[Billy's dad]

I have a 2015 Optima with 69k miles. Just recently I started getting a vibration while driving at 65 mph or faster. When it first began, I noticed that the brake peddle would also vibrate/pulsate when braking. I attributed it to a rotor/brake issue. I took it to my mechanic and had him replace the front rotors and brake pads. This fixed the problem for a few hundred miles. Then once I hit 65-75 mph I began to notice a vibration coming from the rear. The vibration became so sever that the whole car would shake. I took it back to my mechanic and he did the rear brakes. The shake did not go away. My mechanic checked all the brakes again, the front axles, the transmission and could not locate the problem. I had the tires checked and balanced and the problem continues. The car is now undriveable on the highway. Any assistance in making my car driveable again would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

 

[Turbonut]

Most high speed vibration emanates from the tires/wheels, but seems like most everything has been covered. If they haven't been rotated, I would move the fronts to the back and see if any change. A bent wheel is a possibility, also a bad tire, shifted belt, broken belt. If the tires were new when the vibration began, I'd say a bad balance job e.g. the shop's balancer out of calibration, and if rebalanced by the same shop, same problem.
It takes some work, but if a full size spare is available, I'd replace every tire/wheel one at a time to see if you might locate the problem assembly. You can also take each tire/wheel and examine the tread of each to see if any flat spots, bulges, look visually and run your hand over the tread.

It's a start.

 

[Billy's dad]

Thanks. Since I just had the tires balanced again, I will next try with rotating the tires. The shop did not do that as they said the rears had much better tread on them. I am hoping it is that simple.

Appreciate the response.

 

[Billy's dad]

Took vehicle to a different tire shop, small hole in wall not name brand. The guy discovered that one of the rims looks bent. Will try to locate one a junkyard versus the astronomical price for rims online. Will let you know the outcome.

 

[redlantrn]

Try a rim repair shop. Should be able to fix for a reasonable price, unless you find a cheap rim

 

[Billy's dad]

Well, that was not the issue. Still develops the shake. I still want to think it has to do with brakes but no idea. I guess it will be a different mechanic shop to determine the issue.

 

[Turbonut]

From my experience there's never been a brake problem that causes a vibration in the 65-75 mph range, it's tires, wheels, balancing.
Find a Hunter Road Force unit in your area and give it a try.
Www.Hunter.com/find-equipment/

 

[KingFatty]

Ok long shot: it might be flexible steering coupler. One of the symptoms when it fails is when you are high speed, the front wheels can wobble/vibrate back and forth. I had this happen to me, and I did NOT think that was the problem, it felt like there was no way it could be related to the steering wheel, because the whole car shook (due to the speeds) including the brake when you push it. But that was the problem.

Do you have any other symptoms related to steering, like a sort of looseness or light clunking when you turn the wheel back and forth, even at slow speeds?

Another long shot: maybe there is something loose/bouncing around inside one of the tires, that is heavy enough to throw off the balance of the wheels. Perhaps one of the tire pressure monitoring system sensors broke off? But back to my point - if that thing slides at slower speeds, the wheel will still be balanced. But when you go fast enough, the centrifugal force on that object would make it stay put (like if you've ever ridden the gravitron) and then it would throw off the balance of that wheel.

But if this were the case (or if it was any balance-related or bent wheel problem), you should be able to diagnose this by getting a tire rotation performed. So if you felt the vibration on one side of the car, it would move to the other when you got the rotation. Turbonut mentioned this earlier.


So I would suggest that approach - rotate the tires to see if the shaking moves, and better if you can do the rotation yourself to intentionally do it "wrong" for example, just to relocate the tires a specific way that you can keep track of where the vibration should move.

if it moves, then it's related to that wheel. if it doesn't move, then maybe it's the suspension or steering.

 

[langenet]

You know, I had a similar problem with my Mercury Villager. Turns out that it was a back bearing. It was fine at low speeds but at high speeds , man did it shake.

Good luck

 

[llxxDashkingxxll]

yup check the wheel bearings as well, if you can get the car off the ground and free spin the wheels....they should be pretty smooth, if theres and grinding or clinking, you may have your problem.

 

[Billy's dad]

Okay, rotated tires and it all comes down to the right front side. Ordered complete strut sets and will replace them. If that does not work, then on to the next step.

 

[Turbonut]

Okay, rotated tires and it all comes down to the right front side. Ordered complete strut sets and will replace them. If that does not work, then on to the next step.

Not to be condescending, but why would you order front struts before knowing if they are bad, and with only 69k miles, I'd venture to say they're not the problem?
Of course I've been wrong before.

 

[bakshi6]

One of my wheels has a slight wobble but not worth sending out for straightening. Occasionally there's vibration at highway speeds (65+) when things get out of balance but if the tech does a good job balancing, there's very little vibration especially with the bent wheel located on the rear axle. I had one shop perform a balance with a Hunter setup years ago but they didn't know how to use the machine properly so the vibration remained unbearable at highway speeds (after 3-4 comebacks for the same problem). I took it to another shop which was using non-Hunter equipment and they got the vibration under control in 1 appointment. I made sure my latest set of tires included free balancing for the life of the tires.

 

[Turbonut]

One of my wheels has a slight wobble but not worth sending out for straightening. Occasionally there's vibration at highway speeds (65+) when things get out of balance but if the tech does a good job balancing, there's very little vibration especially with the bent wheel located on the rear axle. I had one shop perform a balance with a Hunter setup years ago but they didn't know how to use the machine properly so the vibration remained unbearable at highway speeds (after 3-4 comebacks for the same problem). I took it to another shop which was using non-Hunter equipment and they got the vibration under control in 1 appointment. I made sure my latest set of tires included free balancing for the life of the tires.

Always got to keep in mind that the equipment itself could be out of calibration. It happens on balances as well as alignment equipment and the dumb operators just don't see the light when customers come back. After a balance, turn the wheel 180 degrees and try again, amazing what one can find. Not only that possibility, but the wheel center hole could be compromised and one would never get a correct balance. On my Snap On machine I only use the adapter that attaches to wheel stud holes, no question about that.

 

[Joemsj51]

Okay, rotated tires and it all comes down to the right front side. Ordered complete strut sets and will replace them. If that does not work, then on to the next step.

Could be a control arm. Could be a bent rim.