GTASentra.net

Gentlemen,

Its been a long time. Use to come to the meetings at Kennedy and 401 (timmies). That was when I was in love with my sentra and lived in Toronto. Now, I got into dental school in DC and I drive between DC and Toronto like 3 or 4 times a semester. I also drive from DC to Florida 2 or 3 times a year (freaking awesome drive).

The fun times are over, my car is giving me a huge ass headache and I need someone help me to solve it. My car vibrates like crazy anywhere near 100 KM. at 80 KM, I can feel the vibration but its not as annoying. Now let me tell you what is up with the car:

1. I had all wheels balanced several times to see if it is the problem. No problem, I even have an extra two rims that I bought off some guy with a black sentra that lives near guelph (I got his contacts from this forum back in the day) and i change the rims around. The point is, I feel I can safely say the rims are not the problem. I also rotate the rims from from front to back and left to right to see if it is the problem and the vibration does not stop.

2. When I turn my wheel to like exit a mall or something, there is a metal sound that comes from the right side of the car. I have no clue what it is. I am pretty sure that might be a problem or a contributor. The sound comes and goes, sometimes its worse etc.

3. I changed the left lower control arm a few months back cause a mechanic said that was the one that was bad.

4. I changed my front rotors and dispads recently so they are not the problem.

5. The car was recently aligned but it will not hold the alignment, I had the company do it twice. In other words, for the first few days after the alignment it seems fine then after a trip to toronto for example it drifts to the right on all surfaces.

6. I have brand new, I mean brand new tires.

7. The steering wheel is not centred. I first noticed this problem when I aligned my car with a business on Eglinton (infront the HomeDepot) near markam. That was the first time I realised that it was not centred and for some stupid reason I never brought it back.

SO - what I want to do is to get you help in addressing all the problems. I want to systematically recheck everything and see if I can get my car back in order. I need your help because I dont want to go to the mechanic and be told that I need everything and it cost $1,000,000 and my car stil vibrates. My car purs like a fcuknig cham - engine runs beatifully, I just need to solve my vibration problems.

What is the first thing that I should do?

PS. 2001 Nissan Sentra Se, 286,000 kms, I can be in Toronto in 2 or 3 weeks if anyone wants to test it.

The fact that your alignment keeps going out, kind of scares me.

Which alignment angle is going on your car? If it's toe, I'll point at your steering system. Is the change static between the right and left wheel? Meaning, does it gain 3 degrees positive on the right, and lose 3 degrees negative on the left?

If you're in Toronto, I'd like to look at it. I figure out your problem, you buy me a 6pack, sound fair? =)

What kind of suspension are you running? Stock? Lowered? Please specify.

Usual causes of vibration:

- Dented rim
- Unbalanced wheel
- Damaged tire (thrown belt)

Does your steering wheel shake? When were your struts changed?

u should take it to a different shop to get balanced man...

about 2 years back i had my winter tires switched on the spec rims to newer winter tires and after that happened and i took her for a rip...it shook after 100km/h...i brought it back to the shop and they said that my rims are dented...

i asked them why didn't the old setup do that and they didn't really have an answer except for the fact that the other tires were better...they were "only" dunlops and they were BOLD! lol

so i asked them to rebalance them which they refused, instaed they just put one of the wheels on the balancing maching and without even properly securing them showed me that my rims were SLIGHTLY dented...at that point i just gave up on them...

around that time my buddies at Exclusive Wheel and Tire just opened their shop so i took my new tires/rims there...sure enough they managed to get them balanced PROPERLY not like the lazy f*ck at 2nd Time Around in Oshawa and off i was happy as ever


not saying that's your problem but it has happened to me so i thought i'd share
and if you haven't figured out your problem by the time u come back to the toronto area, visit John and Keith at Exclusive Wheel and Tire

Yow Spec,

I seriously doubt the tires or rims are the problem - My tires are less than a month old, I just bought them cause I needed tires and I thought that the old tires were the problem. I cant tell you the number of times I have rotated or balanced the tires and rims.

I have never changes struts.

DanScarps - What kind of beer do you like?

Have you had a second alignment yet since you've noticed the pulling to 1 side? You should really get the second alignment done to see what the specs are. Alignment bolts DO stretch and pull and DO need to be replaced periodically. That may be your first step, as they're cheap to replace anyways.

any prev accident on the car? maybe accidentally not on purpose hit a curb? ( maybe a little winter drift?) lol...but still if you are in town i would like to hear this metal sound your car is making...think i might just join dan and see whats going on...

I usually drink green bottled beer of any sort, Moosehead is my domestic preference.

Lets get together next weekend if you're in town, and Coldfire, you should come out too... Beer and cars in the driveway, always go good together.

Hey, man i would check out that axle on that side,cause they make grinding noises on turns and can vibrate

take it to a proper front end shop and have them go through it. a regular mechanic isnt good enough... clearly.

somewhere like Can-Alignment