On Christmas Eve, I drove 3 hours to my brother's. Part way up, I noticed a vibration in my car at higher speeds. I checked the tires, everything seemed fine. I figured it was a balance, alignment or bearing issue. And then drove 3.5 hours on the 27th, back to my brother's on the 30th and home on the 31st. The vibration didn't seem noticeably worse. On Wednesday, I was driving a secondary highway and the vibration was present a lower speed than it had been. So I called Thursday and made an appointment for today to take my car to the garage.
They called me this afternoon. My right, front wheel was just about to fall off! I'd had my wheels changed on October 27th to put on my winter tires on rims at this garage. Although they couldn't believe that it had been their mistake from way back then, today's service was gratis. They think that my car must have been vandalized at some point. But since I park in my garage, it wasn't at home. I don't think it could have been at work so it could have only been when I was parked somewhere running Christmas errands some time between the 19th and the 24th.
So if your car ever picks up a vibration, particularly at speeds over 60 mph, with accompanying noise that reduces or disappears when you steer in one direction or the other, check the lug nuts on your wheels! In my case, it was turning to the right, the side where the wheel was about to fall off, where the sound reduced.
