Toyota - Rav4 :: 2003 - Vibration From Steering Wheel At Highway Speed After New Tires
Aug 9, 2011
2003 Toyota RAV4, approx 130K.
A month ago I put a new set of Goodyear tires on my RAV. I drive on the highway 35-40 miles each way to and from work every day. Immediately after the new tires go on, I notice a vibration from the steering wheel at highway speed, above 60 mph. I took the car back to the tire shop (an independent tire shop, not a chain) and asked them to rebalance the tires. They did, and I took the car home. Drive to work the next day, vibration is worse. Next day, my dad and I switch cars so he can take it in. The tire shop says the front end alignment is off, and adjusts it. Small improvement, but vibration is still there.
I took it in for the 3rd time this weekend, and they swap the front and back tires at my request, thinking this might isolate the problem. The shop also checks my struts and says they are ok. (I don't even know what struts are, but apparently they are ok.) Now the vibration has moved out of the steering wheel and is coming from the rear and the floor. It does not happen when I apply the brakes or am on city streets. What this would be? Bad tire or tires? Something else going on altogether? What should I ask them to do?
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I wanted to believe I had rid the car of the steering wheel vibration when I lowered the Psi in the tires from 46-50Psi to the 35Psi it should have. However, the car still has a vibration in the steering wheel when going highway speeds accelerating up gradual hills or when accelerating out of a sweeping turn at highway speeds. It is very noticeable, you can see the hands on the wheel shake. Passengers don't notice it. I had my brother in law drive it without mentioning to him and he noticed it as well.
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2002 Camry LE 4cyl. automatic. I bought this car with 7500 miles on it in 2010. It had been involved in a low speed parking lot collision and apparently the left front corner and front took the hit. It'd been repaired and looked like new when I bought it. It still had the factory tires on it, but they were 8 years old, so I put a set of new Kumho Solus' on it. This was a friend's mothers car, so I know the history of it.
The left front suspension has always felt odd to me. Nothing serious, but just "off." When backing up and turning it has a sort of wobbly feel on that corner at times. I've been assured by several mechanics that they can find no problems. It feels to me like maybe sometimes the strut piston sticks on that corner. Don't know if that ever happens or not, but that's the best description I can come up with!
It has always vibrated from 45 on up. It's not a hard shudder, but just a constant vibration at highway speed that you can feel in your feet and the steering wheel. I've had it balanced and re-balanced to no avail. Sometimes it gets a little better, sometimes worse, but it's never gone away. Recently it seems to be getting worse.
I put it up on jackstands and accelerated to 60, and it vibrates like the wheels are out of balance. Yesterday I replaced the Kumhos (they had bad road noise anyway) with Michelins. The Michelins cured the road noise problems and have a much better overall feel, but I've still got the balance problem.
Just put it up on jackstands again and spun it up, and I still have the same vibration!
What to look for? The car has just now turned over 35k miles. I'm wondering if the CV joint on that left side was damaged and is causing the vibration. I've got new wheels as well instead of the factory steel rims. Also, with the car up on stands, the wheels spin true. No bent hub, etc.
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Since I got my car back from the dealership after changing the rear shock this summer, I can feel a vibration in the car at highway speed. After the shock were replaced the car steering wheel was out of balance and pulling one side. After they attempt to align the car about 5 times it got a little bit better. Then I found out that they had an accident with my car and tried to hide it: [URL] ....
I suspect the tie rod may have been damaged so that could explain the steering issue. It also seems to have gotten worse over time. I'm trying to figure out the possible cause, if directly related to the tie rod damage or indirectly as if the tie rod damage could have caused uneven tire wear and then causing the vibration over time. I've attached some pictures, the 2 first are from the front passenger side, the 2 last from the front driver side. My tire are the Michelin pilot and this thread seems to suggest those tire might be hard to align properly: [URL] ....
I'm due for my winter tire change soon and see if thing gets better, I'll get them balanced too. I'll check at the same time for control arms/shock damage. But still, I would like some feedback and see if those tread wear are normal and hopefully get to the root of the problem (the outer edge on the tire in the back are much less damaged).
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I have a 2001 Toyota Echo which developed severe vibration feedback to the steering wheel when the car was driven at low speed or stopped at a traffic sign or signal.
I took the car to the Toyota dealer and they checked the brakes, replaced the front rotors. They also checked the fuel pump and other engine components. The spark plugs and PCV vale were replaced, as well as the crank seal.
When I left the garage, the vibration reappeared after driving about five minutes. I immediately went back to the garage and waited while the mechanic checked the car. He came to the waiting room and said I would not believe what they found. I went to the garage with him and the hood on the car was raised. He started the car and there was no unusual vibration.
He closed the hood and the vibration started again. The problem was that the underhood reinforcement panel had come unwelded (or unglued) and it was vibrating. A mechanic came from the body shop and put a sealer/filler at the loose spots, we let the car sit for a while, the mechanic said the sealer/filler would expand to close the gap, and I drove the car home. The vibration had stopped.
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Just 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.
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I have a 2003 Toyota Camry. About 10 months ago, when I get a transmission fluid change, the mechanic told me that my power steering fluid is dirty. A few month later, in the cold winter month, my steering wheel make loud screeching noise when the engine is cold only. The mechanic told me that I have a small power steering leak. But since I don't see the power steering fluid level goes down and the mechanic say I don't have to fix it now, I didn't do anything about it.
About a month ago, there is a squeaking noise come from my steering wheel every time I drive very slowly out of (or into) my driveway and turning the wheel. Now I heard the noise when I drive slowly (10 mph) and turning the wheel too. So what is the problem that cause the noise when I turn the wheel at slow speed? I only drive about 5k miles a year. Is it safe if I just continue to ignore the problem?
Also, the color of my current power steering fluid is amber, but a little dark. Which power steering fluid should I buy?
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The 98 camry has steering wheel shudder after the new tires have been put on. Do I need alignment. will that work now that my tires are scalloped? The guys at the tire shop balanced the tires. the shudder was there on the old tires too, which were severely scalloped. or pitted. Can i do alignment myself?
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I bought 2012 Prius ii around 6 weeks ago. From day one I started noticing vibrations in the steering wheel most noticeable at highway speeds. I can describe this as high frequency vibrations that become very very annoying especially if you drive to work for an hour every day. This car has OEM Bridgestone Ecopia EP 20 tires. I took the car to the dealership twice already, they balanced the tires twice and road force tested it twice. They replaced front tires for me because based on the test results one tire was at 16 lb the other one at 19 lbs.
The new tires are at 8 and 10. They keep on telling me that this is by design and is a characteristic of the vehicle. However the Prius I test drove when I was buying it did not have this problem, otherwise I would never buy it. This vibration happens in any mode and I can even feel it at lower speed now though it is not as noticeable. I had a few people including Prius owners drive my car and everyone feels the vibration. With so many Prius models sold I highly doubt that everyone just accepts it as a feature.
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Have vibration in steering wheel starting at around 70 mph on the highway:-This started after changing out front braked pads, but the brakes are smooth when applied with no vibration also turned rotors by hand to check for any grabbing on pad everything is fine.-Jacked up car and checked for wheel movement, everything seems tight.-Swapped tires around to see if a tire was out of balance.These are some of the things I have tried.
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I bought a 2012 Toyota Prius 2 on Jan 28, 2013 (just a little over a month ago). The front tires and steering wheel vibrated at highway speeds (here in NY 65-70mph) and so I took it in, they said it needed wheel balancing and rotation. Fine.
Then I was told to wait it out because of the "snow" and "ice" could be the culprit, fine. Then a week or so later, same problem still, even when it got warmer. Took it back in. This time the wheels were "off balance" again. Hmmm, that's funny. So they did a dynamic or forced balance? I don't know exactly, but it was a step up from "normal" balancing (according to them).
The past couple weeks it hasn't been vibrating nearly as much, but it is coming back again intermittently. Today I was driving home from Watertown, NY to Syracuse. It's about an hour or so drive, and it is a state highway, so it isn't too torn up or potholed. Between 66-70mph the steering wheel vibrates quite bad and RANDOMLY at that. Some roads the car at 70mph feels super smooth others not! And the weirdest part is some of the roads it feels smooth on are bumpy or slightly torn up!
I've looked up all the causes of steering wheel and tire vibrations, and I see that there are about 5-10 potential causes. If I have to take this car in one more time I might just scream.
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I hit a curb while making too sharp of a right hand turn a week ago and now I notice some vibration in the steering wheel as I drive down the highway. The tire I hit was the rear passenger side. If I get wheel balancing done, do I need to just balance that tire or all of them?
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2010 FJ Cruiser has an intermittent shimmy that you can feel in the steering wheel at highway speeds. Noticed it not long after new tires. Go around a long curve and it starts, then stays until you go around another curve and then stops. It is as if the wheels have to align a certain way for some harmonic effect. I had the tires rebalanced and rotated. My mechanic said they balanced up very well. Shimmy is better but not gone. Wierdest thing is that when it happens, if I keep my foot on the gas and gently press the brake the shimmy stops and the returns as soon as I let up on the brake. When I asked my mechanic if it could be 2 slightly warped rotors he said the shimmy would be worse braking not better.
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I've been noticing my steering wheel shakes if i normally brake going on the highway at high speed. My friend said that it's probably your brakes and rotors. Get them replaced and resurface and that should fix the problem. Can i get some confirmation before i do this?
1. I just had my tires replace at 55k and bought this car new back in feb 09. it has 62k.
2. also i've been reading up on camries fail water pump. i'm thinking of doing this over the weekend or should i just wait until i notice some leaks?
3. lastly, any major thing i need to be aware of. i've done the normal engine oil and filter change, cabin and engine air filter change, that's about it. i hope these camries are bullet proof like the old school (92-95).
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I have an 08 RAV4 that has an issue when turning left and right and sometimes when taking off from a rolling stop. It seems that the body and engine want to move but the tires do not. I have taken the vehicle to 4 mechanics including dealership and everyone says the transmission is fine, axles and joints are supposed to be fine as well as drive train. I currently have about 25000 miles left on a warranty and don't want to lose the use of the warranty.
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I have a 05 Touareg V6. When coming to a stop (when speed reaches 5 mph or less) there is a slight vibration felt in the steering wheel. What causes this? What can I do to correct this? (I had new rotors and brakes put on about 2K miles ago.
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During very smooth acceleration at any speed, steering vibration is felt which seems to come from bad engine support absorbers. Dealer said this is normal due to powerful V6 engine. Also hear disturbing exhaust sound when accelerating. Wonder if these conditions are related to steering vibration?
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I purchased a set of new LTX MS2 tires back in October and a week ago a got a nail on the right front tire, specifically the side wall so they couldn't fix it so they replaced the tire with a new one. Now when I step on the brakes at 60 mph, the steering wheel vibrates. Can the new tire be causing that? I looked at the weights and one set of weights is taped kind of crooked, can the balancing cause it too?
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I got an 04 GLI ... When I'm driving at about 60 mph, and I apply the brakes lightly, i get a vibration in the steering wheel. it doesn't happen under heavy breaking, just when i press the pedal down lightly to slow down, and there is NO pulsation in the pedal at all during any time.
Some history of the car:
Just did pads and rotors 2 weeks ago,
car has spacers, hub centring.. the problem occurs with out the spacers also.
had an alignment a month ago.
had tires balanced 2 months ago
tires are 2 months old.
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2008 ES350 with 170k miles. My wife drives the car almost exclusively but we went on a road trip and I had the opportunity to drive it for a few hours.
I noticed at idle there is a chirping sounds from the belt area like it could be a water pump or another pulley going out.
Other data points:
At speeds over 80mph I feed a vibration in the steering wheel. we are 1k over getting the tires rotated so that may clear this issue up.
low speed in a parking lot I had the wheel at full lock turning and it felt like it "slipped" and it made a noise. This made me think the power steering pump could be what is going out.
I need to check the fluid levels tonight and see if either is leaking ( there is nothing on the garage floor)
Are there any good DIY's for a waterpump or power steering pump replacement? Once I diagnose the problem I would like to fix it myself.
Are these common issues with the ES350?
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Yesterday, I was driving on the highway at a 65-70 miles per hour (basically pushing it for my '96 RAV4). Suddenly, the car turned off. The engine cut out and the battery and oil signal came on. It did not lurch as if I had popped the clutch, nevertheless, I went to restart it as I was going down the hill and it made it home for the next 40 miles.
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