PandaGS300

Hello everyone,

I am new on the forum, i just purchased a 02 GS300. It has aftermarket rims on it and while doing highway speeds the car has a shimmy. It could just mean that it needs a balance but the aftermarket rims worry me. I wasn't sure if there was a way to tell if these rims are in fact correct for my car. If I would need to add a Hub then thats fine just wanted some direction on this.

Thanks for your help

Sam

Debonair

Unfortunately this is a commonly encountered behavior even with stock wheels and tires on some 2nd generation GS's. It could be balance. It could be incorrect or loose lug nuts (take one off and make sure its correct then torque them all down). In some cases its not so easily resolved.

If you search for SHAKE, VIBRATION, VIBRATING, SHIMMY, etc. you will find many threads on the subject with many suggestions. Some people have even been able to eliminate it if I remember correctly.

Here are a few examples:

• The shaky steering wheel and vibration thread!
• Vibrating at 65-70
• Nasty vibration at highway speeds
• My Experience with Steering Shimmy...

PandaGS300

Thanks for the info....the car does have aftermarket rims on it....wasnt sure if i needed hubrings or not.

How can I check if the fitment is correct for these rims?

They are ZEN-ZX7 18"

RamAirRckt

Simple things to remember:

Balance is SPEED related

Often shake is alignment related due to Control Arm #2's being worn. The alignment is good stopped, but the faster you go the more the alignment is off (toe out) and it gets nutty. Look at how the tires are wearing. Inside or outsides. Look visually at the alignment, line it up straight and look on each side, from the front and back. You can visually see it if it is off very far.

Depending on how good you are with work on your own car, you can align toe yourself. Without anymore more than a pair of wrenches.

kowala

iTrader: (2)

Tie-rods greatly reduced the vibration for me, but definitely take care of the other suspension components on the vehicle as they're known to be a weak point on the GS, specifically the lower ball joint and caster arm or control arm #2, as already mentioned. Hope this helps and the search button is your friend, welcome to the forum

wbmx1981

My shimmy got resolved by replacing the inner, outer and LBJ's. Welcome to the club!

Things to check:
Tires
Wheels
Tie rods inner and outer
Lower ball joints

PandaGS300

Thanks guys much appreciated on the responses. Def going to take it to a tire shop if the alignment is off since Ive never done that before. Worst case if its something I'll def use the DIY section.

Thanks again

maxx430

after the LBJ and outer tie rod i have a more stable car at high speed.

mista714

I had the same problem recently too. My steering wheel would shake pretty badly when going between 65-75. I replaced a damaged upper control arm and lower ball joint. Got an alignment and never had an issue since.. Think it really depends on the persons car could be anything a loose bolt damage suspension component even aftermarket wheels. Heard hub centric spacers could help eliminate the problem as well

BayAreaLex

You just discovered the weak point of the 2GS. This topic has more posts on clublexus than any other topic out there.

Grab a bag of popcorn, some hot chocolate, and get ready for hours and hours of reading :-)

I'd start with wheel balance... and not some cheap tire shop using old equipment. Our cars are very sensitive to wheel imbalances so go to a high end wheel shop with a modern road force balancer. At the same time make sure that you have metal hubcentric rings if you have aftermarket wheels that have a bigger bore than the Lexus wheel hub diameter.

Hopefully that fixes it. If it doesn't things get more complicated as you then start to chase suspension related issues... ball joints, tie rod ends, worn bushings in any one of the three major control arms, rack bushings, steering shaft knuckle, etc etc etc... not fun.

Best of luck.

PandaGS300

Thanks for the feedback, the rims are aftermarket. Problem is I cant tell what rims they are and if the bore if proper or not is another story lol.

Any suggestions on what hub ring to go with?

BayAreaLex

Nobody on this planet is going to tell you what hubcentric rings you should go with until you specify the wheel bore diameter. Pick up a set of measuring calipers and measure the wheel bore.

The Lexus hub diameter is 60.1mm

So you will need rings that have an inner diameter of 60.1mm and an outer diameter of whatever your wheel bore diameter is.

For example, my wheels have a 72.6mm diameter bore. So my rings are 72.6mm outer diameter and 60.1mm inner diameter. That's all there is to it.

If your wheels have a 60.1mm bore, then you don't need any rings obviously.

LexusK

iTrader: (14)

Most people experience this when driving, but I get the shake when I slow down and the speed hits 55-60 mph. It happens when I brake and when I just let the car slow by itself. Is this still a CA2 fix? I'm hoping its just an alignment issue.

PandaGS300

Thanks for the feedback....I found out my rims have a bore of 70.3. Need to find a set of aluminum rings now.

magic5g

iTrader: (1)

I had the same exact problem around 50-60 mph only and it turned out to be a bad front right wheel hub.