Steering wheel vibration? - Altima Forums.net - The Nissan Altima Enthusiast Talk and Discussion Forums

edantes · 09-19-2011

2010 Nissan Altima 8,6k miles

Recently got my car serviced at the dealership. Oil change and tire rotation. Now I noticed light vibration in the steering wheel when driving at highway speeds ~60-80mph. Can it be caused by improper tire rotation? Vibration itself is not bad but annoying:/

Should I go back to the dealership and demand them to rotate tires again?

Also steering wheel seems to be slightly crooked. It so happened that the dealership was inspecting wheel alignment for free so I decided to check it. Everything is within specs. THey told me they can't align steering wheel unless they perform wheel alignment. SHould I wait until I need wheel alignment and keep driving with crooked steering wheel or go to another shop and see if it can be fixed without alignment?

Thanks in advance.

Familyguy1 · 09-19-2011

Hmm what do you mean exactly by crooked steering wheel? Ive got 11,000 on mine and also noticed the vibrations at highway speed, never travel on the highway now unless I have too.

**mikejamesbyma** · 09-20-2011

I'm sure it's the tires. Cheap tires, (I assume your still on the OE tires) have a tendency to shake when they get a little older. It is entirely possible you had a small vibration in the rear and would never notice anything. Vibrations in the rear do not translate through the steering wheel and are far less pronounced compared with the front. You mentioned it was a minor vibration which backs up the theory when the rotate the tires to the front. The small vibration that was not evident in the rear will now translate through the steering wheel.

I'm not convinced you do not need an alignment. Our cars have a lot of rear camber. This will cause uneven wear on the rear tires. Rotating them will help even out the wear but it could be that your compensating for how the tires have worn and how the car is reacting to uneven tire wear. Just by rotating your tires, you can't throw the steering wheel angle off unless they performed an alignment to begin with.

This all can be confirmed by having your tires rotated back to the rear. If everything goes back to the way it was then you know it's all in the tires. If you can live with the way it is now I would leave it. Rotating the tires back to the rear is going to prematurely wear the tire and will eventually lead to early replacement.

**mikejamesbyma** · 09-20-2011

Above post edited...I was intending to say you do not need an alignment.

Djdanrt · 01-12-2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by edantes

2010 Nissan Altima 8,6k miles

Recently got my car serviced at the dealership. Oil change and tire rotation. Now I noticed light vibration in the steering wheel when driving at highway speeds ~60-80mph. Can it be caused by improper tire rotation? Vibration itself is not bad but annoying:/

Should I go back to the dealership and demand them to rotate tires again?

Also steering wheel seems to be slightly crooked. It so happened that the dealership was inspecting wheel alignment for free so I decided to check it. Everything is within specs. THey told me they can't align steering wheel unless they perform wheel alignment. SHould I wait until I need wheel alignment and keep driving with crooked steering wheel or go to another shop and see if it can be fixed without alignment?

Thanks in advance.

What ever happened to this? I have the same issue on my 08 Sedan 2.5 S, bought this car used. It has 16" tires on custom black rims, tires look new. Car has almost 70,000.

firewurx · 01-18-2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikejamesbyma

i'm sure it's the tires. Cheap tires, (i assume your still on the oe tires) have a tendency to shake when they get a little older. It is entirely possible you had a small vibration in the rear and would never notice anything. Vibrations in the rear do not translate through the steering wheel and are far less pronounced compared with the front. You mentioned it was a minor vibration which backs up the theory when the rotate the tires to the front. The small vibration that was not evident in the rear will now translate through the steering wheel.

I'm not convinced you do not need an alignment. Our cars have a lot of rear camber. This will cause uneven wear on the rear tires. Rotating them will help even out the wear but it could be that your compensating for how the tires have worn and how the car is reacting to uneven tire wear. Just by rotating your tires, you can't throw the steering wheel angle off unless they performed an alignment to begin with.

This all can be confirmed by having your tires rotated back to the rear. If everything goes back to the way it was then you know it's all in the tires. If you can live with the way it is now i would leave it. Rotating the tires back to the rear is going to prematurely wear the tire and will eventually lead to early replacement.

+1