Good Morning: I have an AWD 06 V-6.. I drive for 10 miles averaging 55 mph.. Then I enter the freeway and drive 75-80 mph.. After @ 10-15 min of this the car vibrates.. Been doing this for a few weeks..Becomes less at 60 or slower.. Obviously temperature related.. Any clues??

Had the tires checked.. My driver side is starting to show cupping.. I believe the problem will be in the driveshaft as Oceanarcher eluded to below as its not constant yet but is vibrating sooner then before on the highway.. Having that checked in the AM..

Thanks for your inputs..

Chet

 

Tires?

 

Sounds like a valid assumption to me .......

 

I have historically found vibrations as you have described to be caused first by tires and 2nd by our of balanced drive shafts.

Now it could be other things, but there was not enough information in your posting to discuss them.

 

Ya know, I'm really glad that UnclJohn mentioned driveshafts. I had an issue with my '02L200 several months back where I would pick up an intermittant vibration (wouldn't show up all the time) at highway speeds. At first I thought it was my tires, so had them rebalanced --- didn't help. Had the tires checked again for cupping or other indications that they might be failing internally (belts separating or such). Steering alignment was checked and no problems found.

Finally, was under the front of the car with the technician, and noticed that the inner CVCC boot on the driver's side shaft had failed. Further investigation showed the inner bearing was nearly falling out. Apparently the shaft would slip to one side under load, and the offset of the drive shaft was enough to cause a vibration. Never heard any crunching or popping one normally associates with a failed CVCC joint. Oh, the passenger side boot had also failed, but there was no appreciable play in the shaft.

I had both shafts pulled and rebuilt, at a cost of about $475. Problem solved ...

 

Tires can fall out of balance, a weight can fall off and depending on a few factors be felt. In this area, cars sitting in driveways can have tires dry rot and turn hard and that can be felt on the road. But the biggest problem I have had is plies shifting internally to the tire creating a bulge in the tread that can not be seen. It can though be felt by taking a piece of cloth, and old T-shirt for example and holding it in the flat of your hand and running your hand around the tire tread surface you can feel the bulge when you to that. The piece of cloth makes the feel far more sensitive.