HI all,
I did a lot of search and found a lot of information in regards to steering wheel vibration. However, most people who have this issue said that their car also vibrates. My case is different, only the steering wheel vibrates. Here is my condition:
1. Steering wheel vibrates on certain freeways at around 60+ mph. On the streets, there are no vibrations. Again only on certain freeway's.
2. Only the steering wheel vibrate.
3. I noticed on a straight drive my steering wheel sits a little bit to the left. It doesnt sit completely centered when driving straight.

My car has about 191k miles. I just bought it 2 months ago and just changed the steering bushings rack and pinion and also front sway bar.

My next job is the two lower ball joints and control arm bushings from Daizens.

My question is this...Im sure after I replace all those parts it should stop, but does anyone know roughly which bushing or part that is causing this vibration? Do I need to tighten up the steering wheel with that one allen wrench type bolt? Thanks

 

I have something similar but it goes away once I hit 70.

 

I agree.. 40-50-60 is the worst..after 60+ it stops.. its almost like the car wants you to get a ticket

 

Hey guys,

I just bought my 2000 GS400. Right out of the lot she was doing the same thing beginning at 60+. Go ahead and follow the DIY on tightening the pre-tensioner. That eliminates 60-70% of the shake. Just finished the lower ball joints myself this week. Did the Daizen polyurethane bushings too. Next comes the strut replacemnet and outer tie rods. I'm giving those to a real mechanic to do. Following that will be alignment and balance the 4 wheels. So far I have not noticed any change since tightening the pre-tensioner but my front struts are both bad so that might be the remaining problem. I'll let you know if those last items fix it. I do not think the Daizen steering bushings were worth the effort.

Later,

Ross

 

it's no guarantee that one specific part will fix your vibration issue. Any part of the suspension can be a contributing factor.

First off, make sure your wheels/tires are balanced.
end of all, tightening up the pretensioner is just a bandaid. a brand new GS shouldn't have this vibration from day one with the factory setting. So it's something else that's causing vibration.

of all the parts on the car, I would suspect it's the control arm bushings, more specifically the caster arm's bushing. Worn out caster bushings will change your toe constantly. Get your wheels/tires balanced and see if it fixes the problem. change the lower balljoints, because it's a safety issue. The balljoints aren't really contributing too much, if any at all. If you still have problems, get the bushings installed with an alignment.

 

Anyone have a pic of the caster arm? I think I know what it is, but I want to be sure its what Im thinking of.

Pic on the car would be great. I saw a pic of a brand new part on one of the search I did, but it wasnt clear to me where it was located.

Oh what about the streering wheel not being centered? Is that alignment as well or is there an adjustment somewhere?

 

Mine is actually doing the same thing, even after the new balljoints. And as stated I believe it might be around the control arm bushing. I know the alignment is good with the joints, so I will adjust the tensioner and check the bushings.

 

i was just reading the Lower ball joint threads and i guess i need to check mine. The fact that these can fail like they do is definetly unacceptable, even Kia wouldn't let this happen on their <20K cars.
So i was wondering if the Vibrations caused by the wheel balancing could be the reason for the fast wear of these ball joints?
Or vice versa, the ball joints could be causing these vibrations?

 

Reading these 60mph vibration posts is like watching the movie Ground Hog Day!

Road Force balancing is step one. Find a competent tire dealer. I use Butler Tire here in Atlanta. The tire dealer can rule out wheel issues, hub issues, or bent suspension issues. Also be sure your tires are not improperly worn. Seems like common sense, but you could have a flat spot and not know it.

4 wheel computer allignment is also important. Gotta get these G2 GS cars aligned just right. http://www.butlertire.com/serv_alignment.asp

Next, ball joints and tie rods. These are wear parts folks. You gotta be lookin at this on cars with more than 50 or 60k miles, especially if you live in a part of the country with lousy roads.

If none of this gets rid of it, check the pre-load on the steering rack. 98 and 99 GS models were known to have an issue with this, not sure if later models were similarly affected.

 

do you or anyone have pictures of these bushings??? i would like to inspect them and see if they are bad

 

When you say "pre-load on the steering rack" do you mean the pre-tensioner adjustment ???

 

check these posts out.
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/gs-...djustment.html

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/gs-...nes-fixed.html