I was driving my mother's 05 GX (non-kdss suspension).
The steering seems to be quite loose at speeds above 100kph (60mph).
There is also a vibration at these speeds (likely relating to balance).
How tight is your steering?
If alignment/balance doesn't fix things, what other parts might be the culprit?
I'm getting some vibration and steering wheel shake with my '04 GX... I have a 2004 GX with the differential dynamic damper installed. About 55-60mph it starts, and shakes the steering wheel back and forth. Sometimes it's completely smooth, but on other road surfaces it shakes. On full "comfort mode," the shake is much worse, but on Sport mode it dampens the shake to about 10% intensity, but it's sometimes still there. This is not bump steer, by the way.
So far, I've done:
-Brakes
-Alignment
-Front hubs
-2x wheel balancing with 2 different sets of wheels/tires
-lubed the drive shaft and prop shaft to fix the clunk (Clunk TSB has not been done)
-changed the power steering fluid
-checked all control arm bushings, ball joints, tie rod ends, and sway bar bushings. All are solid.
I recently jacked up the front end and moved the wheels back and forth by hand. It seems like there is some looseness coming front the inner tie rods. However, I pushed and pulled and can't get a clunk or anything. I think it's coming from inside the steering gearbox. My VIN says it's before ST002-05, so that TSB aka "Steering Flutter" would apply, if it is that.
After 104k, are the front shocks due for a change? It does seem to nose-dive a bit on braking, but the shocks aren't leaking or anything. Would worn shocks cause steering wheel flutter on these trucks?
700 miles ago I got new brake pads on all 4 wheels and new rotors on the rear wheels. 700 miles later the steering wheel still shakes when braking at above 60mph speeds. Also there is still a squeak sound coming when braking. Do I need to give the new brakes and rotors more time to adjust or were they installed wrong?
View 7 RepliesI test drove the sc 430 the other day, I found it very smooth and very soft ride. I noticed that when I accelerate the car feels heavy as if it lacks the torque. Is this normal?
Also, the steering felt loose at high speeds above 60mph. Is this normal?
I'm curious how many Gen 3 Prius II owners are having the same steering issue that I've been having. It's an occasional bumping/clunking or loose feeling when steering hard at low speeds. I've had the dealer look at it twice without their claiming to reproduce it. Part of the problem is finding the right words to describe it. It's more of a feeling in the steering wheel than a sound. Sometimes I feel it when turning into/out of a parking lot from/to the street. I'm not sure if it is just a normal characteristic of the electric power steering, or a defect in the power steering motor, coupling, or rack and pinion.
View 1 RepliesMy wife just purchased an 04 w/27k miles in superb condition two months ago. This is a California car that had no mountain or winter weather service.
We live in Colorado & do a lot of mountain driving. At speeds above 65mph going down hill the steering wheel slightly vibrates or shimmies under heavy braking. The car is always heavily loaded.
Original brakes w/ well over 50% lining. I have not put a dial indicator on the disc surfaces.
CV joint boots are tight & no grease leakage.
Tires are wearing perfectly, so I do not think it is an alignment issue.
My GX470 steering wheel shakes/vibrates when I hit speeds over 50mph. What is causing it?
View 12 RepliesJust rotated my tires this weekend and noticed today that the steering wheel has a vibration in it at highway speeds, 65-70mph. It did not do this at all before I rotated the tires, why it's doing it now? Tires are fairly new and Bridgestones H/Ts.
I know my rotors are warped and need replaced but the vibration I'm referring to is when I am not braking.
I bought 09 GX-470 4K miles ago..has 50K on it. Ran perfect when we bought it. wife said it started doing it 1 week later. I drove it and felt like warped rotors to me. replaced front rotors and pads with cheap wearever brand...I Know...I was sort of trouble shooting..did nothing ...did the back rotors and pads and seemed to fix it..did proper bed-in of new parts but, never checked at speeds above 55mph. recent trip got us up to speeds above 55... at these faster speeds when brakes are applied we get a nasty wheel wobble and a pulsing pedal...braking below 55 it feels fine.. thought's ?? last car was a 4runner which has the the same rotors and pads and never had a problem...could it be ABS ?? should I go with new oem rotors and pads ?
View 10 RepliesNew to owning a 2005 Excursion Limited 4WD 6.0 Diesel 140k miles.
When I bought the Excursion I had to drive it about 200 miles back home and it was all over the place. The steering seems real loose and when I hit bumps or a large gust of wind comes along the Excursion is all over the road.
I took it to Ford to get an alignment the next day and they said I need new outer tie rods ends, upper & lower ball joints, front shocks, steering stabilizer, locking hubs.
After that I took it to my mechanic who said I did not really need all that stuff done but if I did it I should be set with the Excursion for a long time. I opted to do all of these suggestions because I will be doing a lot of traveling with my family and wanted the peace of mind that all is well. For shocks I put new front and rear bilstein shocks (nothing fancy, I think they were about $80 each, sales rep said they would provide a firmer ride for towing).
After that I took it to another Tire shop for an alignment, they complimented all the work done and said I just need to get used to the steering after coming from a 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee. I took there word for it and headed on a 2k road trip.
I love the Excursion but once again it was all over the place. It seems worse around 65-70 mph, and I found going around 75-85 it would be a little bit easier of a drive until a Semi Truck would go by or I would get stuck in a lot of traffic or hit a lot of bumps.
At first I had a very firm grip on the wheel but quickly learned that a loose grip at around 4 & 8 o'clock on the wheel was best. I talked to a number of other Excursion owners who said there was very smooth and straight.
The way it drives right now does not seem safe.
I am currently running 8mm ECS spacers in the front and 17.5mm ECS spacers in the rear. My Summer set up is still stock BBS RC's, but my winter wheels are Lenso's.
Last winter was my first winter running with the Lenso's and had no issues. This past weekend I swapped out the BBS's for the Lenso's, and now I am feeling vibration above 60MPH. I felt no vibration with the BBS's. I just took them in to get balanced (maybe a weight fell off-idk), and they were within 1/4 of 100% balanced. They then thought it may be the spacers I'm running so they cleaned them up, but said that it didn't work.
My alignment is also spot on-so that's not an issue either. I am at a loss as to what would make me feel that vibration after just changing out the wheels.
For the past month or so my car is very twitchy and wanders a lot. The steering is so loose that it feels flimsy and sloppy. The front wheels grab every little rut and grooves in the road and pull my car left or right. I have to keep my hands on the steering all the time. I switched out my regular Lexus wheels/tires for my winter wheels/tires and the problem is still there so its not anything to do with the tires.
The car does not feel heavy or planted anymore. The steering feel is like an old Lexus ES from 10 years ago to be exact. At this moment I feel nervous driving the car. Never felt this way ever before.
I had my alignment done last year but haven't hit any potholes or anything. But this feeling feels like the steering pump leak, loose tie-rods, etc. I am not sure. Either way its unacceptable for a 2 year and 10 month old car with only 36k miles.
I think the yellow colored thing is a clip but it isn't latching onto anything and I try to force it up but it just moves back. Here's a pic. It's right below the ignition start button and is below the steering wheel column.
View 2 RepliesI recently had an accident which was absolutely scary. I was driving on a residential block and my steering became loose and started spinning. It was continuously spinning towards the right and my car scratched up a parked car until I finally was able to press the brakes and put it in park. After keeping it in park the steering wheel kept spinning out of control and didn't stop until the car was powered off.
View 14 RepliesHaving this issue? 2016 IS350 F-Sport. Car has 2700 Miles on it.
View 14 RepliesMore lately I've been noticing that when moving slowly, if going over a bump in the road of any sort, the steering wheel seems loose and the car wants to jump to one side or another slightly.
Picture moving straight ahead, and hit a rough section of or a small pot hole, and the steering wheel will move by itself to the left or the right quite a bit. I haven't noticed anything on the highway.
What can cause that? How should I go about describing to the service advisor so that it doesn't seem trivial? Last thing I want is a steering rack or major front suspension component slowly dying right after my warranty runs out. All I know is that it has struck me as "hey this doesn't feel normal".
Am I just being overly sensitive now that my powertrain warranty has months left on the clock, or does this sound like a legitimate concern? The last few things I've had them look into at the dealership during other service visits have been returned to me as "no problem founds" and I'm starting to feel like I'm just going crazy.
After some additional googling, it seems like I'm describing something commonly called "bump steer"... how much bump steer is normal for this car with stock suspension, I don't know... all I know is that I seem to have become acutely attuned to it whereas I never noticed it before. Hopefully I don't get the "we didn't notice anything wrong" again if I mention it, and whatever it is, is covered.
Recently we purchased a 2011 Avalon Limited. 2 weeks later while driving locally, I noticed a vibration in the car. The vibration appears approx 37-38 mph, and continues up to 60mph. At 70 mph the ride is vibration free. Our car is still under warranty, while at the local dealership, questioning the vibration, they notice a "code" for the transmission. They replaced the transmission. We still have the vibration.
The following week they "force balanced" the wheels. We still have the vibration, now it is stronger. I am almost ill with the vibration. I actually feel it, not just a visual issue. There is a Tech report on the issue, with another Avalon experiencing the same issues. What the issue could be? Michelin Tires. This is our 4th Avalon. We have owned a 96 XL, 2001 XLS (the best!!), 2006 XLS, and now, after waiting many years, I was able to purchase the loaded Avalon Limited. Only to have issues that make me sick when I drive it!
My Sc430 with 95k has a steering wheel wiggle . Tires balanced, worn lower ball joint and front end alignment been done. Seems to come and go at various speeds.
View 14 RepliesI purchased a 2006 Lariat crew cab 4x4 back in early feb... since then, I've been on the Interstates a little more than usual ( traveling back home.. dad had a surgery 3 hours away) . . . anyway, the truck gets kinda loose feeling when coming onto bridges and off of them, almost like the back end is swaying and the tires are leaving the ground in the front.. my steering wheel gets loose for a split sec. When I bought the truck I wrote this off as bad tires.. it had some over inflated BFG stock looking tires and where too small.
now, I have new wheels and new tires one size up on the tire. While the ride is great off any bumps.. the second I hit a bump it gets squirmy... I had a guy look at the shocks, he said the seemed ok.. could it be possible to have the wrong shocks on ?
My 2004 crew 4x4 did not do this.. so I know its not a characteristic of the truck. Tired of feeling like I am driving on ice... which is how I lost my 04. My first guess was the Shocks... I bought a level kit for my 04 and never got to put it on... so, it may work out to replace them while I am at it.
Was on driving doing maybe 50-60mph and suddenly heard this loud pop coming from my roof. Sounded like something exploded.
At first I thought someone had actually landed on my roof!! Saw debrises flying off my roof from the rearview mirror.
Open the sunroof shade and realized a huge hole in the middle of the sunroof!! I had to close it cuz the smaller pieces of glass were falling. What would've happened if I had the sunroof open?
I've read somewhere that the NHTSA is investigating Scion's sunroof shattering. Wonder if this is related to Scion's??
I just bought a 2008 LS600 Obsidian with Exec package. Happy with the car except for some steering vibration at low speeds when turning. Took it to Newport Lexus...they say..."normal for an AWD LS600".
View 11 Replies