CAR SHAKING WHILE DRIVING

[deeelliott]

I have owned my 2015 Subaru Crosstrek Hybrid for just a little over a year now; I have approximately 95K miles on the car and for about 3 months now I've had issues that started while driving at high speeds (over 60mph). It started off feeling like I was driving over a "rumble strip" and it would occassionally happen and only at high speeds. It's now progressed to where it's more like the entire car is shaking and occurs even with low speeds although not bad, you can hear the "rumble" at low speeds but the shaking is definitely at higher speeds. I've had several people check it and got different answers as to what was wrong (bad ball joints, wheel bearing MAYBE going bad, tires out of balance, etc). I have had to put a lot of work into this car since purchasing and hoping to not have to put a lot more into it right away but wanted to see if anyone can tell me if they have had this problem and if so what was the culprit that was causing the issues? Thank you so much for your insight.

 

[rowlands57]

If you hear a noise it is likely a bearing of some sort. I don't think a wheel bearing would cause a vibration like you are describing. It sounds like a bearing on a driveshaft somewhere in the system. If you can get a sense of whether it comes from the front or the rear that may help you zero in on the issue. You'd also want to check the u-joints and center bearing for the driveshaft as they can cause those symptoms as well.

 

[deeelliott]

Thank you for you feedback...this is definitely coming from the front of the car.

 

[rowlands57]

If that's the case then ball joints are purely a visual inspection. With the car in the air and if you shake the wheels back and forth the excess play will be obvious. Pretty much the same for the CV axles and their bearings, one at each end. If you suspect the tires rotate the fronts to the rear and see if the vibration changes or moves. For the wheel bearings they usually make grinding noises when bad so drive with the windows open in a parking lot and make a lot of turns and listen for unusual sounds from the left or right side of the car.