vibration at highway speeds
04-30-14, 11:14 PM
#1
Lexus Champion
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vibration at highway speeds
i dont drive on the highway much but today i did and i noticed that my entire car, especially near my feet there's a lot of vibration. i just got new wheels and tires, everything is balanced, it was doing this with the old wheels as well and i wanted to see if the wheels were the problem. guess not 
so now i'm thinking could i need an alignment? i dont think ive had one in a pretty long time, but could that cause vibration? also my brake rotors are not straight, when i have the car jacked up and turn the wheels the brake pads rub at one point so i need to get those turned. could these be things causing the shake? from just taking a little look at all the bushings and everything it looks fine, especially the steering rack bushings which i've heard can cause vibration in the steering, but my wheel barely vibrates. car has poly bushings i'm pretty sure as well. where can i get brake discs turned and whats a good place to get an alignment? i've heard that there's some specific machine that is very popular and does great alignments.
so now i'm thinking could i need an alignment? i dont think ive had one in a pretty long time, but could that cause vibration? also my brake rotors are not straight, when i have the car jacked up and turn the wheels the brake pads rub at one point so i need to get those turned. could these be things causing the shake? from just taking a little look at all the bushings and everything it looks fine, especially the steering rack bushings which i've heard can cause vibration in the steering, but my wheel barely vibrates. car has poly bushings i'm pretty sure as well. where can i get brake discs turned and whats a good place to get an alignment? i've heard that there's some specific machine that is very popular and does great alignments.
05-16-14, 08:23 PM
#2
I have a vibration at highway speeds also. Mine usually comes on around 55-60 MPH, and goes away after 75-80 MPH. It's almost cyclical. Comes on slowly, stays pronounced for a second or two, goes away, comes on slowly, etc...
I had my wheels re-balanced the other day. Got the car on the highway and the vibration is still there. I've considered bushings, wheel bearings, and shocks being blown. My shocks still have good rebound so I don't really think that's it. I've just replaced my steering rack bushing so I don't think that's it. I suppose it's possible one of my front wheels is bent front ATL potholes. I'm wanting to swap front with a buddy of mine with identical, brand new wheels.
Brings me to front bearings and bushings.
Hopefully my list helps. Hopefully someone else has some thoughts.
*Note: I've also had some pretty terrible tire wear on my last two pairs of front tires. Almost to the point that the inner edge of the tread is trashed while the rest of the tire is nearly new. I recently had the car aligned at a local race shop and for the most part, all of the specs were pretty good. My negative camber is just on the out side of being within spec.
I had my wheels re-balanced the other day. Got the car on the highway and the vibration is still there. I've considered bushings, wheel bearings, and shocks being blown. My shocks still have good rebound so I don't really think that's it. I've just replaced my steering rack bushing so I don't think that's it. I suppose it's possible one of my front wheels is bent front ATL potholes. I'm wanting to swap front with a buddy of mine with identical, brand new wheels.
Brings me to front bearings and bushings.
Hopefully my list helps. Hopefully someone else has some thoughts.
*Note: I've also had some pretty terrible tire wear on my last two pairs of front tires. Almost to the point that the inner edge of the tread is trashed while the rest of the tire is nearly new. I recently had the car aligned at a local race shop and for the most part, all of the specs were pretty good. My negative camber is just on the out side of being within spec.
Last edited by MongooseGA; 05-16-14 at 08:39 PM.
05-16-14, 11:29 PM
#5
Tranny and engine mounts are something you'll want to replace anyways. Trust me, makes a world of difference. It gets rid of noise and vibrations you didnt even know you had, lol. If you serach it in the forums you'll see that 99% of people are extremely happy they did it, whether they thought they needed to or not.
05-17-14, 10:09 AM
#6
It's on my to-do list, but I don't see a bad tranny mount causing vibrations coming from of the car. Am I wrong? Could it possibly be transferring the vibrations to my toes?
Is there a preferred vendor to buy them from?
I'm also chasing the 'clunk' in the back of the car that makes itself known going over 'sharp' variations in the road. Meaning, soft dips and such don't trigger the noise, but things with sort of blunt faces like pot holes and even thick paint lines on the road cause the noise. Today I started chasing rattles in the cabin. Got the door panels and rear panels out for epoxy and sound muffling.
Is there a preferred vendor to buy them from?
I'm also chasing the 'clunk' in the back of the car that makes itself known going over 'sharp' variations in the road. Meaning, soft dips and such don't trigger the noise, but things with sort of blunt faces like pot holes and even thick paint lines on the road cause the noise. Today I started chasing rattles in the cabin. Got the door panels and rear panels out for epoxy and sound muffling.
05-17-14, 01:10 PM
#7
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06-10-14, 01:11 AM
#8
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A bad transmission mount does make cars shake. Right on the back of your seat while you are driving.
If vibration came after installing new wheels and tires, most likely the problem is there.
You want to find a shop that has road force balance machine. Not a lot of tire shops has them.
But it does make a world of difference.
If vibration came after installing new wheels and tires, most likely the problem is there.
You want to find a shop that has road force balance machine. Not a lot of tire shops has them.
But it does make a world of difference.
06-10-14, 09:15 AM
#9
I did my transmission mounts and that got rid of some of my vibration, i still havent changed my engine mounts ( even though its in my closet 
) When i rev my car the whole things moves so it's time to put those in. I did steering rack and lower control arms also and made the vibration less. hopefully engine mounts sort me out.
) When i rev my car the whole things moves so it's time to put those in. I did steering rack and lower control arms also and made the vibration less. hopefully engine mounts sort me out.
07-08-14, 06:13 PM
#10
Just to update my experience. I installed the new transmission mount bushing a little over a month ago. The car does feel much smoother under acceleration, but did not solve my vibration issue. No biggie, I didn't expect it to anyway.
I'm having the front end aligned at the end of the week after my steering rack replacement and the shop should be trying the wheels on their road-force balancing machine. (Hey ChrisPhate).
I did the wheel bearing check while the car was off the ground and the bearings are solid. The shocks don't seem to be leaking, so I can probably rule out blown shocks. Also, the car rides fine and has good rebound. I'll look into the engine mounts.
LCA bushings are new urethane. Maybe the UCA needs to be refreshed?
I'm having the front end aligned at the end of the week after my steering rack replacement and the shop should be trying the wheels on their road-force balancing machine. (Hey ChrisPhate).
I did the wheel bearing check while the car was off the ground and the bearings are solid. The shocks don't seem to be leaking, so I can probably rule out blown shocks. Also, the car rides fine and has good rebound. I'll look into the engine mounts.
LCA bushings are new urethane. Maybe the UCA needs to be refreshed?
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