Need some help figuring this one out. When breaking from about 65MPH I get a heavy shimmy in the stearing when I get down to 50 it goes away. Any thoughts? I have an 03 GS with 28.5K.

 

I had this same thing, occuring. Of course you should check your rotors they may need to be turned that is the most obvious and easiest.

My problem though was that the front suspension was shot. I replaced the ball joints, rod ends, steering bushings and control arm bushings.

After all that the steering is like new no shimmy at all and I no longer hear a lot of the noises I had been. Funny thing is that I didnt even realize how lousy the steering was untill we replaced teh parts.


check for play in all the areas I listed above.

 

Thanks! Will be doing an oil change tomorrow and will check it out.

 

If you have the ability to change your rotors out to something other than the OEM, that would fix the problem for good. It has always been a problem with the 98-2005 GS 300's, that the brake rotors worp quickly and often. I was told by one of our tech's that the reason is they are not ventilated and therefore take too long to cool down. And God forbid you should run through a puddle of water while they are still hot.

 

front wheel shimmy while braking follows these easy steps:


1. wheel balance. Chances are you have stick-on weights which may have fallen off somehow or another.

2. rotors. Hopefully not warped, may just need to be turned. As said before, OEM rotors are highly inefficient at dispersing heat during high speed braking. Slotted, IMO, is the best solution.

3. pads. Uneven padwear (usually due to warped rotors) can also affect your stability under braking.

4. suspension parts. tie-rod ends, ball joints, control arms, anything that's not quite right will affect overall geometry, causing shaking.


usually, this problem doesn't make it past step 2, but in rare cases you may have some work, and money, ahead of you.

 

Wouldnt number one manifest itself at certain mph, not neccessarily during braking?

 

yes and no....it may be that the wheel is not far enough off balance to really show at say 70, when the rear wheels are driving the car, thus pushing the front end up (same principle as lurching forward off the start), but when you hit the brakes, shifting all the weight to the front of the car, the extra force can pronounce the shake even more.