99 RX 300, 130k miles.

I've had a persistent shimmy for a while now. New tires, well balanced, alignment done, but shimmy persists. Interesting thing is that it's intermittent. Sometimes it seems to come through the steering wheel and sometimes it just seems to come through the seat.

Alignment and balancing are the normal culprits. What else can I check?

Thanks,

Bob

 

Struts ...
Steering rack and tie rod ends ...
Insure the CV boots are sound and not damaged ...

 

Lower suspension arms have bushings that can go sour after a while. I had a shimmy also until I replaced both.

 

how do i know if m CV boots are good or bad..when i turn the steering i hear clicking noise from front, not sure if thats a good test.

 

Visually inspect the "bellows" of the plastic boot on the axle drive shaft. There are two per shaft; inner and outer. FWD have two drive shafts; AWD have four.

Remove the front or rear road wheel, depending which drive shaft is to be checked.

They crack and develop holes in the bends of the bellows. The ring seals located at the boot edges need to be tight and intact.

First, cleaning with a citrus cleaner and degreaser and a final inspection.

Afterwards, using a half inch round sash paint brush, I rub in Aero Space 303 protectant into the bellows insuring good coatng.

When inspecting the CV joints, there should be no play when twisting the shaft. With both front wheels lifted on jackstands, check for play when turning the steering from lock to lock.
Additionally, there should be no play in the steering rack or the rack tie rod ends.

 

it is not as easy as i thought!!

thanks