Hello all 👋

Last couple road trips my 08’ rx350 has started vibrating/shaking upon acceleration and braking. If I take the foot off the gas it goes away. If I remove my foot from the brakes it goes away. Only really happens an hour or so into the trip and only at or above highway speeds.

has new pads and rotors. 90k miles. Love this car other than the death wobble 🥴

Any specific mounts or struts I should start with? Thank you!

-tooth mechanic

 

Low miles, but sounds like the drive shafts. Search the forum for "vibration", lots of threads here with symptoms/fixes for similar problem.

 

Thanks, I will check them out. The tires are newer and have been balanced/rebalanced. When I jack up the car there is no play when I try to wiggle the wheels up and down or side to side. Right before I bought it the driver side CV axe was replaced. Did a full brake job about a year ago with new front rotors and new pads all around. This problem only happens on longer trips. Hoping that I can diagnose this and fix it before continuing on my road trip with wifey and the kiddos

 

Update: I've tried to wiggle/shake the drive shafts but everything seems tight. I did notice that the Front Diver's side steering linkage can twist back and forth. The passenger side steering linkage does not twist at all. I'm guessing this is normal, but I'm not sure. I also can notice a tiny bit of play in the driver's wheel now when I try and wiggle it back and forth with the car jacked up in the air. Passenger side wheel does not wiggle at all. I'm hearing that wheel bearing issues usually come with a noise that increases with speed. No noises yet. This is pretty frustrating!

 

Mine too...

I know my wore out inner tie rod is some of the play because I could feel it really well when I had it unhooked replacing the CV axle and LCA
So I ordered a new oem replacement and it's been sitting in the package along with a tie rod new boot for almost a year waiting for me to install it. lol

 

Thanks, I’ll look past the steering. Did you notice a big difference with new LCA? Mine are looking rough

 

That very well could be contributing to your vibes........Really best to replace the complete A-arm, vs that bushing. That'd also get you new ball joints as well & its quicker then trying to burn out the old bushings w/new.......Do both & be done.....

 

While the bushings will affect your ride, they won't cause the vibration that you are experiencing. Try taking the brake calipers off the corner THEN trying to move the bearing. I had one that I knew was going bad (by the sound) but neither I nor several professional mechanics could find it until I removed the caliper, then it was obvious.

Bob

 

to me from what i have experienced in the past when this has happened to me; it ended up being the brake rotors and pads that were going "south" so if needed u might have to replace the rotors and pads. Luckily for me; just recently my front pads and rotors were doing this and my indy shop where i had the prior ones put on were replaced under their warranty thankfully.

 

If the OP is doing a brake job, I'd recommend going w/ the gen3 setup....Get a pr of gen3 rotors/pads & a pr of reman gen 3 calipers. The rotors & pads are pretty much awash, the additional cost is the reman calipers. Direct bolt as well as a better firmer pedal w/ less travel & of course better reduction in stopping distances. Little bigger diameter rotors, 12.6'' vs 12.9'' but almost twice the pad surface as well as two piston calipers vs the oem single piston calipers. I also went w/ SS brake hoses from Tirerack as well as flush out the brake system w/ new dot 3 fluid......

 

Brake pads and rotors were changed out two years ago with pretty low miles since. I drove 400 miles yesterday and it was almost exclusively upon acceleration or any pressure on the gas pedal. It also started to be intermittent with sometimes no problem at all to other times where I had to pull over because it sounded/felt like a drive shaft was going to explode. It originally was a problem at higher speeds but then yesterday it was happening above 40mph. Crawled under the car multiple times to see if I could wiggle or shake anything and no luck. I thought for sure that something was going to break. I can't imagine so much vibration not causing heat on something. Drove the car today at low speed with zero problem. Got back from the road trip last night and tomorrow I'm going to take off the calipers (Per Bob's advice) and see if there is any play in the wheel bearings. I will update after turning a wrench or two tomorrow. Thanks everyone!

 

Ya know a reputable tire & general service shop will usually put it up on a rack for you and check it out no charge.
If it's something you can DIY that's great but it may be something more involved and you'd rather hire it out for shop to do.
At least you can give them a chance to earn your business and get it looked at.

 

IMHO you have problems with your brakes

1. Drive 10-15 miles on freeway without using brakes.
2. Slowly get off the freeway and stop. Touch the wheels. Be Careful! If they warm or even hot - you have problems with your brakes (calipers).

 

Break problems upon acceleration and not braking? Intermittent? Whenever I've seen brake problems they have not presented like that.

 

Frozen caliper piston? Hows the pad wear?