For the last few months, I have been noticing a shimmy from the steering wheel at times. The weird thing is that this usually occurs at speeds of 25-35mph and is worse during cold weather and after left turns.
I had the tires balanced twice and rotated with no change (I didn't really expect it to make a difference.) I only notice it very occasionally at higher speeds.
The shimmy is a fairly strong left-right shaking of the wheel. The vibrations aren't felt through the car, just the wheel.
I suspect something in the suspension or possibly CV joints, but I would like to hear from someone with more knowledge on the Corolla instead of just guessing.
Could be a number of things causing this, including:
- bent wheels (should have been caught with the rebalance/rotation)
- heavily warped front brake rotors
- tires internally damaged
- worn front wheel bearings
- blown struts, worn upper pillowball mount
- damaged swaybar (worn bushings, worn end links)
- worn or damaged steering rack, worn tie-rod ends
- worn bushings in control arms
- damaged axle/cv-joint
- worn lower ball joint
- broken coil spring
When you got the wheels rebalanced and the tires rotated, did it change the amount of vibration at all?
Do the tires show any excessive wear? What brand/make of tires are these?
Recent alignment on the car? Any recent work on the car? Any events that could have damaged the suspension, wheels, tires, or alignment - curbing the tires, slid off the road, hit a big pothole, etc.?
No bent wheels - that would also cause a vibration all the time. No excessive wear on the tires (Big O Euro Tour) No recent alignment or work. We do have a lot of potholes, but I avoid them as much as possible.
The things that baffle me are the fact that it's worse when the car is cold and after left turns (90 degree turns).
I bought 4 new tyres for the Corolla, had them mounted and balanced.
Had a shimmy/wobble - called the store I got the tyres from. After about 1000 km's, returned and they re-balanced the tyres. All 4 had balance problems. When done, all tyres were in balance (saw that myself on the balancer machine).
Back on the car, the wobble was less, but still there. I renewed the brake pads and rotors at the same time I got the new tyres, so thought that was the problem. Checked everything, but found no problem.
Took the car to a shop that has a Hunter GSP 9700. Put it on the machine, balance shown: OK. BUT: the machine determend that the tyres were out of round / spring rate of the tyres caused them to go out of round during driving.
The shop re-mounted the tyres on the same aloys, but with matching high and low spots. Problem was much less!! Still had a bit of a wobble, but I suspect that the tyre moved a little on the aloys.
Try to find a show with a Hunter GSP 9700, and have them check it out. If you have an other set of tyres for your car, do you have the same problem when you install those?
No bent wheels - that would also cause a vibration all the time. No excessive wear on the tires (Big O Euro Tour) No recent alignment or work. We do have a lot of potholes, but I avoid them as much as possible.
The things that baffle me are the fact that it's worse when the car is cold and after left turns (90 degree turns).
When you say the car is cold - are you referring to running after a cold soak (car's been off for 4+ hours) or ambient temperature the car has been sitting in or both?
The left turn making it worse is a little weird - but given all the info here, it really sounds like could be:
- steering rack issue (could be as simple a slipping belt - slips more when cold, getting better when it warms up)
- suspension bushings (swaybar bushing, worn lower ball joint, worn upper strut mount - can be highly temperature dependent)
- motor mounts (excessive movement can bind the driveline, causing a jerky inconsistent ride, lower temps can increase movement, reduce mount compliance)
If you haven't already done so - I'd jack up the front end and give it a good look over - double check the wheel bearings, make sure the wheel's mounting pad are sitting flush with the hub, lugnuts are torqued correctly, check for rips, tears in the mounts/bushings, rips in the CV joint, axle play, etc. Majority of these show up in a visual inspection. Might try inspecting it cold and then hot, see what changes - might lead you to the source(s) of the problem.
When you say the car is cold - are you referring to running after a cold soak (car's been off for 4+ hours) or ambient temperature the car has been sitting in or both?
The left turn making it worse is a little weird - but given all the info here, it really sounds like could be:
- steering rack issue (could be as simple a slipping belt - slips more when cold, getting better when it warms up)
- suspension bushings (swaybar bushing, worn lower ball joint, worn upper strut mount - can be highly temperature dependent)
- motor mounts (excessive movement can bind the driveline, causing a jerky inconsistent ride, lower temps can increase movement, reduce mount compliance)
If you haven't already done so - I'd jack up the front end and give it a good look over - double check the wheel bearings, make sure the wheel's mounting pad are sitting flush with the hub, lugnuts are torqued correctly, check for rips, tears in the mounts/bushings, rips in the CV joint, axle play, etc. Majority of these show up in a visual inspection. Might try inspecting it cold and then hot, see what changes - might lead you to the source(s) of the problem.
By the car being cold, I mean it has been sitting in a cold ambient temperature like overnight in a cold garage or outside during the day at work.
I will see if I can get a friend to let me use their lift to get a better look under the car. Without raising the front, I don't see any cracks or leaks in the CV joints but everything else is hard to tell.
The left turn making it worse is a little weird - but given all the info here, it really sounds like could be:
Does the speed at which you make the left turn make any difference?
As you turn left, centripetal force would make the car lean to the right; more so at higher speeds. This force would put more stress on the right-side suspension and less stress on the left-side suspension.
Does the speed at which you make the left turn make any difference?
As you turn left, centripetal force would make the car lean to the right; more so at higher speeds. This force would put more stress on the right-side suspension and less stress on the left-side suspension.
That might help with the troubleshooting.
It normally occurs when turning left after a stop. It occurs during and after acceleration up to local street speeds (25-35mph).
Your thoughts about the stress on the right side is a great idea! That gives me an area to look more deeply into. Thanks!
Finally found out the culprit. I had some regular service done at my Toyota dealer (small leak from a seal) and had them look over the front steering, suspension, etc.
The found an "irregular" tire on the front right. They balanced it as much as they could and moved it to the rear. Steering wheel shimmy is gone, but now I have a vibration at freeway speeds from the rear. I am trying to deal with the tire reseller (Big O Tires) but they insist there is nothing wrong with the tire. They want me to try it for a week and see if the problem is still there (after they re-balanced it for the umpteenth time.) I'll give it a week and then have them replace it.
I won't be buying Big O brand tires again. I only have 12k miles on the set and may be looking at buying a new set if they can't get these tires right.
Any recommendations on new tires if I end up going that way? I found a set of Yokohama AVID Touring S tires with excellent reviews and a good price.
See my previous post - I had the tyres balanced on a Hunter GSP 9700 balancer. These balance the tyres with pressure on them, if there is an irregularity it picks this up, and advises the shop on how to mount the tyre and balance them.
Maybe try and find a shop near you with one of those balancers. Even if they can't fix it, you have more evidence that there is a problem with the tyre.
Finally found out the culprit. I had some regular service done at my Toyota dealer (small leak from a seal) and had them look over the front steering, suspension, etc.
The found an "irregular" tire on the front right. They balanced it as much as they could and moved it to the rear. Steering wheel shimmy is gone, but now I have a vibration at freeway speeds from the rear. I am trying to deal with the tire reseller (Big O Tires) but they insist there is nothing wrong with the tire. They want me to try it for a week and see if the problem is still there (after they re-balanced it for the umpteenth time.) I'll give it a week and then have them replace it.
I won't be buying Big O brand tires again. I only have 12k miles on the set and may be looking at buying a new set if they can't get these tires right.
Any recommendations on new tires if I end up going that way? I found a set of Yokohama AVID Touring S tires with excellent reviews and a good price.
Yeh "big turd" as it is known at our house, has really gone down the toilet since the 1980's.
The philosophy of the company has completely changed for the worst.
The last time I was in big turd they told me my brakes were bad "so dangerous we can't let yo drive out of here". I told the manager that I was a mechanic and had just completely gone through brakes the day before and did he want to show me .... he declined , never looked me in the face, and handed me a bill for the tires. No more was said about the brakes.
I called the companies head quarters and told them what had happened ....I am still waiting for them to get back to me... that was 5 years ago.
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1999 Corolla Intermittant Steering Wheel Shimmy
Linear Mode
