I have been struggling with a sizeable vibration felt in the floorboard and the front seats (especially on the passenger’s side) in my 2007 Nissan Sentra.
The tires on the car were in fair to good condition. There was a good bit more wear on the front passenger’s side tire than the other tires. The car began to vibrate regularly when reaching 55 mph. I took it in for a front end alignment. The alignment didn’t solve the issue; the car continued to vibrate at 55 mph.
My father-in-law, a mechanic, looked at the car and determined the wheel bearing to be the culprit. We changed it, and the vibration was gone.
But exactly one week later, the vibration has returned, again at 55 mph. I do know that the front passenger’s tire is out-of-round, and the car may need to be aligned again because of the work we did at home.
Still, I find it odd that changing the wheel bearing got rid of the problem, but only for a week. Might I be due for two new tires on the front end and another alignment? I hate to continue to throw money at a car this old and with so many miles. I’m pondering my next move and what might be wrong with the car. Any idea as to what may be wrong that we’re missing and why the vibration at 55 mph would go away with a new wheel bearing, only to come back a week later?
You could try switching the right front and left rear tires to see if the vibration moves to the new location.
If you need only two new tires, they go on the back, not the front.
Until you get at least two new tires, I think you are going to have problems solving your vibration. At that time I would have the wheel bearings inspected again.
Thanks! I should add that when I took the car in for the alignment, I did get two new tires, which are on the back end of the car. The two tires that were on the rear were moved to the front; the passenger’s side tire is a bit out-of-round and the car pulls to the left a tad, now.
Any ideas as to why the issue was resolved for seven days before coming back?
It seems you should have purchased four tires and an alignment . You say the father-in-law is a mechanic so why can’t he solve this or at least send you someplace to get it solved ?
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He’s a good guy, and I always appreciate his help. He’s usually right on the money and doesn’t mind lending a hand on his day-off, free of charge. Seems we misdiagnosed this one, though.
Is it plausible that my vibration at 55 mph is due to a bad alignment and the out-of-round tire? I’m mostly puzzled by the fact that the issue cleared-up for seven days after replacing the wheel bearing before popping-up again. Everything else of note (joints, suspension, etc.) looks solid…
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Replace the front tires also and then you will know if that was part of the problem . Without driving the vehicle a web diagnostic is just a guess.
It’s definitely possible the vibration is due to an out of round tire. Bad alignment? If the alignment is incorrect it needs to be fixed, but as for vibrations caused by bad alignment, not so much.