99 camry with bad front end shake, please help - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

njwrestler07 · 09-19-2010, 07:08 PM

My 99 camry is almost at 50,000 miles, i got it last year from my grandmother in june with 22,000 miles on it. I drive alot and its always had a front end shake when i get on the highway. I know its not the rims, tires or balancing because i've had it checked by multiple shops. When i sometimes hit bumps i feel something click in the steering column. Could this be bad tie rods?

deadrx7conv · 09-19-2010, 08:10 PM

Could be numerous incompetent shops!!!

njwrestler07 · 09-19-2010, 08:33 PM

tell me about it, i just wanna get it fixed and keep it until the end of the year until i sell it, any ideas of what i should try to fix first?

TedL · 09-19-2010, 08:40 PM

Original tires, or have you changed them?

If you know it's not any of the three rotating parts you listed, look at the other three: rotors, axles, and hubs.

If tires are the original, I'd bet on them, despite your certainty to the contrary.

njwrestler07 · 09-19-2010, 08:49 PM

tires are from February, with new rims as well, rotors are new, havent really checked the hub or axles but toyota did look at it and said nothing was wrong, so im kind of lost, i really have no idea what to do.

TedL · 09-20-2010, 06:07 AM

You need a good, experienced tech to take a ride with you.

If you want to continue parts swapping, get new axles. And I do mean NEW, not reman OE, run about $20 more a piece. Went through front end shakes with my son's '97 Camry. Started around 40 mph, got strong in the 60-70 range. I was sure it was in one of the axles. Put in remans, changed a little. Finally changed the remans for new aftermarket--problem solved.

njwrestler07 · 09-20-2010, 07:33 AM

see the problem is that i am most certain my grandmother smacked a curb pretty hard with it one time or hit something else because the right front bumper, headlight and original right front rim were messed up. so you think it the axel that i should replace first?

***projektvertx*** · 09-20-2010, 07:57 AM

High speed front end shakes are usually (emphasis on that word, I've learned that vibrations on the front can be caused by MANY things...) one of three things: bad balance, bad axle, bad hub (bearing).Contrary to what some would like to tell you, alignment DOES NOT cause vibration.

Since your grandma hit a curb with it, I'd be willing to bet you might have an ever so slightly bent axle. Would you have a experienced eyes and ears to ride along with you? Also, are you experiencing odd tire wear? That would point to the wheel bearing... Jack up the car and check the ball joint, and inner tie rods as well. Check the control arm bushings (yes, that cause a vibration in my car...). Check up this stuff and if all check out, then we'll take it from there!

njwrestler07 · 09-20-2010, 08:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by projektvertx

High speed front end shakes are usually (emphasis on that word, I've learned that vibrations on the front can be caused by MANY things...) one of three things: bad balance, bad axle, bad hub (bearing).Contrary to what some would like to tell you, alignment DOES NOT cause vibration.

Since your grandma hit a curb with it, I'd be willing to bet you might have an ever so slightly bent axle. Would you have a experienced eyes and ears to ride along with you? Also, are you experiencing odd tire wear? That would point to the wheel bearing... Jack up the car and check the ball joint, and inner tie rods as well. Check the control arm bushings (yes, that cause a vibration in my car...). Check up this stuff and if all check out, then we'll take it from there!

well when im driving say 70mph, you can just look at the steering wheel shake, it shakes to the point where i feel it in the whole car like in the seats and such, but the other problem is the clicking i feel in the steering wheel when i hit bumps, i was thinking of replacing the tie rods first but if its an axel i should do then ill do that, i had toyota look at it and they said nothing was wrong, so i dont want to start replacing things that are not broken

***projektvertx*** · 09-20-2010, 08:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by njwrestler07

well when im driving say 70mph, you can just look at the steering wheel shake, it shakes to the point where i feel it in the whole car like in the seats and such, but the other problem is the clicking i feel in the steering wheel when i hit bumps, i was thinking of replacing the tie rods first but if its an axel i should do then ill do that, i had toyota look at it and they said nothing was wrong, so i dont want to start replacing things that are not broken

Like you said, I wouldn't sink money into it without knowing what the problem is

But I would jack it up tonight, or over the week end, test the components yourself, such as tie rods and such, and get back to us

njwrestler07 · 09-20-2010, 08:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by projektvertx

Like you said, I wouldn't sink money into it without knowing what the problem is

But I would jack it up tonight, or over the week end, test the components yourself, such as tie rods and such, and get back to us

ill do that, thanks for the help, ill let you know

TedL · 09-20-2010, 10:37 AM

Allow me to engage in a bit of logical analysis. No offense meant to anyone involved.

You have had the car "checked by multiple shops", who presumably were able to drive the vehicle, feel the vibration, and put the car up on a lift and examine it.

They haven't identified the problem, so you've turned to people here who can neither feel, see, nor hear the problem over the internet.

If you really believe we can do better than the techs you've taken the car to, then you really have no confidence in the techs you've gone to.

This is not an exotic problem/diagnosis for a vehicle that's experienced front end impact.

Recommendation: Identify an excellent diagnostician. That's the hard part. Take it to him/her, and make it clear you're willing to pay for the time to make the diagnosis.

deadrx7conv · 09-20-2010, 11:27 AM

Checking means nothing. Doing is important. Competence is difficult to find in the auto repair world.

The only thing that's seriously caused the front end in my car to shake is either bad wheel bearing, bent rims, out of balance tire. I did once have a differential induced vibration. Might want to top off the diff fluid.

Have you had the tires road-forced balanced? Have you rotated the tires? Have you had the rims checked for run-out? Measurements please! Is there any play in the wheel bearing?

If you hit something, a ball joint, strut, strut bearing, wheel bearing, rim, tire, tie-rod.... can be loose enough to have some play that causes vibration. They should be easily checked by your technician.

Since tires are a cheap and easy debug, get them rebalanced and rotated. Make sure there is no rim/wheel runout. And, make sure that they are torqued.

50k is low miles for that vehicle. I won't assume drivetrain issue. CV's, as long as boots aren't torn, are probably good. But, a good whack from a curb or bottle....
I'll also assume that the transmission is good. Check the level and change the fluid.

So, you got the car at 22k and now have 50k. Been driving with the problem for 28k miles????

And, make sure the vibration isn't an engine shake caused by a bad coil, spark plug, warped pulley, clogged injector.....

So, what EXACTLY has been repaired/replaced in the last 28k miles that no-one was competent enough to find the cause? Please, don't tell me what was looked at. I want to know what was removed and replaced or changed.

***projektvertx*** · 09-20-2010, 10:53 PM

^ Actually, you would be surprised, when my CV halfshaft started failing, the boot WAS NOT torn and showed no external sign of failing. However there were the symptoms I got:

-High speed vibration
-low speed click on speed bumps

And doing, not checking? What does that mean exactly?? Again, I find it hard to believe that all of these technician missed it, BUT, let me tell you the story of my car last year. My rear strut failed, so I replaced all 4 struts again along with all plastics and whatnot along with ball joints. I took it into the dealership for an inspection with the following KNOWN suspension issues:

-Bad Front endlinks
-Bad outer tie rods
-Bad control arm bushings

And their "report" passed all of these components, despite the fact that I told them to pay close attention to the suspension, and they took it for a test drive! My point is: technicians aren't what you guys are making them out to be (no offense to the good technicians out there). I'd think it's better if the OP jacks up his car and does the checking himself. That way, he has a better grasp of the problem and doesn't get ripped off in the process.

TedL · 09-21-2010, 06:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by projektvertx

let me tell you the story of my car last year. My rear strut failed, so I replaced all 4 struts again along with all plastics and whatnot along with ball joints. I took it into the dealership for an inspection with the following KNOWN suspension issues:

-Bad Front endlinks
-Bad outer tie rods
-Bad control arm bushings

And their "report" passed all of these components, despite the fact.

Wow, I didn't see this ending coming! By me, the dealers would have told me all those things need replacement, along with the struts...again.