hey everyone, So I just took my prius on a 4 hour rode trip and it started to vibrate really badly. I had noticed a very minor vibration about a week before that would happen at about 20 miles per hour and would move the steering wheel left and right on its own, but it wasn't a big deal. I just assumed it was the tires because my tires are very worn. As I started on my journey there was no problem but by about 2 hours in at high speed I noticed that the road noise was louder than usual and there was a slight vibration. I wasn't all that worried until I was closer to 3 hours in and I slowed down to get some gas. At this point the vibrations became slower and longer. It seemed to me that the vibration is coming from the driver front wheel. The car still tracks very straight and the alignment seems fine. The vibration has become violent now to the point where I am afraid to drive the car. The slower I am going the more drastic the steering wheel movements are and the faster I go the less the steering wheel moves but the vibrations are closer together. It almost feels like there is a large rock stuck in the tire that hits the ground every revolution (I checked there isn't). The car is a 2006 so 7 years old and has 107k miles. Is it possible that there is a warped bearing? bad cv/ axle? Has anyone else had this problem? Cost of repair?
Bad wheel bearing a possibility. Or, warped tire. Jack the car up and spin the wheels and see. It will have to be in neutral to do that. If it is that bad there should be some visible play. If the bearing is bad, steering sharply one way or the other will make the sound more or less, depending on the increased or decreased load on it.
I've had this when the inner belts in a tire break , if you have someone else slowly drive your car you can probably see the wobble from the side , dangerous to drive this on the road .
[quote="priusman217, post: 1752188, member: 104415" my tires are very worn. As I started on my journey there was no problem but by about 2 hours in at high speed [/quote] Why the h*ll are you driving at high speed with worn tires in a car that exhibits that kind of drivibility issue? Take the car to a tire shop like Tire Kingdom asap.
Ok so I jacked the car up and turned the tire. Its definitely just a tire issue. The thing is so badly warped im surprised and relieved it didn't come off the rim on the highway. Lesson learned. Thanks for all your advice. Especially nh70
Why the h*ll are you driving at high speed with worn tires in a car that exhibits that kind of drivibility issue? Take the car to a tire shop like Tire Kingdom asap.[/quote] I wouldn't have driven it except it didn't start giving me the issue until I was far from home and had no choice but to drive it back or have it towed. (too expensive for my college student budget) I haven't driven it since and only plan to drive it down to the tire shop at slow speeds about 2 miles away.
Not sure why but when I uploaded the photos to prius chat they got turned sideways. I took them with my iphone so no matter which way I hold it the pics get taken right side up.
I was working on a friends car about a month ago (2007 Mercury Milan).. had to do a 4 wheel brake job, oil change, trans fluid change, new spark plugs. He drove it into my garage so I didnt test drive it beforehand. Test drove it after all the work was done and the steering wheel would move 3-4" in either direction at low speed!! BOTH front wheels looked like the OP's, completely out of rounds. My friend let the tires get terribly worn out and the belts must have broken internally. It was freakish and dangerous to drive. I found him 2 new tires and had them put on. I told him he wasnt driving the car away like that!!
How much air pressure were you running in the tire? How much mileage on that tire? What make and model was the tire? Have you been rotateing your tires every 5000 miles?
