shaking at speed

[jasonlewis]

OK, so I solved my battery problem. I solved my radio code problem, all was set to drive to school today (I teach an hour+ away from home twice a week).

I had driven the car all weekend and no problems, but when I merged on the highway and hit 60, the car started shaking in the front end like a drunk in detox.

This was not normal. I turned tail and went home for another car.

I called the dealer and they said it could be a buildup of snow, but later I checked it out an cleaned out what snow I could see (it was dark at that point) but no dice. Back on the highway still shaking, but seemingly not as bad as before.

Any thoughts as to what could b egoing on besides snow buildup? The car drives fine on the streets. I really have to drive it to school on Thursday so I'm hoping against hope...

[jstrowe]

This sounds like either an unbalanced wheel or a bad strut. Is this the first time you've had the car on the highway or is this a new problem? If it's new, has anything changed besides snow? Are you sure that you got all the snow and ice off the rim?

Generally speaking, to check the struts, bounce on the bumper a couple of times to get the car going up and down. On the last bounce, push down and let go. If the car just comes back up and stays, the shock absorber in the strut is very good. If it comes up and settles back, it's OK. If it does more than that, it's shot. A bad strut will allow the wheel to bounce on the road which is exaggerated at highway speeds.

John