2001 SLE Solara Bad shimmy in front end

[trwiist]

Have a 2001 SLE Solara with only 75,000 miles. Bought the car brand new. Very well-maintained car. Recently put on new Toyo tires and started having the vibration problem. Most noticeable at speeds above 55-60 and especially on warmer days and warmer roads. Had new CV joints put on, tires rebalanced and rotated twice, front end aligned twice, but no help. Sometimes the vibration through the steering wheel is so severe that you can barely hold onto the steering wheel. Other times, it's smooth as silk. Other times, it will vibrate, smooth out, then begin vibrating again on same road surface. Any help out there???

[littlebookworm]

Check TireRack.com, but I think I remember reading that there were problems with balancing Toyo tires. Over the years I used various brands of tires on my 05. The best were the Cooper CS4. I suggest you try to exchange those Toyos for a different brand. Good luck.

[beantickler]

Usually an intermittent shimmy or shake has nothing to do with tires... If it is there sometimes and not others then I would be looking at suspension, steering rack(loose bolts, ect), engine cradle bushings, control arm bushings and tie rods... I would be willing to bet you have something in one or two of these areas bad or going bad...

[littlebookworm]

I do agree that all of those parts can be causing an intermittant shimmy, but the original post indicates that the front end has been worked on. Perhaps the mechanics missed something or perhaps not. I'm only adding that, if memory serves me, other drivers had posted problems with the Toyo tires. The only reason that sticks in my mind is all the research I had done over the years when I had to replace tires on my Solara and on my wife's car. I had looked at the Toyos and had decided against them. Bad tires can give a shimmy which will sometines disappear and later reappear. It would be caused by the expansion and contraction of the rubber compound in the tires and by their tendency to get flat spots from sitting which later wear unevenly. Is that definitely his problem? I don't know. I'd take your suggestion to double check every little part of the front suspension and steering and add my suggestion to double check, perhaps by substitution, the tires, as well.

[trwiist]

@ littlebookworm ~ Thanks for the info. My husband took my Solara back to the front-end shop that replaced the tie rod and balanced/rotated the tires, and re-aligned the front end. He said they could see nothing else wrong. But, they added air to the tires to increase the psi. Knock-on-wood, I don't know if that has helped the shimmy or it's just a coincidence because we've had our first big cold snap here in East Texas and the roads are cooler, but I currently have no shimmy. My smoothest ride since the problem started (which coincides also with this last set of tires). Makes me really think it is tire-related. It seamed to shimmy the worst on those hotter days, which goes along with your expansion/contraction theory. I drive on the same roads Mon-Fri and it generally shakes MUCH worse in the afternoons on my way home.

If anyone knows some tire sites where we can check Toro reviews, I would really appreciate it!!!

Thanks for all the suggestions!

[trwiist]

@ Beantickler ~ Thanks for your suggestions, but I thing we've exhausted everything in those regions. We've had it checked out extensively in two different shops. My money is on the Toyo tires. Would like to find some info on similar problems with those tires.
Thanks a million!

[littlebookworm]

In a way, I'm glad my suggestions worked for you. Unfortunately, that also means you'll have some shimmy problems for as long as you own the tires. Toyos, I understand, tend to have a softer rubber compound than other brands, which reacts to temperature changes. Keeping the air pressure on the high side stiffens the tire somewhat, which would releave some of the sloppiness problem and the shimmy. Good luck with your Solara. I recently traded in my 05 for an Acura, after putting 148k miles on the Solara. It still ran well, but I wanted to get something newer. I'll be leaving this forum soon.