I have a 99 Maxima SE with about 130k on it. Recently I noticed the front wheels vibrates slightly at 80+ mph speeds. On my local commute the vibration seems to come and go, and since my commute isn't too long, I've just ignored it for a while.
On a recent road trip, the vibration is more consistent at 80+ miles, and I had to drop the speed to about 75 to get rid of it. At the destination I decided to look up a shop with the Hunter GSP9700 road force balance machine, and had them balanced it. They remounted the tires, claiming the heavy spot of the rim is too close to the heavy spot of the tire and now "everything is within spec".
Unfortunately it made it worst. The vibration is more consistent now, and occurs at 70mph+, and I have to drop the speed to 65mph to get rid of it.
The tires are Michellin Energy Plus MXV4 and has about 70K on it. It's getting close to need replacement but I can still drive it for a little bit. When I got it 4 years ago, I had a big headache with wheel balance. The wheels would shake at normal highway speed no matter how many times Costco and America Tire Co balanced it. It's only when I found a GSP9700 and did the road force balance did the vibration went away, and it's been fine since.
Could the sensitivity of the wheel balance be an indication of a different problem with my car? The SE is the sports edition, with firmer suspension than the regular Maxima.
Raymond