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I have a 2001 Miata LS with some moderate track modifications, including Bilstein coil-overs, a Hard Dog roll bar, Hawk HP+ brake pads, OMP seats with Schroth harnesses, Nitto NT01 tires, and more. It has an aggressive alignment (set up by a track alignment specialist) but still has a full interior and is very streetable.

I don't drive the car as much as I'd like so I can't remember when this started, but the car shakes fairly badly between about 65-75mph. Below that, it's very smooth, and above that, it can be a little rough, but it calms back down for the most part. It seems like there's a resonant frequency at highway speeds.

Some other notes:

  • The shake doesn't seem to be specific to the steering wheel or pedals - the whole car seems to shimmy rapidly from side to side. It's not violent, but it's bad enough that I can look in the rear-view mirror and see a lot of horizontal blurring. I can also hear slight tremors in my voice when I talk, kind of like when someone taps on your back or chest while you say "ahhhhh."

  • I recently replaced the brake rotors (all 4) and front hubs with OEM parts, and that seemed to helped slightly, but not much.

  • I think I can make out a reduction in vibration when I accelerate and unload the front wheels, which suggests to me a front wheel problem (part of why I replaced the hubs, but they also just needed it based on the 65K mileage).

  • The most baffling thing is that this doesn't happen constantly. More often than not, in the 65-75mph range, the car is vibrating, but often it's not. When it starts vibrating, it doesn't seem to correspond to changing pavement texture/conditions, steering or throttle input - it can just happen on its own without any changes at all, then eventually stop just as randomly. It doesn't seem to happen suddenly either way; the vibration just gets gradually worse or better over several seconds.

  • I spun off-track sideways onto smooth grass at about 70mph last year. I really don't remember if the car already vibrated like this beforehand, but maybe that knocked the steering out of alignment or caused a similar problem?

What could be causing these symptoms? I realize this is best diagnosed by a mechanic in person, and I'll probably resort to that eventually, but I'm trying to learn more about the car by working on it myself.

Bungle
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1 Answers1

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Since this is a rear wheel drive vehicle, you should check the drive line and U-joints. It could be if one of the U-joints is worn out, it gets off center slightly and causes the drive line to vibrate at the given speed. Since it does happen at a given speed, the other logical thing to check would be to have the tires rebalanced for a higher speed. Most any tire shop should be able to do that for you.

Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2
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