Hi Everyone,

I am really stumped on this one... I am experiencing some violent shaking from the car. I have a video of the shake... the shake is much worse in person than what is shown in the video. I took it to a local mechanic who inspected and drove the vehicle. He found nothing wrong with it. Just wondering if anyone knows what the issue may be?

Video of the shake:
See below for details:
-2007 Infiniti G35s (RWD) with 211,000 km's -excessive shaking occurs about once every two weeks on longer drives
-shaking seems to be oscillating or rhythmic
-if shaking occurs I will pull over for 5-10 minutes because it feels unsafe, after I start the car and drive off again, the shakes are lighter and not as violent, but still happen
-when the shaking does occur, the passenger side front wheel emits heat that is noticeably hotter than the driver side front wheel
-I'll put my finger on the rim and have to remove it after 10 seconds as it gets too hot
-after the car sits for a few hours, then the car does not shake (until it happens again maybe two weeks later)
-one instance, on my way to my destination, I had to pull over 4 times. I let my car sit for 6 hours and then drove back home with no issues
-I did the tie rod and ball joint test.. ball joints seem okay, but there seems to be play side to side? Is this movement okay for the tie rods?
-link to tie rod and ball joint test:

You Tube

-took it to a local mechanic who test drove it and put it up on a hoist for inspection... he said tie rods are fine and ball joints are a little worn, but still on okay condition and shouldn't be the cause of the shake. The vehicle wasn't experiencing the shaking while he test drove it so he couldn't find the issue
-both front bearings were replaced two years ago

Thanks in advance for any clues!
Trevor

 

That seems like an excessive amount of movement when u did it by hand.

I was gonna say might be a wheel way out of balance but u say the shaking happens intermittent, so thats probably not it. If that one tire is getting super hot I would suspect something is up with the brake assembly on that wheel.

 

First thing I would check with a vibration like that is tire/wheel related. Check your air pressure and have the tires re-balanced, and have the tire shop inspect the wheels for any damage. Try rotating the tires and see if the vibration moves with a particular tire.

That play side to side in your second video looks normal, especially if the steering wheel locked (anti-theft) when you were doing that test. Was the steering wheel moving when you were moving that tire L/R?

If the suspension is in good shape, it could be something related to the brakes (i.e. frozen caliper or rotors are really warped) Does the FR brake disc rotor look discolored compared to the other ones?

 

Yes, the shaking happens intermittently and at random, so it's really hard to determine. It is more prone to happen on longer drives so maybe it is a stuck caliper and as the car drives the rotor (probably warped?) heats up and then is hitting the brake pad?

That's my best guess at the moment. Is there any way to tes t if a caliper is stuck?

While doing the tie rod and ball joint test I didn't actually look to see if the steering wheel was moving with it. I'll have to try it again. I'll check the rotor as well again for any discoloration. The tire pressure has been checked so I don't think that is the issue.

 

Stuck caliper, you already diagnosed it when you said the wheel was excessively hot, the heat comes from the brake pad and if it's significantly hotter than the other side then the caliper is dragging.

 

Easy stuff first ... rotate your tires... if the seat or floor shakes and your wheel feels better ... balance or replace the tire(s). Alignments are never a bad idea.

Another thing to consider .... Cheap bearings can break after a few months. A bad bearing will cause heat and give you excess play / noise / vibration.

You replaced them 2 years ago. How expensive / cheap was your purchase ?

 

Yea that's a good point. They were replaced two years ago, the job costed $1000 (Canadian dollars) for both front bearings and the mechanic used SKF bearings. I did research at the time and thought SKF were decent aftermarket parts.

When the bearings first failed about two years ago, they didn't make this noise. It was just a loud and constant growl. But I guess it depends on the failure of the bearing.