Front End Shake - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

daerl · 02-23-2009, 06:20 PM

Hi,
I did a search and didn't find an answer, but if its there, sorry for the repost. My 89 corolla shakes bad between 40 - 70 mph; it pulls to the passenger side. this shake is worse when I am coasting (foot off the gas). I have checked the bearings and the brakes. Any ideas before I put it in the shop.

thanks,

idrum2loud · 02-23-2009, 06:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by daerl

Hi,
I did a search and didn't find an answer, but if its there, sorry for the repost. My 89 corolla shakes bad between 40 - 70 mph; it pulls to the passenger side. this shake is worse when I am coasting (foot off the gas). I have checked the bearings and the brakes. Any ideas before I put it in the shop.

thanks,

My AE92 GT-S does too, but at 60-70....my bearings are good, and so are my brakes. I am sure you will find it is either a loose ball joint, pretty much any ball joint, or just your tires need balancing. Good luck!

***REN69*** · 02-23-2009, 07:48 PM

Alignment maybe? have you hit any big potholes or curbs lately?

daerl · 02-23-2009, 10:10 PM

No potholes; Ive only had the car for 7 days!! Other than the shake, it is great.

freakinbox · 02-24-2009, 01:02 PM

tie rod end or ball joint are likely causes. But what I have found is it can be rare for them to cause excessive vibration. You might also need your tires balanced or better yet a new rim if it's really out.

Wheel bearings will also cause the car to be unstable and you can try to check them, but to be honest the regular way of checking them didn't work until mine got REALLY bad. But I took it in and told them to replace it even though it didn't seem bad on the hoist and I was right since when they pulled it out it came out in pieces.

One overly simple thing that would cause what you are describing are loose lug nuts. I've had that happen and drove from Barrie to Hamilton and back (for those in Ontario who know how long of a drive that is) with the vibration getting worse. I was pleasantly surprised when I checked it the next day and instead of a bad wheel bearing it was just a loose front rim.

eage8 · 02-24-2009, 01:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by freakinbox

One overly simple thing that would cause what you are describing are loose lug nuts. I've had that happen and drove from Barrie to Hamilton and back (for those in Ontario who know how long of a drive that is) with the vibration getting worse. I was pleasantly surprised when I checked it the next day and instead of a bad wheel bearing it was just a loose front rim.

that's scary

I'm guessing it's probably just a wheel balance issue. or the tires have a flat spot from the car sitting.

my car did the same thing when I got it, as soon as I replaced the tires it was like new.

freakinbox · 02-24-2009, 03:27 PM

yeah it was a scary thought when I got home, but at the time I figured w/e because I thought it was a bad wheel bearing.

retiredat44 · 02-25-2009, 05:08 AM

Tires maybe,, what shape are they in?

daerl · 02-26-2009, 10:00 PM

tomorrow I'm going to firestone and have them check it all out; whatever it is, its a constant pull to the left; what I mean is that even when I'm going slow (10-25mph), there is a rythmic pull to the left, like something is dragging. oh, and it gets worse at 40mph, and whenever I'm slowing down. it definitely is the passenger side, and has to do with the wheel, not engine or clutch. the guy @ firestone said it could be a warped rotor/bad caliper, tie rod, or the tire. the tires look fairly new, but also fairly cheap. thanks for all the help!!

texadelphia · 02-27-2009, 06:17 AM

I used to drive a Jeep Wrangler that had this same problem. I'd hit 55-60 mph and thing would just start shaking like crazy. I'd have to let off the gas and let smooth out. It was pretty scary. I tried everything...replaced sway arm, checked ball joints, had it aligned, tires balanced...etc. I finally bought new tires and the problem went away. The tires had no visible signs of wear or problems so I can only assume there was a broken belt or something that was throwing them off. Anyway the problem never came back while I owned it. Hope that helps.

daerl · 02-27-2009, 07:32 PM

Turns out, I have a "separated tire"; the belts in tire are broken (like the jeep!). the other 3 are dry rotted!! So now I need 4 new tires and the problem should go away....

Thanks for all the replys.

jmaz87 · 02-27-2009, 09:55 PM

most likely a tie-rod since you said you checked brakes replace inner and outer

freakinbox · 02-28-2009, 07:39 AM

if the belt broke inside you are lucky the tire didn't blow. Had that happen with my friends parents car when I was a kid headed off to a camping trip, I told them what happened by the buldge in the tire and they didn't believe me and got back on the hwy, 10 min later the tire exploded lol.

Eduardo586 · 03-02-2009, 10:07 AM

HI everyone...I'm having the same problem of some sort, in my situation I've just replaced the clutch, after that I'm having a vibration around 40 mph and gets worse in higher speeds. Tires are fine. My mechanic change the clutch but now he's in vacation, so I cannot bring my car to him to check it, I wonder if I can fix the problem. Clutch works very well but the vibration if the problem now.
I will check all the points here exposed in the last posts.

More ideas? Can the clutch change alterate the whole and normal driving?

thanks in advance

jmaz87 · 03-02-2009, 04:18 PM

if it's vibrating at 40mph and not lower you probably have a bad bearing, tie-rod, or ball-joint prob not much else to do that if you don't hear your motor shuddering or anything else