Shaking and Vibration from Rear 95 Camry

[Notorious96]

I have had a couple of problems with the camry which led to the changing of the following items:

1. New Rear Struts
2. New Rear Links
3. New E Brake Shoes

After the changing the E- brake .. there has been a slight vibration from the rear wheels ... I also noticed that whenever I park the car for the night using my E-Brake ... when I drive in the morning .. there is a horrible vibration .. it stays for about 10 mins and then goes away .. the shaking is not felt on the steering wheel but the whole car shakes. since then I have stopped using the E-brake ... but somehow the shaking has become permanent now .. its not as bad as it was in the morning after using the E-Brake but it is an annoying vibration that starts at around 40 mph ... I got an alignment as well as wheel balance done and there was no change whatsoever in the shaking ..

Also .. when I am coming out of a turn .. I hear a clunking noise .. I was told that is a problem with the links .. but the noise still is there after changing the links .. The steering wheel shakes a little bit after straightening out of a turn and goes away in about 10 secs ..

I am fresh out of ideas as to what it could be .. and my mechanic is being a pain saying he cant seem to locate a problem ..any ideas?

Thanks!

[putz82]

It sounds like there is a problem with the ebrake. Maybe the cables are sticking. Also, the shaking in the rear could be from a shifted belt in a tire. Balancing them won't take care of it. Just my 2 cents.

[Notorious96]

Is there any way to identify of the belt in the tire has shifted .. as for the e-brake .. there was no problem till I got the e-brake changed ..

[Mike Gerber]

I agree with putz82 on both thoughts.

Check to see if the emergency brake cables to the rear are sticking and not allowing one or both of the rear wheels to spin freely.

As far as checking for a broken or shifted belt in the tires, you can rotate the tires front to back and see if the vibration moves to the front. If it does, use the spare tire to replace the front tires one at a time. When the vibration goes away you have found the offending tire.

Mike

[anti-seize]

I've had an issue on a number of toyota rear drum brakes, although the problem was not exactly like yours. The issue was that the auto adjusters on the rear brakes siezed, and when the brake lining begin to wear down, the brake shoes would start to rattle.

The worst rattle happened when I was braking on an off-ramp after driving 60 mph.

The solution was to pull the drum and disassemble the auto adjuster. Then wire brush the screw to get all the crap that is gumming everything up off. Add a light coat of anti-seize and take a rag and rub the compound in. Reassemble.

With the adjusting plug out, mount the wheel and then spin it. you should just hear the brake shoes scraping. If not, adjust. Needless to say, you need to have the e-brake off and the front wheels well chocked

Since you just had the e-brakes serviced, I'd check to see if the dang mechanic put everything back correctly. Once, someone put the main brake shoe spring in the wrong hole in the shoes such that the brake shoes were perpetualy loose. The theory here is that the shoes are grabbing and releasing because they are loose, and that is causing your vibration problem.

Is there a good photo somewhere of the spring locations and everything so this guy could check his brake system?

[Mike Gerber]

"Is there a good photo somewhere of the spring locations and everything so this guy could check his brake system?"

He can go to Autozone.com. Click on repair information. Then click on Vehicle Repair Guides. Then follow the prompts to get to his year Camry. Then click on brakes and then rear drum or disc brakes, as the case may be.

Mike