Vibration in steering wheel at 60mph

[mvbighead]

Anything can be fixed, but it might not be worth it. With over 100k on the clock and close to 10 years, a minor vibration might be caused by 10 things that are slightly worn, sway bar bushings, control arm bushings, tie rods, ball joints, struts, wheel bearings, tires, CV joints, drive shafts, alignment... Every part on the car is going to show some wear that may or may not be causing the problem. It's difficult to guess which part specifically is the culprit when everything has some minor wear, you end up replacing things one part at a time and the problem never goes away or you end up replacing everything at once and it cost more than the car is worth. My suggestion was to look at the things that are easy to diagnose and repair, if it's not one of those things I'd just accept that I drive a 10 year old car with 100k miles and live with the vibration.

In my area, an 02 Maxima with 130k seems to go for about 8000. A 10 year old Maxima with 130k miles is not a piece of crap that someone would expect to vibrate going 60 mph.

And, if my 00 JGC with 149k doesn't vibrate when cruising down the interstate/hwy, there is no reason for a car that is 3 years newer to do it with 22k less miles.

In any case, you'd be the first person I have ever heard suggest that a vibration is something that one should live with in any car. Whether it's a 300-400 brake/rotor job, or a rebalance, or new tires, it's something that is most likely easily corrected and will make the car more pleasant to be in.

 

[kornphlake]

I did suggest to look at tires, wheel bearings, etc. If the vibration is major it's probably something that is easy to spot and easy to repair. See my first post that Jlee questioned. All I suggested was that if it's not something easy to diagnose and repair it may not be worth the cost of the repair to remedy a minor vibration. The description minor vibration leaves a lot to the imagination, I imagine it's something I could live with. I don't know how bad the vibration is though, I haven't ridden in the OPs car at 60mph with my hand on the steering wheel.

It's like if I said my car has some rust what should I do? With that amount of information you could say just clean the rust off and paint over the area, or you could say the unibody is compromised and the vehicle should be scrapped, neither is an incorrect recommendation with the amount of information given.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Update: needed 2 new tires and an alignment.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Hmm, my car has some vibration at highways speeds too, or it did. I got some new tires a little while ago, but didn't get an alignment.
TBH, I don't drive on the highway much anyways, so I can't say if the new tires fixed it or not.

 

[Raduque]

What I really want to know is - does this hurt the vehicle mechanically (various parts) if driven with the vibration long term? Exdeath was talking about tie rods.

Yes. Wheel vibrations will put lots of extra load on car, particularly the wheel bearings, and will cause them to wear out and fail faster. Tie-rod bearings can also wear out faster.

It'll also affect your gas mileage. After I replaced my bad left front tire, I went from 350 miles a tank (16.5mpg) to 375 miles a tank (17.8mpg).

 

[EagleKeeper]

Apparently, you have a hard time seeing /understanding how tires wear and how to detect abnormal wear.

Hopefully, the tire shop educated you. And you will treat curbs and potholes with some respect. Now

 

[JulesMaximus]

Apparently, you have a hard time seeing /understanding how tires wear and how to detect abnormal wear.

Hopefully, the tire shop educated you. And you will treat curbs and potholes with some respect. Now

The shop said the left front was worn on the inside edge. Not horribly nor were the tires past it. I could have lived with it for another few thousand miles likely as it is only noticeable at freeway speeds. It bothers me though so I'm just going to have them fix it now. He also found a bushing in the steering rack that needs to be replaced. It is worn and causing excessive play. Unfortunately, he had to order that part and it won't be in until next week so he's waiting on doing the alignment until after he gets that bushing replaced.