Shake in car going crusing speed on highway

I have a 2004 Impala LS. It has around 210,000 miles on it. I'm the original owner. My car when going around 60-70 down the highway, the car shakes. My center console rattles, etc. It's been doing it for maybe 50,000 or more miles. Around 10,000 miles ago, I got new tires. Right after getting new tires, the shake went away for a little while. I thought I found it. A few weeks later, the shake came back.

I'm wondering if it's possibly my wheel bearings. I've replaced both my rear wheel hubs a year or two back when they went out. My front wheel bearings are original. I'd think if the car has been shaking for 50,000 miles and it's been the wheel bearings, my wheel would've fallen off by now. Everything else about my suspension is original. Wonder if anyone has suggestions of what they think it might be.

You have to have all the suspension and steering components checked, also tire an wheel runout , bearing play. The tires may need road force balancing.

You have to have all the suspension and steering components checked, also tire an wheel runout , bearing play. The tires may need road force balancing.

So I got my tires balanced and rotated again yesterday and the shake seems to have gone away again.

Purely from curiosity, what brand and type of tire?

I ask because I had a 2001 Impala which was originally equipped with Michelins, and the replacement Goodyear Hydra Edge (or something like that) tires required a massive amount of material to balance, did not track well and always exhibited squirm, were insanely noisy (tread pattern), and were not so impressive for winter traction. It was so bad the tire shop dismounted, repositioned, and remounted the tires on the rear wheels just to see if they would balance better - No dice. They rotated them to the front and did the same for the "new" rear tires with the same result. Balancing on a Bear (road force) rolling machine revealed the carcasses did not roll true under load. They were less than a year old but had mileage so there was no warranty.

Further, the replacement tires were directional, but they were mounted for the correct rotation. That IS something to check with your installation, however.

The Impala went back to Michelins and settled right down for the duration of their 60K miles life, and I never looked back. Shortly after replacing the Goodyears the "Hydra Edge" tires were no longer available. I suspect I was not the only one with issues.

The moral of the story is that tires are critical, and can create problems all by themselves. I used a professional tire shop instead of a discount store or some lower-priced outlet, and that's likely the only reason the problem was found.

That said, it is important to check the steering and suspension, including the critical but often overlooked rear wheel alignment. McPherson struts and upper strut mounts, the steering rack and intermediate shaft, body mount rubber isolators, lower control arm bushings, wheel bearings, CV joints, Rear trailing arm bushings, and bent alloy wheels are all known contributors to the phenomenon.

Purely from curiosity, what brand and type of tire?

I ask because I had a 2001 Impala which was originally equipped with Michelins, and the replacement Goodyear Hydra Edge (or something like that) tires required a massive amount of material to balance, did not track well and always exhibited squirm, were insanely noisy (tread pattern), and were not so impressive for winter traction. It was so bad the tire shop dismounted, repositioned, and remounted the tires on the rear wheels just to see if they would balance better - No dice. They rotated them to the front and did the same for the "new" rear tires with the same result. Balancing on a Bear (road force) rolling machine revealed the carcasses did not roll true under load. They were less than a year old but had mileage so there was no warranty.

Further, the replacement tires were directional, but they were mounted for the correct rotation. That IS something to check with your installation, however.

The Impala went back to Michelins and settled right down for the duration of their 60K miles life, and I never looked back. Shortly after replacing the Goodyears the "Hydra Edge" tires were no longer available. I suspect I was not the only one with issues.

The moral of the story is that tires are critical, and can create problems all by themselves. I used a professional tire shop instead of a discount store or some lower-priced outlet, and that's likely the only reason the problem was found.

That said, it is important to check the steering and suspension, including the critical but often overlooked rear wheel alignment. McPherson struts and upper strut mounts, the steering rack and intermediate shaft, body mount rubber isolators, lower control arm bushings, wheel bearings, CV joints, Rear trailing arm bushings, and bent alloy wheels are all known contributors to the phenomenon.

My last tires were Cooper tires. My new ones are Pirelli Cinturato P7.

being a rust belt vehicle this old ,,,,, my guess is the balancing weights are falling off.

have them use stick on weights. they must use a sander to remove the corrosion at the stick on rim surface so these will stay on. I would also use some paint after they install the wheels to mark the weight location.. then IF the shake comes back this will reveal the lost balancing weights.

hammer on weights , happens all the time on old alloy wheels more than steel wheels falling off.

the steel plus salt creates a reaction that eats at the alloy metal , then the hammer on falls off.. stick on's have no metal contact so no corrosion..

I do not recommend cooper tires ....bad rubber ..IMO..

Good info, thanks! I didn't notice any of the weights fall off. Most of the cars life was in Michigan so lots of winters and salt roads. So this makes sense. (Live in Tennessee now.)

1996 GMC Truck - 20 years in salt;

2000 Chevy Van - 15+ years in salt;

Second 2000 Chevy Van - 15+ years in salt;

1995 Buick LeSabre - 20+ years in salt;

2001 Impala - 15 years in salt...

ALL with aluminum alloy wheels and clip-in zinc (no more lead) weights, all winter drivers, all in Illinois/Wisconsin salt baths and I've never had one fall off. I've had some of the clips begin to rust, and can clearly see the staining on the wheels where weights have been removed for re-balancing new tires, but have never lost one. I've had gas tanks, trailing arms, brake lines, fuel lines, and even body mounts rust off, but not weights.

Incidentally, 1994 Impala (alloy wheels) which had tape weights after the second set of tires, and IT lost wheel weights. I went back to clip-ons like the factory originally used. And the car has NEVER seen salt, not even in a grocery bag in the trunk.

I'm not saying it cannot happen, but it is probably not as common as you may believe, anywhere but Seattle and Boston.

If you believe it might be a problem, take a photo of each wheel and archive it. If the shake returns, see if there are any missing weights.