Car Shaking

[rpj1984]

Hey guys, I noticed my car shaking a little bit as I got to higher speeds(60mph+) and got worse as I went faster. So I took it to get my rims balance & rotated and it seems to be worse. The next day I went back b/c maybe they did something wrong. They put it up again and it still shakes.he steering wheel shakes back and forth at almost any speed now. I am out of ideas. Could it be needing an alignment? But this was done 3,000miles ago. Any help/ideas is greatly appreciated.
Ryan

[rezzle]

Been running in any mud lately?
mud could unbalance the wheels


How worn are your tires and how aggressive is your driving?
You could be getting a separated tread or belt. (an indication of this is a slight bulge on one area of the tread.)


Have you had you car parked in storage for the last 6-months to a year?
Sometimes tires can go out of round and never really recover.


Find a valve stem remover and drive to an air pump and drain one tire flat and see if any - like a lot - of moisture comes out. (preferably front cuz that is where you are shaking)


Look carefully at the rims and see if the balancing weights have fallen off.

[Xenon]

My car used to shake like crazy! Everyone I went to gave me a different story (Crappy tire told me my fron Axle was bent!!!! )

It turned out that my front tires had flat spots on them, check your tires for flat spots and warps!

[Nick]

try putting some other tires/rims on, like winter tires if you have some

or a friend's that has the same bolt patern

[rpj1984]

Ok guys, thanks a lot for your input. I just have a few questions.
Rezzle-
With the valve stem remover, are you just saying to flatten the tire and then blow it back up? I dont exactly know what a valve step remover is.
How would I tell if the tread or belt is sperating? Just by looking at the tires and see if the tires atre coming apart?

Xenon-
How do I check for flat spots or warps? Just by the eye? What did you do to fix your problem? What causes this?

Thanks again, sorry for all the questions this problem really gets annoying and hopefully I can figure it out soon.

[2drcam]

you could have warped rotors, mine did the same thing..

does your brake pedal shudder too?? if it does it's probably the rotors

imo..later

[rpj1984]

Originally posted by 2drcam
you could have warped rotors, mine did the same thing..

does your brake pedal shudder too?? if it does it's probably the rotors

imo..later

Nope, just replaced the rotors. And the car doesnt shudder when I hit the brakes. Thanks though
Ryan

[rezzle]

Originally posted by rpj1984
Ok guys, thanks a lot for your input. I just have a few questions.
Rezzle-
With the valve stem remover, are you just saying to flatten the tire and then blow it back up? I dont exactly know what a valve step remover is.
How would I tell if the tread or belt is sperating? Just by looking at the tires and see if the tires atre coming apart?

Thanks again, sorry for all the questions this problem really gets annoying and hopefully I can figure it out soon.

Yes just flatten it and blow it back up. Just go to any bicycle shop or automotive garage and you may even be able to borrow one, if not they are cheap. It's just a little tool that fits in the valve core that allows you to remove the stem to quickly deflate the tire.

Separation is hard to spot untill it gets bad but if you look closely at your tires you may find that on of them isnt' exactly round there will be a small bulge 6" long and 3" wide by about 1/8" high << guestimate. I new I had one on one of my front tires a few years ago but I couldnt find it until it actually started making a slapping sound.

Borrowing some tires/rims for a trial is a good idea.

[Xenon]

Originally posted by rpj1984
Ok guys, thanks a lot for your input. I just have a few questions.

Xenon-
How do I check for flat spots or warps? Just by the eye? What did you do to fix your problem? What causes this?

Well, the easiest way to do it is jack the car up, but a flash light opposite your face on the tire and spin the tire to see if there are any change in the tires height while it's spinning. Another way to do it is you take the tire of the car and roll it on a flat ground..

Or just take the car to a tire shop or mechanic and ask them to put the tire on the balancing machine and spin it slowly, that way you'll see the tire spinning, if a part of the tire goes higher or lower while you're looking at the bottom of the tire, then you have flat spots. If you see the sides going up and down on a certain spot, then your tire is warped...

I basically just put my friend's 4 tires on the car and the car drove like it just got off the production line! So if you have a friend who wouldn't mind lending you 4 tires on wheels, it's the best way to make sure..

Flat spots are either a defect from the mamnufacturer or they are cause for leaving a car parked on the tires for a long period of time, that causes the tire to take the form it sat in for that period. That is why car people recommend you over inflate your tire when you plan to leave the car parked for a while, that helps the tire remain a perfect circle without any flat spots..

[Deep]

Bad wheel bearing?

[got_trd]

My guess is the rack & pinion. My car has been doing the same thing for a few months now. I have a gen4 Camry 1mz fe by the way. My power steering fluid used to leak like crazy and i would have to refill it like twice a week. But now its like twice a month. I took the car to a toyota dealership one day to get an oil change and they told me that i needed a new rack & pinion, so thats whats wrong with mine. Maybe yours is the same?