Car shakes/vibrates at highway speeds

[z1ggy]

Used mazda 3, 2011, 90k on it. Yes I know Mazda 3 is known to be a very noisey car in general, but this is crazy. My girlfriend will be in the passenger seat and it will sound like she's wearing one of those vibrating ab belts when she talks. My steering wheel shakes a lot... Stuff in the back seat like my hockey sticks or golf clubs chatter wildly, etc.

I checked the wheels and they seem to look ok, all the weights are still there. Tires are all pretty new, the rear ones are <4 months old. Do I just need an alignment, or are my shocks maybe starting to go? It's getting extremely annoying and on long rides my bum starts to go numb from the constantly high frequency vibration (gigiddy).

I need/plan to keep this car til she dies, so selling isn't an option for you cynics out there.

 

[PottedMeat]

that sounds pretty bad.

one thing you can try to find the source:
jack up each wheel of the car one at a time until it is in the air about an inch. grab the wheel and try moving it about up & down and side to side - it really shouldn't be very easy to do. if something feels loose, jiggle and look behind the wheel to see where it's coming from, like a ball joint or tie rod, etc.

 

[Erenhardt]

Sounds like wheel balancing problem. Remember to balance wheels after tire change. If you don't change tires on rims often, balance your wheels once a year.

 

[z1ggy]

I got the rear's balanced last Nov/Dec time frame. Would it make a difference if the rear tires got changed independently from the front in a FWD car? Although this is a pretty new occurrence, within the last month or so. Car has always been noisy and loud, but the past 3-4 weeks it's been even more.

 

[jlee]

I would have all of your wheels balanced. Just because you still see a weight on the wheel doesn't mean it's not off balance - there may have been two or three previously.

 

[eng2d2]

sound like wheel balancing. start there and report back

 

[FeuerFrei]

Does the vibration frequency vary based on speed?
Does it wobble at low speed?
Does it pull to the left/right?

 

[z1ggy]

Okay. Can a place like Mavis Tire do this? It's the closest car shop near me and I don't have a trusted mechanic yet, I just moved to this area.

 

[z1ggy]

Does the vibration frequency vary based on speed?
Does it wobble at low speed?
Does it pull to the left/right?

It seems to have a harmonic, that is, it's the worst right around 73mph, then goes away a little bit as I go faster or slower, but it's pretty much always there at anything over 40mph. Slow speeds it's a normal feeling ride. No significant pull either way. I probably need an alignment though as the last time I had one was when I replaced the front tires, which was about 13 months ago.

 

[jlee]

Okay. Can a place like Mavis Tire do this? It's the closest car shop near me and I don't have a trusted mechanic yet, I just moved to this area.

Any tire shop should be able to handle it.

Also, make sure none of your lug nuts are loose. If they're loose enough to cause vibrations while driving and this has been happening for weeks, it's possible you're about to lose a wheel. I would suspect a wheel balance problem over loose lug nuts, though.

 

[eng2d2]

Okay. Can a place like Mavis Tire do this? It's the closest car shop near me and I don't have a trusted mechanic yet, I just moved to this area.

why not? any tire place can balance

 

[FeuerFrei]

It's no doubt the front wheels that are problematic, since the steering wheel shakes.
Probably a balance issue - since you can't detect it at low speeds.

 

[z1ggy]

Sweet, pretty easy diagnosis then. I'll try and get it in this week because it's getting pretty damn annoying.

Since I don't trust most shops, anything I should be weary of (like them saying oh ya balance is shot, but hey you also need a totally new suspension!)? I'm just a cynic because it's like everytime you go in for something simple, they give you some report that makes it look like your car is about to fall apart and every fluid imaginal needs changing. I know I need to pop some new brake fluid in soon, but otherwise I think the car is okay.

 

[boomerang]

At the risk of pissing people off, I don't know how this misconception of alignments solving these type of problems got a foothold. Vibration, is tire or wheel related. Could be driveshaft related whether FWD or RWD. But alignment, no.

Could it be related to suspension parts? Sure it could and then the argument could be made that requesting an alignment would expose worn out suspension parts and then after replacement of those parts an alignment would be required. But an alignment itself as the sole cure? Highly unlikely.

I don't know where the OP lives but is there a possibility of ice in the wheel(s)? Snow will melt and then refreeze in a wheel and that will really wreak havoc on tire balance. If not ice, how about mud? Live or travel on dirt roads? That can collect and throw off tire balance. Mud can also freeze, and so on...

Instead of taking it in somewhere and telling them what to do, how about taking it in and telling them you have a vibration issue? Many shops will be more than happy to do what the customer requests regardless of whether it will correct a real problem. Hey, you asked for an alignment, you got an alignment. Now you say you have a vibration, well let's take a look at that.

 

[z1ggy]

it's not snow/ice in the wheel. I've had that before, and this vibration is different. When that happens you can specifically feel it in the wheels, this is like my whole car is shaking, from all directions, all at once. Yes the wheel shakes a bit, but so do the seats, the rear mirror... pretty much everything.

 

[ElFenix]

wheel balance, could also be a flat spot on a tire

 

[Rifter]

Im with the wheel balance guys, its most likely your issue. Could also be a belt separating in a tire ive had that happen too, although this is technically also a balance issue.

 

[96Firebird]

Does the vibration get louder/softer if you turn left or right (even just changing lanes on a highway)? I'm thinking wheel bearing, I would do as PottedMeat said and try rocking the tire while the front end is jacked up.

 

[jlee]

Does the vibration get louder/softer if you turn left or right (even just changing lanes on a highway)? I'm thinking wheel bearing, I would do as PottedMeat said and try rocking the tire while the front end is jacked up.

I would expect catastrophic failure before the entire vehicle would start shaking from a wheel bearing.

 

[z1ggy]

Does the vibration get louder/softer if you turn left or right (even just changing lanes on a highway)? I'm thinking wheel bearing, I would do as PottedMeat said and try rocking the tire while the front end is jacked up.

No, same amount.

 

[FeuerFrei]

Im with the wheel balance guys, its most likely your issue. Could also be a belt separating in a tire ive had that happen too, although this is technically also a balance issue.

Been there myself. I hit a brick in the road at highway speed. I can't recall how much vibration it caused. A broken tire belt can sometimes be detected by visual inspection.

 

[feralkid]

Another quick and dirty, free check you can do is switch the front and rear tires, see if anything changes.

 

[angminas]

If you can't find anything wrong with the above items, check your motor mounts.

 

[z1ggy]

Still haven't gotten it checked.... just went on a vacation and was preoccupied with that....going to get it checked out soon though, still really annoying.

 

[mindless1]

Another quick and dirty, free check you can do is switch the front and rear tires, see if anything changes.

Not dirty at all, that is an excellent suggestion.

... and yes you should be very weary of a shop suggesting that there's more wrong than there is. It happens so often that I'd almost expect it. Decline anything beyond the wheel balancing. You can always go back or elsewhere. It's not like the vehicle isn't driveable.

Edit: Except if they tell you the rim is bent, a balancing won't fix that.