shake/shudder (but not during braking)

f00dstamps · 08-09-2005, 08:22 AM

during the test drive of my titan, i experienced a shudder that occured on the interstate somewhere between 60 and 70 mph. additionally, the truck pulled to the left. the technicians looked at it and said the alignment was slightly off, PSI on one of the tires was low, and that tire was out of balance. i did not drive the truck again until after the paperwork was done.

it still gets a shudder most of the time and i narrowed the mph down to 62-68 mph. i feel the shudder in the seat and my body and there is hardly if any shake in the steering wheel. my truck has almost 700 miles on it. during original test drive, i noticed the shudder at around 20 miles.

the shudder does not occur during braking. it occurs during no-gas cruising or acceleration.

do you guys have any ideas what the problem might be before i take it back to the dealership to have them look at it?

lsutyger · 08-09-2005, 09:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by f00dstamps

it still gets a shudder most of the time and i narrowed the mph down to 62-68 mph. i feel the shudder in the seat and my body and there is hardly if any shake in the steering wheel.
the shudder does not occur during braking. it occurs during no-gas cruising or acceleration.

I had a similar set of symptoms with my old hardbody, and it turned out to be the ball joints. That happened after many thousand miles though.

f00dstamps · 08-09-2005, 09:07 AM

thanks lsutyger. i'll have them check out the ball joints. anyone else have any ideas?

Bulldog · 08-09-2005, 07:36 PM

Usually when I feel a "vibration" at only certain speeds it is due to a wheel imbalance. Not sure what you mean by shudder.
Logically if it is only at certain speeds it is caused by something rotating and the wheels/tire balance is always first on my list.
Check to see if a balance fell off and quite frankly if they are willing to rebalance on your next visit - let Nissan do it for free and see if anything changes. Also see if there is a lot of weight on 1 wheel (could be because of wheel and/or tire) that would be a clue that 1 set-up is problematic.
Good Luck!

92TripleBlack · 08-09-2005, 07:40 PM

Try rotating and see if this changes the problem. If it does, its the wheels or tires. You should be able to identify the offending wheel/tire. If it doesn't, its alignment or suspension related. You should be able to figure out which corner is the problem. Should start you on the road to identifying the problem.

btcvideo · 08-26-2005, 07:47 PM

I have this same problem with my 04 Titan LE w/9000mi. Shake between 60 and 65. I've taken it to the dealer at least five times with no luck. Please let me know if your dealer is able to figure it out so I can pass it along to mine! This is a pain.

f00dstamps · 08-27-2005, 12:25 AM

btcvideo, see this link for my problem. Jay Wolfe Nissan - Kansas City MO

the wheel is now centered but i don't know if it's just the roads but i still feel the shudder in the seat and cabin of the truck. i want to put more miles on it test it out thoroughly.

basically, they said 2 wheels went out of balance and they realigned the truck. just have them individually check the balance of EACH wheel even though they may say they can't reproduce the problem. my biggest fear is that the shudder is not a problem in the wheels but a problem in the frame of the truck. let's hope it's not though.

btcvideo · 08-27-2005, 11:18 AM

I'll tell the dealer, hopefully this will work. I love the truck, but that shake is annoying. When I initially purchased the vehicle they said it had a bad rim and replaced it, but I don't know if they balanced all 4 tires. Let me know your status and I'll keep you posted if this fixes my problem.

Thanks

f00dstamps · 08-27-2005, 06:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by btcvideo

I'll tell the dealer, hopefully this will work. I love the truck, but that shake is annoying. When I initially purchased the vehicle they said it had a bad rim and replaced it, but I don't know if they balanced all 4 tires. Let me know your status and I'll keep you posted if this fixes my problem.

Thanks

dude! i was upset about my truck all day today. the problem is still there. i feel it and i can easily duplicate the problem. i will ask a service guy to ride with me and i will show them. i kept talking it over with my gf and i was telling her that i hoped it wasn't a frame problem. then i thought and thought about it and.... they could balance the wheels left and right but if the rim has an imperfection... it will never be in balance. i figured this out and i was going to notify the service dept about this even before i read your post. just the fact that you posted that they replaced your rim makes me feel better about the problem. what's not reassuring is that you still have the problem even though they replaced the rim. i ALSO love my truck and i don't want to have to pull a lemon law etc. i just want the problem fixed! i might ask them to give me a full set of new rims and tires. i will definitely keep you posted.

jtanpinco@yahoo.com · 08-27-2005, 11:28 PM

When I put a lift on my truck I had the same vibration only at a little slower speed. I took my truck to the a driveline shop and had them shim and balance my driveline. Drives great after the driveline and breaks were fixed.

btcvideo · 08-28-2005, 07:04 PM

jtanpinco,

Is this something that the dealer can easily accomlish? How much did it cost you at another location?

Thank you for the help.

f00dstamps · 08-29-2005, 09:34 AM

i set an appt with the same dealership that's been dealing with these problems on Thursday at 8am. Their suspension specialist is off for a few days and he'll be back then. This time i'm gonna take one of the guys for a ride and then make sure they put me in a loaner so i can get to work. i can't burn 4 hours at the dealership again.

f00dstamps · 09-01-2005, 02:12 PM

man, i don't know about these guys. they still don't FEEL the problem so all they did was do a "road force balance." they have to wait 3-4 days for nissan to get back to them about the paint chip on my front fender that i noticed when i was washing my car. they said the brake dust was "normal" and that all the 05's have the new brake hardware on them.

i don't know what to do if the problem is still there.

EDIT: called the service guy back. he said they checked the ENTIRE vehicle over. i asked him if they checked the driveshaft and he said yes. i will make sure this is noted on the receipt. apparently, the same guy that rode with me this morning that felt the shudder, drove it again after they did the road force balance and the shudder was no longer there. i am going to head up to the dealership right now and pick up my truck.

f00dstamps · 09-01-2005, 05:08 PM

well, another update guys. i took the truck on the 15 mile drive home and the problem seems less BUT there is a new problem now. when i'm going at highway speed and i ease off the gas until it's coasting, the steering wheel vibrates like it's out of balance. this is all speculation, but i believe it's due to the "road force balancing" that they did on my truck.

i had the asst service manager note on the receipt that they did, indeed, check the driveshaft and the driveline. i also made sure he noted that i had the new brakes even though i'm getting a buttload of brake dust.

after all is said and done, i waited 40-45 minutes for my truck while sitting outside. go here for the story. i left a message for the service manager and hope to hear back from him so i can take him for a ride and show him the problem.