Steering wheel shaking

[hawaii50]

Steering wheel is shaking

My 1997 Toyota 4runner Limited 4WD with 190,000 miles on it , has shaking ( not much) when on Freeway with the speed up to 70 miles/hours . Took my car to shop, alignment and 4 wheels balanced , after this job done ...test drive on feeway again still has the same problem.
Take the car back to repair shop , rebalance all wheels ...test drive on feeway 70 miles steering wheel keeps shaking again. Repair shop could not find the steering wheel shaking problem ... they are giving up ...
Anyone has any idea how to fix it? Please help.

PS :Moderator, please move this thread to maitenance area if I post this thread in the wrong place.

 

[nevada]

try a different shop. its either a balance issue, or a bad tire.

 

[stevec5000]

The service manual also lists worn bushings, ball joints, damaged idler arm, loose steering gear housing, worn wheel bearings and bad shocks as a possible cause but I suspect out of round tires or balancing issues like nevada suggested. Best way is to get you own balancer and do the balancing yourself instead of having the 19 yr old high school dropouts at the shop do it. You can get one for $60 at Harbor Freight. That way you will know it's correct.

 

[poleclimber63]

I had the same problem on My Mitsubishi Lancer last winter. I agree with nevada, try a different shop. My issue turned out to be a combination of: 1. cheap universal steel rims (winters mounted) which (the shop said) didn't seat perfectly, 2. weren't balanced correctly 3. cheap Walmart tires. Lesson learned: don't cheap out on winter tires (even for the 4 mo.s I need them) Tires will behave alittle different so it might be an idea to get an alignment when new tire are mounted.... I've never done this until now but it definitely made a difference. They weren't able to get rid of the high speed shake completely, but it was reduced. 2 mo's later I rotated the summers back on and the shake was gone (original Mits Mags).

I'm assuming of course your shop eliminated ball joints, tie rod ends, bearings.... I had a shake with my 4runner when I bought it and it turned out to be an inner tie rod..... have the next shop check things again.

 

[hawaii50]

The service manual also lists worn bushings, ball joints, damaged idler arm, loose steering gear housing, worn wheel bearings and bad shocks as a possible cause but I suspect out of round tires or balancing issues like nevada suggested. Best way is to get you own balancer and do the balancing yourself instead of having the 19 yr old high school dropouts at the shop do it. You can get one for $60 at Harbor Freight. That way you will know it's correct.

Thank to all reply,
I will try to rotated tires from rear to front wheels, If the front tires are out of round. Move front tires to rear since front steering is shaking ...Tires are less than 2 years old. Will try to do it on the weekend ...
Do any effect shaking because repair shop put the weight to inner intead of outer rims?
Repair shop use computer balance all tires twices in the same day, still shaking when car reach 70 miles /H.

 

[vipergrhd]

Good idea

Thank to all reply,
I will try to rotated tires from rear to front wheels, If the front tires are out of round. Move front tires to rear since front steering is shaking ...Tires are less than 2 years old. Will try to do it on the weekend ...
Do any effect shaking because repair shop put the weight to inner intead of outer rims?
Repair shop use computer balance all tires twices in the same day, still shaking when car reach 70 miles /H.

Try switching the tires first make sure all tire pressure are correct,i also suggest to locate a tire shop that has a Hunter DSP 9700 this is the top of the line machine in the market.this machine will tell you if the problem is in the tire or rim or both,this machine can also fix those radial pull by relocating the best tire in your vehicle.this is the machine that all the high end Euro cars are using to balance their tires.:cheers:

 

[Silverc4s]

Have your mechanic look at the front brake pads. Mine were thick on the outer & very thin on the inner pad on both sides - and I had the same symptom, mostly under braking..
Good luck,
Bill