The other day, the steering wheel on my Blazer began shaking. I originally diagnosed as a misbalanced tire, so I went to have all four balanced. When they pulled the first wheel off, it had a bulge and they attributed the shaking of the steering wheel to that, so I replaced it with the spare and didn't have the rest balanced. On the drive home the shaking was still present, so I had all four tires balanced. Shaking is still there (but doesn't seem as bad). The passenger's side wheel bearing was replaced a week ago (not exaggerating) because of a bad speed sensor, and my brief search makes it seem like it could be a wheel bearing. It appeared that the shaking went away during a sweeping left turn, but I'll admit that could've been me desperately searching for confirmation (but really of what I truly hope it isn't, because I am SO tired of replacing these wheel bearings). Can anyone suggest other things to look at before replacing the wheel bearing again (it's under warranty, so it won't cost anything, but I REALLY don't want to do the work again)? Thanks in advance.


And if it is the wheel bearing (or anything else it might be), is it safe to drive on? I was going to take my girlfriend on a day trip tomorrow and it was going to be about a 250 mile drive. I'll deal with the shaking for a day if it won't cause any other damage.

 

Wheel bearings rarely cause a shaking problem, more of a vibration that is first heard, then felt if left to worsen. Did you have your tires road force balanced? If all of the tires were purchased at the same time, the likelihood of having another tire with a defect is high. You may want to rotate the tires and see if the sensation follows the tires.

 

I'm sure all the tires were purchased at the same time, but it was before I bought the car so I can't be certain. I don't believe they were road force balanced, but I don't know - I just went to the tire place and asked them to balance it... I believe they used the electronic machine that spins the tire and tells them where to put the weights. It's good news that you don't think it's the bearing - there is no howling like there was the first time I replaced it. I'll try rotating them tomorrow, thanks! I really hope it's not the tires, though - I had no budgeted for them yet since they have decent tread left.

 

So BOTH front tires had bulges. We (the tire shop and I) had assumed the only problem was the bulge on the tire that we noticed first, so we didn't bother checking the others. That's irritating that both tires developed the same problem around the same time (part of me wonders if it's from a couple weeks ago when I was forced to stand on the brakes to avoid a collision). Thanks for saving me from tearing into the wheel bearings.