Driveshaft issue? Speed related Vibration
 

My car just recently developed a weird vibration issue at high way speeds. At only speeds above 60+ mph, the car has a speed related vibration. The faster I go, the greater the vibration. This problem came on suddenly last week. Handling is not affected and the car does not shimmy. I dont believe its a wheel or tire issue, since none of those things were touched before the problem arose. Along with the vibration, there is also a low frequency hum that also gets louder with increased speed. The vibration has a really high frequency such that it vibrates the rearview mirror and makes the image blurry.

I know it's not engine related because the sound and vibration is not affected by RPM and remains constant with the car in neutral. I'm suspecting a driveshaft issue. Has anyone experienced something similar?

At the speed you witness this, I am going to assume it's a high RPM issue, which in case, like you mentioned, possibly a drive shaft issue. Possibly a worn U-joint, throwing the shaft just a slight bit out of balance.

My camaro hummed from 60+. Replacing the stock steel DS with an aluminum one raised the resonant frequency some. The amplitude at lower speeds went down some, and it wasn't until about 75-80 that the car started humming. I never did get it resolved.

If your car is under warranty, have them fix it.

i had this exact same problem with my 08 maxima...happening at highway speeds from 55-70mph. above 80 it disappeared for some odd reason.

as it turned out, it was a defective wheel bearing. had it changed out and voila...gone.

Was it front or rear bearings? Did your bearings make any sounds? I'll definitely look into the bearings as the source of the problem.

i believe it was the front passenger bearing. the sound was a high pitch whine/squeek under 55mph, then over 55mph i got the vibration that turned the mirrors blurry until about 75mph...then it was gone. the squeeking wasn't all the time, but it was there. when it was there, the squeeking got faster with increased speed.

good luck.

I would suspect a bad wheel bearing before the drive shaft. Try going from side to side a bit at speed, just enough for the weight of the car to transfer from one side to the other, but not enough to crash lol. If the vibration and noise changes as the weight transfers it is more than likely a wheel bearing. Good luck!

Doesnt appear to be a wheel bearing problem. I jacked up each wheel and tested for free play. There was no free play in any of the wheels. Also, I have no noise coming from any of the wheels.

So I think i confirmed its a driveshaft issue. I jacked up the rear and ran the car with the wheels in the air. The vibration is still there. The wheels are spinning perfectly straight. It was hard to tell but it looked like the driveshaft had some vibration/run out.

I don't want to be a thread grave digger, but I have a similar problem, how did you manage to fix it?

Hate to bump an old thread but I'm having this same issue and its driving me insane please help with what you did to resolve your problem.

one of my driveshaft bolts fell out. I replaced all 4 bolts and the problem was gone.

One bolt can throw it out of balance!!

What part of the drive shaft front or rear ? I've narrowed my problem down to: drive shaft or motor mounts I really don't think it's a wheel bearing , and I don't think the rear diff bushing would cause this either

My old camaro would hum at speeds above 55 mph (was down right nasty at 75 mph). Replaced it with an aluminum one which didn't really solve the problem, but move the harmonic up to a higher speed.