Also, drive down the road and take your hands of the wheel for a few seconds. See if the vehicle pulls to the right or the left. If it does, you probably need an alignment. This just means that your wheels aren't all facing perfectly straight. One wheel might be angled slightly.
Both of these can cause vibrations. Both are cheap and easy fixes. Every time you but tires, ask them to do a tire balance and wheel alignment.
Also don't forget to do regular maintenance on your tires. Keep the air pressure right and even. Make sure to rotate your tires (switch your back tires with your front tires. Front tires wear out quicker because they are doing more work. So you always want the tires with the most tread on the front. Try to wear out all 4 tires evenly by rotating the tires occasionally so the best ones are on the front. This is cheap and all of these things can be done at a Walmart tire and lube and pretty much at an auto place.
Taking care of all these things will increase the handling of the vehicle, will improve gas mileage and will cause your tires to last longer.
A "shake" or vibration is usually caused by a wheel balance problem or a defective tire, not an alignment issue. If your vehicle had an alignment problem you would experience a pull.
You do not say how long this has been going on. If it started yesterday there will be no tire wear yet. If its been going on for some time then tire wear is to be expected. You stopped at a tire place and they say the tires look fine. Check them yourself to confirm. Wear should be even across the tire tread with no excessive wear on one side or the other. If the tires are good check your rims. Look for a dent in the rim (maybe you hit something?). You will have to remove the tires to see the inside of the rims. If the tires and rims are good and the problem just started then look at the odometer on your car. High mileage can point to a suspension issue. After doing these things yourself with nothing found you will find yourself at the mercy of a repair shop. Many places will inspect the vehicle first and tell you what the repair is and cost. If you don't like the answer at one place go to a second.
Let us know the results of your own inspection of the tires and rims!!
PS---Alex is wrong in his first paragraph. More but even tire wear inside or outside a tire tread is alignment. Uneven wear ---like ripples on a pond---is balance. You will see neither of these if the problem just started or if you have avoided driving 60+.
Your best bet for this issue is a tire is out of balance. Check the tire inflation to insure its at specs. Take it to a tire shop and ask for a balancing. You can usually find a deal on that. I am a commuter of over 80 miles a day and have had my fair share of these issues... All of which have been either fixed with a tire rebalance or tire changes.
Even if your tires are in perfect balance, they could still be "out of round". But that would probably be noticeable as a constant shake or shimmy at speed. Yes, it could be out of alignment or one of your suspension components could be worn or defective.
Probably poor alignment with the wheels
Out of balance wheels or poor alignment.
Either the tires are bad (belt separation) or the suspension is faulty (need new struts).
A rhythmic vibration such as you describe is an alignment problem. The tire guy is correct. Of course, this may include worn parts......
The car shakes when im going 60+mph. It happens for a few seconds every few seconds. I went to a tire shop and he checked the tires and said they are fine. He then told me that its a wheel alignment that i need. A few days later i spoke to a mechanic and he said it might be a suspension problem (without checking it). Im low on cash so i dont want to spend any fixing anything but the actual problem. Has anyone ever had this problem? If so, what turned out to be the problem? Any help is appreciated. Thanks.
