centered). Would the alignment cause the vibrations? I mean, even tho the steering wheel is straight and true, it could cause vibrations and shimmy?

 

also, i can confirm that when i press the brake pedal (moderately) and slow down from 40mph to stop, the steering wheel would vibrate even more! Could it be brakes? or engine mounts? I don't feel pulsations from the brake pedal or anything. it seems smooth except for the shaking in the steering wheel.

 

It'll figure out what's causing the vibration, but not necessarily tell you if the wheel is out of round or if the tire is defective.

Here's a simple test to see if it's the wheel or tire, it'll at least help narrow down the issue.

Swap both front wheels with the rears (tires and rim) and vice versa. If the steering wheel vibration goes away, then you know where the problem is.

 

Sounds funny, but I tell you if you have a Tire Kingdom nearby those guys are good. They eliminated such a shimmy on my girfriends Altima, and the dealer could never get it fixed. They have a laser alignment device and it seemed pretty damn high tech. I just had new rims/tires put on and my car was checked for alignment and was way out. I had it in the dealer about 1K ago and they supposedly aligned it then.

 

I have had this problem since i put new tires on my car and got new brake pads and rotors. Alignment has been done, wheels balanced many times at two different shops.
Same thing, arms get numb after twenty minutes of driving. I had this problem when i first bought the car. At that time, the dealership fixed the problem by aligning the steering wheel. But now, it is back and driving me nuts too. Please keep us posted what solution you find for it.

 

hmm.. .there is no Tire Kingdom around where I live... I think. (Boston, MA)..
Sameerg, seems like an alignment would fix the problem? maybe our cars could only be aligned at the dealership? My steering wheel is perfectly straight at the moment. Do you guys think a dealership alignment will cure this problem? ...last time the dealership aligned my car, the steering wheel was always pulling to the right...

 

I don't know, i recently had the car aligned, but I am taking it in to the dealership this Saturday for them to look at it. Let's see what they say. I am really sick of this.