jaycetan

okay my alignment is pretty bad. between 60-80 the car and steering wheel shake pretty bad. i doubt its a tire bump or a crooked rim cuz i dont see anything wrong w/ them. today i noticed that whenever i went 80 there was a burning smell. smelled like burned plastic or rubber. also whenever i would try to go faster than 80 the car would barely make it. i would really have to push it hard but it would barely go faster. acceleration really doesnt feel regular. can it be the alignment? what about that smell?

MonkeyBoy668

Your wheels/tires need to be balanced - preferrably by a shop that doesn't just charge you for a balance but not actually do anything. Your current tires must have been mounted by one of these places.

jdmeg9

a bad wheel bearing will make you smoke your tires. check the inside of tire. a little bald means a alignment but a very steep bald spot means it is probably a wheel bearing. also grab your wheel and pull it. if you can hear a audible pop when you pull it is your wheel bearing

AutoXer

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by jayce’shatch &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> i doubt its a tire bump or a crooked rim cuz i dont see anything wrong w/ them. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Sounds like a balance issue.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by jayce’shatch &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">today i noticed that whenever i went 80 there was a burning smell. smelled like burned plastic or rubber. also whenever i would try to go faster than 80 the car would barely make it. i would really have to push it hard but it would barely go faster. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Could your brakes be locked up somehow?

Rotors that are severely warped can cause shaking issues. Your brakes could be locking, heating the rotors and warping them, and causing your smell, shake and acceleration problems.

Just a guess, because I don't think a wheel bearing would cause accelleration problems, or a bad smell.

dohcVTECeg2

your cars gonna blow up

LShatchie

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by dohcVTECeg2 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">your cars gonna blow up</TD></TR></TABLE>

im with this guy.

Econo'Box

I am gonna guess that your wheels are extremely off balance. Although it good be a bearing I have never had my car react that way with a busted bearing. My car was doing that same thing the other day before we rebuilt the tranny. But those are the same symptoms my right front tire was off balance cuz it was filled with sand from my long drive on the beach.

MonkeyBoy668

Isn't there something odd you need to do to properly balance really large rims on small hub assemblies? Put the balance weights on the inside of the rim instead of the outside? (scratching head) Something like that...

I've seen/heard bad bearings before, never seen them shake the wheel around like a ragdoll. Unbalanced unsprung weight on the front wheels will do that easily. That burning smell could be from your tires if alignment is off enough to heat them up just driving down the road, maybe from the wheels not being balanced if the rims are heavy enough to cause the tires to shift.

If you park your car in public and have people who want to screw with you (or just random punks wandering the streets) they could easily have pried off some balancing weights.

Personally, I'd get an alignment and 4 wheel balance. If it still happens, then get concerned.