I'm just starting to try to figure out the answer to this problem. Please aim me in the right direction. I hate just leaving a car at the shop to fix without having some idea what's wrong. I've searched but haven't found the answer.

When I take my wife's '09 RX out on the road, I sometimes feel a little shimmy, not associated with braking, so I haven't looked at rotors. The shimmy is not constant, it comes and goes. It also seems to improve after a while, or I get used to it.

Another quirk I notice is in the steering. It seems I need to steer towards the high side of the road. That is when cruising down the interstate, I need to correct the steering toward the line between the lanes.

My first thought is worn bushings in the front end. The car has 87,000 miles and may need new parts. Where should I look?

What do you think?

 

You didn't say how many miles are on your car. My Lexus' and Toyota's they have been very hard on ball joints. I've had issues with them with as little at 60k miles. Yes, it can be anything from tie rods to bushings but don't take the ball joints for granted. Mine caused the vibes to come and go and some highway wandering. I couldn't believe that my ball joints could be bad. Wrong! They never squeaked or groaned. They didn't have split boots or have any other sign of wear. But when they were replaced: Wallah! If everything else seems okay don't hesitate to replace them.

 

Sorry, I have 87,000 miles on it, so I guess anything could be suspect.

Thanks for any advice.

 

Go with the easiest thing first - are the tires balanced recently?