Steering Shimmy
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azacher
New member
Please someone answer, I have what I believe is the same problem with my 99 Limited. I even had a 4-wheel alignment and mechanic check all the usual suspects (ball joints, bearings, etc...) and came back clean, yet it still has a shimmy over 70mph. I've also had my tires re-balanced and rotated and still no luck.
kingbiscuit
New member
Ive heard this is just the way 4runners ride. I hope there is a solution though.
With mine, I don't think the wheels are out of balance. I only get the shimmy when I'm over about 55 mph, and hit a bump. If it were wheel balance, it would shake continuously over a certain speed. It seems to be more likely something loose in the steering.
Well, there are several who have the problem. Has anyone found a fix?
Well, there are several who have the problem. Has anyone found a fix?
my shimmy
I had a shimmy when I would go over 55mph, I thought the same as all of you. A mech. even told me it could be inside my engine, so I took it to another guy and he checked my u-joints and said that they were bad, when I got under there and checked the u-joints myself they seemed good to me but I had them replaced anyway and the shimming was gone. So that was my problem, hope you find yours. It's kind of freaky driving down the road with your car not workn right. Good Luck
I had a shimmy when I would go over 55mph, I thought the same as all of you. A mech. even told me it could be inside my engine, so I took it to another guy and he checked my u-joints and said that they were bad, when I got under there and checked the u-joints myself they seemed good to me but I had them replaced anyway and the shimming was gone. So that was my problem, hope you find yours. It's kind of freaky driving down the road with your car not workn right. Good Luck
kingbiscuit
New member
Re: my shimmy
How long has this fix been working for you?
coho51 said:
How long has this fix been working for you?
kingbiscuit
New member
coho51 said:
Seems like alot of people have this problem with their 4runners. Somebody I talked to said they got their wheels balanced and it helped for a few months and then the problem came back.
I wish somehow I could drive one of the 3rd gens fresh off the line to see if they have the shimmy.
I drove almost 200 miles yesterday, which is the most I've driven it so far. As long as I stayed below 65 mph on good roads, it was fine, but on country roads or over 70, it shook the steering wheel pretty bad. I told my wife that was our "built-in speed warning".
I plan to start by having the wheels balanced just so I can eliminate that from the list, and hope to hear some other input from others here.
I plan to start by having the wheels balanced just so I can eliminate that from the list, and hope to hear some other input from others here.
coho51 said:
When you said u-joints do you meant the u-joints in the driveshafts from the transfer case to the axles, or the joints in the front drive axles that go from the front diff to the hubs? I'm not sure of the proper term for these on a 4Runner - cv's or birfields or? Thanks.
azacher
New member
Hmmmm, U-joints are an easy fix and usually relatively cheap, I'll have to try it and see. Did yours have the infamous driveline clunk when you stop too? I wonder if new u-joints would solve both problems at once? That would also explain why tire balancing, alignments, etc have not been able to cure the shimmy problem...
kingbiscuit
New member
azacher said:
How expensive is it to fix??
azacher
New member
200$ Through a mechanic ain't bad at all, you could do it yourself and replace them with bad-@$$ ones for around 30$ and an hour or two of your time. I should warn that I've never done them on a Toyota before but have done them on previous domestic trucks I've owned so I am somewhat speculating. Sometimes you can just hammer them out sometimes you need to apply heat to get 'em out. But either way it's not too terribly difficult.
