A system and method for monitoring tread wear, shock absorber performance, balance condition of a vehicle tire, and/or rotation speed of a vehicle wheel, use a sensor to provide acceleration signals. To monitor tread wear, acceleration signals from the sensor determine at least one resonance frequency of at least one of the radial and lateral acceleration of the tire and compares it to at least one stored resonance frequency To monitor shock absorber performance, the amplitude of the Fourier component of the radial acceleration is compared to a stored amplitude value. To monitor a balance condition of a vehicle tire, the sensor provides acceleration signals measured over a specified time duration to determine an amplitude of the Fourier component of the radial acceleration that is compared to a stored amplitude specification balance condition of the tire.