2006 Corolla Front shimmy SOLVED! - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

DaveFritsch · 11-21-2011, 04:09 PM

My 2006 Corolla, 85,000 miles w automatic shift developed a shake beginning at 55 mph with increasing intensity until 70 mph, when it would subside slightly. The symptoms were worse under acceleration, especially up hill. Attempted fixes included:
aligning the front and rear wheels, purchasing two new tires, rebalancing the tires, rotating the tires and inspecting the tires for visual defects.
The successful fix turned out to be "removing and installing right front axle assembly and transaxle mount".
Cost: Transmission mount $137.59
Axle Assembly $99.74
Shop Supplies $14.17
Labor $167.40
The work was done at an independent shop.

Dave Fritsch

***silver04rollas*** · 11-21-2011, 07:26 PM

Yeah, definitely a very common wheel balancing issue. My car had that issue recently when I got my winter tires put on and then I took it back to the shop to have them balancing it again (or balance it because they forgot the first time).

invader · 11-21-2011, 07:33 PM

"The successful fix turned out to be "removing and installing right front axle assembly and transaxle mount"... It allegedly wasn't a wheel balancing problem.

So it's an XRS manual?

MasterTecInSTL · 11-22-2011, 11:11 AM

Actually they worded that incorrectly. "Remove and Install" or "R&I" meass that a part was removed and that same part was reinstalled without being replaced. Usually this is done to inspect a part or to access another part.

When they should have put on the invoice was "Remove and Replace" or "R&R". I know it's nitpicking but just sounds funny.

Late 80's/Early 90's Chrysler minivans (Caravans, Town and Countries, Voyagers) used to have a big problem with this. The engine mounts would fail and during acceleration the engine would shift and put the axles in a bind. Over time this would damage the axles as well. People would install new axles and they'd be trashed within a week or two because the mounts are still bad.

Sounds like you got a tech that remembered this and recognized that vibration as being similar. That's awesome! Not many of today's generation of techs would have even thought of that unless it was published as a TSB by Toyota.