Vibration in the rear and no balance issues.

[VK56VD]

The car 2004 Infiniti G35 5-speed Automatic Without the LSD. There is about ~61k miles on the car.

At highway speeds 50 mph and higher, there is a vibration in the rear. All of the tires are balanced so that is not the issue. After a drive one of the rear wheels seems to also be warmer than the rear.

I'm thinking maybe a frozen rear caliper. I'll jack the car up in neutral and see if the wheel spins freely. If not what is another culprit, rear wheel bearings, differential?

Btw, the car has Amsoil full synthetic severe gear in the rear end for the last 25k miles or so since it has been replaced. Transmission service is also performed periodically by us with Matic-J OEM fluid via drain and refill.

***The vehicle is Rear wheel drive for those that do not know.

 

[MacGyver]

How old are the tires? The mileage says if original they are about worn out. I am dealing with a lot of tread separation issues due to the long cold winter and potholes. These separations can be very slight but cause all kinds of vibrations and pulls that cannot be seen on the car or even on the balancer. A slight tread separation will not show an imbalance in most cases because no tire material has been added or taken away. You have to roll them across the shop floor to see if they track true and straight with out a wobble or falling over when they hit the “bad” spot. If the tire and wheel will combo will stand static on it's own without falling over then it should roll slowly with out falling over on flat concrete. Give that a try.

 

[VK56VD]

The tires are fairly new. About 4k miles on them since the originals were replaced. They are Yokohama Avid V4S in oem size.

The rear wheel seems a lot warmer than the rest. This leads me to believe it's a caliper on that rear wheel or wheel bearings if they exist on a rwd car in the rear.

I've had a rear frozen caliper on another car but it was a fwd variant and it did not vibrate on the freeway, just created more wheel dust on that wheel and made a somewhat of a rubbing noise you can hear while driving next to a concrete barrier or wall as it amplified the sound.

 

[mechtech2]

Sure, it could be a brake problem. A caliper or parking brake fault.
But also a wheel bearing.
Since there is heat, one of these is likely.
Otherwise, an internally faulty tire could be the cause.
Remember that there may be multiple problems, and that any loose suspension part will make any problem feel worse.

 

[VK56VD]

If both (checked individually) rear wheels spin freely in neutral while the car is in the air, I can eliminate the caliper and parking brake correct?

Will a bearing cause vibration?

The brakes were flushed 2 years ago so nothing about the brake system was ever neglected.

 

[MacGyver]

New does not always mean good. New means different. Move the rear set of tires to the front and front to rear. Just to rule that out.
Next is drive shaft vibration due to out of balance drive shaft (not likely) but worth mentioning. A dry or stuck U joint is also possible; unless the drive shaft is has C.V. joints then that is less likely a problem at this mileage. Do not know what to say about the warmer tire/wheel than the rest except to use a inferred thermometer to find exactly what is getting “warmer” than the rest of the moving parts. That warming issue maybe unrelated and misleading you. Hope this helps

 

[VK56VD]

Thanks for all your posts and insight guys. Keep them coming.
Originally Posted By: MacGyver
New does not always mean good. New means different. Move the rear set of tires to the front and front to rear. Just to rule that out.
Next is drive shaft vibration due to out of balance drive shaft (not likely) but worth mentioning. A dry or stuck U joint is also possible; unless the drive shaft is has C.V. joints then that is less likely a problem at this mileage. Do not know what to say about the warmer tire/wheel than the rest except to use a inferred thermometer to find exactly what is getting “warmer” than the rest of the moving parts. That warming issue maybe unrelated and misleading you. Hope this helps

 

[willix]

A tire tread separation will balance ok. but run out of round and may not be noticable until centrfical force pulls it off the carcass.

 

[Boomer]

A drive shaft vibration can also cause this type of issue and drive you nuts trying to figure out the source of the vibration.

 

[JHZR2]

Yeah I was going to say a bad driveshaft bearing, guibo, CV joint, etc.

 

[SLCraig]

Most common thing is bad tires.

Bad belt in the tire and it will still balance fine, get it out on the road and it will wobble.

Real way to tell is to take the rears, and put 'em on the front. (If its a sedan, not staggered)

 

[Papa Bear]

+1 on the bad tire.

 

[VK56VD]

Looks like it's a caliper. Is it worth greasing the pins? Maybe it will loosen up things?

Or should I buy a re-manufactured unloaded caliper from RockAuto like an A1 Cardone and call it a day? They sell them with a mounting bracket and without? Which should I go with if I do need to order a new caliper?

 

[artificialist]

Originally Posted By: Spartuss
Looks like it's a caliper. Is it worth greasing the pins? Maybe it will loosen up things?

Or should I buy a re-manufactured unloaded caliper from RockAuto like an A1 Cardone and call it a day? They sell them with a mounting bracket and without? Which should I go with if I do need to order a new caliper?

If your car experiences road salt, order your caliper with a bracket. I so often have caliper pins seize and then break off during removal.

If the car doesn't encounter road salt, just the caliper is fine 99% of the time.

 

[The Critic]

Get the bracket since it will save you the trouble and expense of cleaning up the bracket and replacing the hardware. Sometimes the aftermarket hardware will not fit correctly on the OE bracket. If you purchase a semi-loaded caliper w/bracket, everything comes included.

How were you able to determine the caliper problem?

 

[willix]

Its not uncommon to replace just the pin kit w/bushings seals.