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Old 01-12-2016, 04:41 PM   #1
pritt
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Question Advice? Car sitting for extended period, now shakes when above 55 MPH

I'd like to first say that I do not know hardly anything about cars. I appreciate anyone's help, but if you talk about anything technically at all, I will probably not know what you're talking about.

I own a 2012 2SS Chevrolet Camaro that I haven't driven (until recently) in approximately 18 months. The car only has about 9000 miles on it total. I don't have a garage, so I have been having it garaged at my parents house for all this time until I can afford to build a garage at my house, and so that I can take insurance off and save some money there. I have heard that it is good to at least start a car that isn't being used every so often, so I tried to start it every couple of months or so and leave it running for a little while.

Well, I just put insurance back on the car and drove it around for a little while. Almost everything seems fine, except, I've noticed now, when I get to probably about 55 MPH and higher, it starts to shake. I don't remember it doing this before I had it stored.

I took the car to a local garage to have a tune-up, and a bunch of the typical stuff done that hasn't been done in a long time. I also wanted to try and address the shaking. They said that it probably just needed to have the wheels balanced, so I went with it. Here's a list of all they did:

Inspection Sticker (dead since June 2014) - obviously needed this
Replaced spark plugs - I know this is something that's good to have done every so often, so I went ahead and had it done
Had the oil changed - I'm sure it's not good to have oil that old in it
Tire pressure - Had lost some air over time
Wheel balance - To try and address the shaking
Techron - There is a place on my receipt from the garage that says "Techron". I didn't ask them for this, but I googled what Techron is, and it looks like it's something that should have been done

I took it on the freeway for just a moment after I got the car back from the garage, but my first impression is that the shaking is still there at about the mid-50's and up.

So after all of that, my two main questions are: What else should I have done to address the shaking, and is there anything else that the garage didn't do that I should have done since the car was setting for so long? I definitely don't know how to do anything car-related myself, so I'll have to pay someone. When you give me some answers, could you please also tell me how much it might cost to have done?

I know this is a ton to read; I greatly appreciate anyone's help.
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Old 01-12-2016, 05:12 PM   #2
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Re: Advice? Car sitting for extended period, now shakes when above 55 MPH

This is tough to diagnose on the net, could be a tire issue, maybe, you need to have a qualified tech drive the car for a proper diagnosis. BTW, plugs in that car at good for at least 50k, surprised the garage didn't tell you that, follow the factory maintenance schedule.
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Old 01-13-2016, 06:28 AM   #3
pritt
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Re: Advice? Car sitting for extended period, now shakes when above 55 MPH

Thanks for the response. Anything else you would do to the car before driving it regularly?

Does anyone else have an idea about the shaking?
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Old 01-13-2016, 09:12 AM   #4
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Could be a broken belt in the tire. Does the steering wheel shake or does it feel like its coming from the back end?
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Old 01-13-2016, 09:17 AM   #5
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Re: Advice? Car sitting for extended period, now shakes when above 55 MPH

Hi pritt, and welcome to the forum. I noticed that you're in the Charleston, WV area. I'm just down the road from you - I live near Ironton, Ohio, just across the river from Huntington, WV.

My guess is that the tires have developed a 'set' from not being driven for so long. Tires are made from fabric coated in rubber. Imagine leaving a shirt folded in the drawer for 18 months. When you unfold it, there will be creases. To remove them, you'd heat up the shirt with either a steamer or an iron. That may well be what your tires need - to be driven until they come up to normal operating temperature - which isn't that easy in the winter. My advice would be to take the car on several long drives at moderate speeds and see if the vibration starts to go away.

If that doesn't help, you should have a GOOD tire shop check your tires for defects such as a tread separation or out-of-round condition. A well-equipped shop should be able to perform a test on your tires with a device called a 'radial run-out gauge'. It's a pretty simple tool that measures the difference between the 'highest' and 'lowest' points on the tread of each tire. If a tire is out-of-round or has some other type of defect, no amount of 'balancing' is going to completely eliminate the vibration. Not being from Charleston, I can't recommend any one particular tire shop - you'd have to ask some of your friends who are 'car people'...

In any case, good luck with finding the solution!
Dave B.
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Old 01-13-2016, 01:59 PM   #6
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Re: Advice? Car sitting for extended period, now shakes when above 55 MPH

Thanks so much for the advice guys

To answer the question above, it seems like everything is shaking, including the steering wheel
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Old 01-13-2016, 03:05 PM   #7
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If it seemed more in the front, I would say suspension, but if its back too then I say tires
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Old 01-16-2016, 01:20 PM   #8
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Re: Advice? Car sitting for extended period, now shakes when above 55 MPH

Likely a bad tire or two. If you have a good spare, swap it out with one wheel at a time and see if there's any difference. If so the removed tire is bad and should be replaced- if it's belt or carcass related the tire can fail without warning.

Never let a car set up for long- let the engine warm up fully then drive it around the block a couple times. Be sure to add some reversing too.

Phil
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Old 01-18-2016, 03:19 PM   #9
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Re: Advice? Car sitting for extended period, now shakes when above 55 MPH

Tires, tires, tires, unless you have a bent wheel rim. If the condition wasn't there when you first let it set for a long time then logic would say it is a flat place developed on the tires from setting for an extended period. Some tires a prone to do this especially in cold weather. As someone suggested, make sure tire pressure is correct, between 33 & 35 psi cold then drive it for awhile to see if it goes away or greatly improves. Tire tread doesn't separate from setting, wheel rims don't get bent from setting, tire out of balance doesn't happen from setting, suspension doesn't fail from setting, and all other manner of malfunction guesses don't happen from setting. If after driving the vehicle for an hour or so and the problem doesn't improve, the guess is the problem possibly was there before you let it set and you just wasn't totally aware of it. In that case invest in new tires. If money is an issue, replace the two front tires and put two of the best old tread wise tires on the rear . Problem solved!!
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