I have an 87 Turbo with 120,000 miles. Was on a trip and decided I should get the timing belt replaced. Took it to a dealer in Denver for a tuneup (big mistake). $1200 later I got it back with a list of other fixes they thought it needed (some it actually did). But what ripped it was that it was running/tracking smooth as silk when I took it in. They mentioned that I needed to get it aligned and when I drove it away the steering wheel was shaking so badly I didn't think it was safe to drive. Took it into a tireshop and they said the aftermarket wheels were out of balance and "out of round". Got it aligned, bought new tires, balanced it up and it still shakes/tracks badly down the road.

Finally got it back home and my local mechanic is puzzled. We're putting the original 16" Nissan alloys back on (but they're so ugly) and we've replaced the wheel bearings all around. Still sucks. Any ideas?

 

I wish I could tell you what's going on with yours, but I got on here to post the same exact complaint about mine. I have an 86 Turbo. Went through similar stuff. Got the wheel bearings packed, tires balanced... I also get a vibration straight from the stearing column from time to time (espically when I down shift). I had the factory 16 inch rims on mine and the I swiched to a new set of 16 inch Voxx JBs. Didn't help at all. I guess I will wait to see if anyone responds to your post before I bother posting my self. Good luck.

 

Check your front brake rotors , I had the same problem with a car I currently own.

 

In my case it is was a combination of rack & pinion and brake rotors. I replaced the rack & pinion and that made a big difference. I'm still getting some vibration and I was told by a brake shop that the rotors needed to be turned. The front break pads still had some wear so I haven't had them turned yet.

 

Okay, here's the update: I had installed some relatively inexpensive (read cheap) aluminum wheels to replace my OEM 16" alloys. They ran fine for a year but the big fix on the vibration was remounting the OEM's. I'd never heard about aluminum wheels "going out of round" but once the OEM's were back on, most of the vibration stopped. Big disappointment since the OEMs still need massive cleanup, powdercoating or whatever.

I replaced the wheel bearings (all around) and then found that one of the rubber fittings on the transmission mounting had disintegrated. That also introduced a level of noise and vibration into the drivetrain. New mount is ordered. We'll be so glad to get some of this mundane stuff worked out so I can refit the struts, etc. My 87T has about 126,000 miles on it, so it's just reminding me that these things occasionally need some care!