I own a 2000 Nissan Frontier and have been noticing a vibration in the steering wheel while i am driving. It seems much more than normal. Is this something to worry about and would it be expensive to fix?
How many miles? Are these the original tires? Is the tread aggressive? How’s the wear pattern?
There’s no way to say how expensive it is to fix b/c this kind of thing can have lots of causes. E.g. it could be as simple as one of your wheels threw a weight so you have an unbalanced tire - that’s pretty cheap. But it could also be problems in the front end or drive train and many of those can be expensive.
It is also the case that many of those front end problems can be dangerous - so yes, it is something to worry about. What I would do is find a local tire & alignment shop w/ a good reputation, just b/c that’s the kind of thing those places specialize in. Unless you have really good info to the contrary stay away from the corporate chains b/c the quality there is hit or miss, and often miss.
Anyway, get it to a good alignment shop, describe the problem and ask them to inspect the entire front end and the tires.
Concern, Not Worry
Get it checked right away so that you don’t worry. It can be a minor problem (tires or wheel balance, for example)or something more serious (ball joints or tie rods, for example). At any rate, it needs to be diagnosed and then depending on the severity, safety, and cost, you can decided how to handle it. While you’re at it, have the whole car “safety checked.” Do it before you begin to worry.
75,000 miles and new tires bought in summer.
You could have the tyres rotated (front to back) and see if there is a change. If there is a change it is, at least in part, the tyres. Having said that, there are a lot of possible issues and some of them are dangerous. You should not ignore this one and we are not going to be able to tell you, with certainty, which it is long distance.