If you feel the shudder mostly in the steering wheel it is coming from the front.
If you feel the shudder mostly in the whole car it is coming from the rear, could include drive train.
If the front tires were worn more on the inside of the treads then the alignment was off.
If a shock or strut is really worn out it would cause a scalloping effect to the treads. Instead of being smooth like this: ---- it would be like this: //// looking at it sideways.
A word of note regarding especially tire chain stores. Salesman usually only care about two things. Selling the tires they have most in stock in your size. Selling the tires that they make the most profit on. The so called mechanics that do the work aren't always the best or even knowledgeable. They get one or two if lucky days of training. They don't always pay attention for any issues. Front end alignment is done some what quickly and with the computerized systems the allowable window of specs is not really the best. I used to have to get the numbers dead on, not any more.
In my younger dumber days I was a street racer, gear head that loved fast muscle cars (well at 63 still do LOL). I always spent the money for good tires, after all they are what holds me to the road and my life and safety (and others) depends on them.
A few of my recent real life scenarios.
I had a 2005 Lincoln Town Car with top of the line Yokohama's on it and it drove like a dream. I had a 2005 Chevy Silverado 1500 4x4 with no name brand all season tires. It was a tank, it rode nice and never needed 4 wheel drive and drove up hills in 10" of snow. I recently got a 1993 Dodge Dakota 2 wheel drive. The tires, no name brand, looked brand new. My daughter borrowed it for about a year to get back and forth to work (an hour each way on the interstate). During that time I noticed every time I hit even a small bump the truck was near impossible to keep between the lines it bounced so much. The shocks looked original so I ordered them. Since the driveway was ice covered I was going to wait for spring before asking my son for help. While waiting I noticed the tires no longer had decent traction. At this point my daughter had her own car so my truck was now just for my wife and I. I went to a local tire chain shop and asked for General Altimax RT43's. They didn't have all 4 so tried to sell me some no name brand made in china and emphasized that it would save me $4 per tire. NOPE I'll wait the two days for my Generals. Once on the truck no longer bounced or hydroplaned. I'm going on my fourth winter and never got stuck. My daughter has a 2003? Crown Vic. My son and I replaced EVERYTHING in the front end. We got the alignment as close as possible in the driveway and told her to get an alignment as SOON as possible. Two months later she complained that one of the front tires was showing the steel belts. Sure was, all the way around and ready to blow. In a panic she headed to the local tire chain shop. I told her what tires to get and how much it would cost. When she got there they didn't have them in stock and would have to come back the next day. She didn't want to chance the almost hour drive each way again and miss a day of work so they convinced her to get Mastercraft tires they had in stock which cost her a lot more than the name brand I told her to get. When she got home she told me to test drive the car it didn't feel right. WOW it was all over the road. She was complaining that she thought something wore out with the new front end parts. No way, only a couple of hundred miles on them. I looked at the front end alignment print out, it was within the specs but not good. Her next day off she went back complaining about the car. They road tested and noticed the problem, rechecked the alignment and said it was fine. Guess what, I was sitting in the waiting area and gave them
. If they could make the adjustments to get it closer to spec then get out the way and I'll do it. They redid the alignment and according to the print out it was really close, much better! On the drive home she pulled over and had me drive, said it's still not right. Yes, still
!!! My son had a friend with rims and tires (worn out) that would fit her car. So we went there and swapped those tires on for a test drive. It was like night and day, rode perfect. Of course those tires were so worn out they had to be junked but we just wanted to see if the tires were the culprit and they were. She waited so long that her 30 day window for trading them in was over. Now she's saving to get the tires I originally told her to buy. The good thing is she now works within walking distance from home.
The moral of my story is...
You can't always trust the people working on your vehicle.
You never really know what you're getting no matter what you pay for it.
Always check online reviews and take them with a grain of salt.
Whoa!!! Sorry, I just scrolled up. I didn't mean to write a college length essay.
