Paule430

Hi all
I have 2002 SC430 with an annoying vibration through the seat/chassis at 60mph but she's smooth at 55 and slower and at 65+ mph ?
Things I have tried so far ...

wheel balance
wheel alignment
2 rims rerolled that were out of round
bushes and suspension all checked
moved wheel positions front to back etc

thinking now maybe driveshaft or uni joints ? or new tyres but thats an expensive exercise !!

any other ideas would be welcome...:sad

ShawnOk

iTrader: (1)

Check out the search feature. Type in "steering wheel vibration" and "sc430." You'll get tons of results. There's been a lot of discussion on this "gremlin," that seems to occur only between 55-60mph even on bone stock SCs. I have aftermarket suspension parts, rotors, pads, wheels, tires, hubcentric rings, etc... and still get the shakes at 55-60mph.

OBP

I second that what Shawnok said. There may be nothing anyone can do ( within reasonable $$ ). I am running after market 18 inch TSW rims now and I have less vibration at 65 mph than before ( when I had my OEM 5 spoke twisties ). But it is still there in small amounts. And I am fine at 55-60 and fine at 70 and above. I just live with it.

Usually, it is only a matter of balancing wheels/tires when the vibration is at multiple different speeds.

lugnuts

Road Force Balance of all tires..???

jmezo

Yes. "Road Force" Balance all of the tires.
If the steering wheel shakes then the front tires have a problem.
If the seat shakes then the rear wheels have a problem.

rudyH

The vibration discussion bugs me way more than it should....but it nonetheless does. I haven't had my SC430 very long and am no expert on the model but I'll state at just under 130k miles, totally stock even to the point of having run flat tires, there is zero vibration at any road speed from zero to well into "go to jail/impound car" speeds. I'm very sensitivity to this stuff too. As I've never had the problem, I can't give you a story about how I got rid of it, but I can tell you I wouldn't live with it. Tires can be messed up in other ways aside from balancing. A tire can be out of round, and good tire shops can check the runout. Yes, an out of round tire might be noticeable only in a narrow speed range. The rim can be damaged and should be checked for lateral runout as well checking runout of the circumference. A simple quick and easy check, which many people resist doing for some reason, is to swap the front and rear tires. See if the vibration "quality" changes. Tire and wheel problems should be very obvious. Driveshafts and u joints are possible, but save worrying about that for later. You can check if a driveshaft balancing weight has come off. I'm not sure the DS uses weights though. Some high end cars exclusively use milling to balance shafts but that's rare. I'm not saying it's a no-brainer to figure out, but I don't think you're going to have to track down a Lexus chassis engineer to fix it, though it might be fun to talk with one! I wouldn't live with a car that did this speaking only for myself. Not in this class of car. It goes without saying that worn parts need to be tracked down but swap the tires first. Good luck with it!

Bgw70

Dang Rudy, WELL said!!! Everything you just said sounds logical.

I too would like to add that to my 66k miles car has no vibrations at all and I must say that this car is very quiet and smooth when the windows are up cruising at 40mph or 90mph.

doodles714

iTrader: (1)

I have a 2002 with approx. 50K on it that's smooth as glass on the interstate at any speed. I had another vehicle that I had constant out of balance problems as you've described. I suspected that the stick on weights were getting thrown off or otherwise failing to do the job. Went to clamp on perimeter weights and the problem was solved. They may be unsightly but if they work you at least have narrowed down the problem.

edmundo528

I had the same issue after getting new 19" Rims and tires,
They were balanced from the shop I got them twice. I took them to another location but the same company. And they balanced them also.
I Took them and had them road force balanced. And they told me one tire was bad. (Out of round)
The Tire shop replaced the tires and I Still had a vibration. (It was a different kid of vibration)
I had them road face balanced again but with this new set of tires. And that solved my issue.

rudyH

Good job hanging in there and not "just living with it." No matter which machine or software is used, you still need a smart skilled conscience tech. The problem could be other things but tires are the easiest to check.

texsexlex

iTrader: (3)

...I have even more miles than you guys (221k) & my ride is vibration free. ShawnOk & I rode in each others Sc last weekend, I was definitely able to feel the "vibs" in his car & he was pleasantly surprised that I didn't have this issue. We kicked around all the possibilities it could be & including the driveshaft, which i can't recall anyone mentioning before,until this thread

ShawnOk

iTrader: (1)

Yeah, absolutely true, and as we discussed the drive shaft would make sense but we have to find out what has changed on your vehicle compared to mine or anyone else that gets the shakes. I just can't seem to wrap my brain around what the variable that's changed between your car and my car that would cause the difference. As you mentioned, you DID have the shake before and somehow eliminated it. What change did you make which lead you to notice no more shake?

Could ball joints, control arms, or engine mounts be suspects, as I haven't changed mine? Not sure if you've changed yours Ed?

texsexlex

iTrader: (3)

...although there has been many suggestions to the problem, the only things that I've changed upfront......springs,shocks,rotors,brake pads & wheels/tires. I still have original ball joints,bushings,motor/transmission mounts,etc....My plan is to change all the parts I just listed, sometimes this summer,so hopefully the ride will get even better than it is now

ShawnOk

iTrader: (1)

Yeah Ed, you have one amazing ride already. It can only get sicker with those plans.

kjcole

The Motor Week video Rudy posted captures things pretty well regarding the propensity of our stiff-sided, low-profile tires to transmit even the slightest wheel/tire balance issues. My 2002 with 148K miles, stock front-end (new shocks) is smooth at all speeds with new tires (Cooper Xenons) after Road Force balancing. Just like the Conti DWS, there's just a bit of flat-spotting after sitting all night that runs out in about 5 minutes, so have the balancing done with warm tires. We really need to have our balancing done by a meticulous tech who knows their stuff. BTW, I have also lost stick-on wheel weights - (be careful power washing the rims).