I have a 2007 Aveo. Whenever I drive it there is a grinding roaring sound that seems to come from the rear end of the car that gets louder as I accelerate. When I reach speeds of around 40mph the back end of the car will violently shift or shimmy from on side to another. Which makes me feel like I will lose control of the car.
The tires are relatively new and from what I can tell the wheels are good.
I would really appreciate any help diagnosing this problem thank you
Sounds like you may have badly worn wheel bearings, get this to a mechanic ASAP.
And I would not even drive it to a mechanic.
If you’re a DIY’er, the rear wheel hubs which include the bearing are quite easy to replace on this vehicle. Just make sure you buy the correct ABS or non-ABS hubs. If you don’t have much of a tool collection, you probably won’t save much, if anything, on the cost of the repair but you will start to accumulate some tools.
I agree, here is the 1st video I found (I had it muted), he shows how easy replacing the hub bearing is, however, replacing the hub bearing assembly is even easier and what is recommended…
BTW, you can easily check the bearing for looseness or roughness once the brake drum is removed…
Just jacking up the rear and putting your hands at 12 & 6 or 3 & 9 on the tire, I imagine you’d have some play, especially given this comment:
I’ve had some bearings growl but never have I felt a car “violently” shift. I bet the hub is toasty warm after some highway driving. 
In addition to the hubs, I was also thinking to at least check the lug nuts to make sure they’re tight. That’s even easier than DIY hubs.
It might need the rear spindle as well (bolt in)… Also need to make sure the Caulking Nut (hub bearing retaining nut) is not a one time use nut… (didn’t check)…
Very good point…
This is a 2004 Aveo rear suspension, I think it is the same but not 100% sure, didn’t check)
Embarrassing story for a DIY mechanic: It was one morning on my way to drop the daughter off at school. It was pouring rain - super heavy deluge - and the car started a ca-chunk ca-chunk-ca-chunk noise from the front. It sounded like a rail car going down the tracks. I ended up calling for a tow to my nearby shop telling them I thought I had a wheel bearing go kaput. (And it all made my daughter late to school…) I wasn’t in a position to deal with it.
In the end, the shop told me my lugs on one corenr were loose. Ugh. They didn’t charge me anything though! I’d like to think that if it wasn’t pouring rain I’d have figured it out myself.
The funniest one (after the fact, and we might have been a little high at the time also) was when I was doing the rental cars, the owner/boss (he was pretty cool, mostly) man had us (me and 1 other mechanic) service his car real quick, so we tag teamed it, well I always turn a lug nut 3 times with my fingers to make sure not cross treaded before impact time, well he had a habit of sometimes running them all the way down with his fingers before impact time (90’s), well, he thought I tightened them and I thought he did and the boss (who was also a great mechanic) pull it off the rack after we kicked the arms out, well he came right back with a ticked off smile on his face and asked if we were trying to kill him or something… He said if we killed him, we didn’t get paid that week… 
It’s a good point but I think if they were loose enough to cause a violent shift above 40 mph, you would feel that at 5 or 10 or 20 mph as well. And the “grinding roaring” sound that gets louder as the car accelerates points to something other than loose lug nuts. Either way, this thing is an accident waiting to happen.
Great points.
