mynoles1

I did a search and came up with the common response of wheel balancing. I don't believe that is it, so here is my story.

95 SC400, 59K miles. New tires and wheels (stock sizes) in January. Car never lowered or modified. I recently had new brakes installed and the rotors were turned. No warpage or caliper problems. Have not hit any curbs or sudden events to cause other damage to create this problem.

At the time they put new brakes on, I had them do a simple rotation on the tires, as it had been about 6K miles since purchased. Now, at about 65mph, I have some VERY significant steering wheel shake. I have had a VERY MINOR vibration in the past around 80mph, but absolutely nothing like this. That was a very small vibration - this is a real SHAKE (the kind where your hands are visibly moving with the wheel). FYI, I had the wheels rebalanced again today and it did not affect the level of shake whatsoever.

Any thoughts on what this could be? Could it be that one of the tires that was on the back (now on the front) is bad? Any other thought before I take the time to rotate again to see if that changes things, or do you think something else might have gone wrong with the brake job or other causes??

Thanks in advance.

Mike Hughe

Hi,

It is possible that the brake job or wheel removal may have upset the control arm bushings, which are already on their way out (60K on a '95 is feasible - my '97 Supra has 110k miles and is now experiencing bad wheel shake and sloppy handling).

I'm about to buy some of these, if they have a part # for my car. But I've heard good things about them on Lexus makes.

http://www.daizensporttuning.com/pro..._bushings.html

Nick T

mynoles1,
Rotate your tires again, if the problem goes away.. voila you have a bad belt on one of the (currently in front ) tires or a bent rim ( not likely since you are using the stock rim? ). If the problem does NOT go away, get the car aligned. During alignment they will check for any worn suspension parts as worn parts won't allow them to align the car to spec. Post back if these two things did not alleviate your problem.

Regards

ajayR

tighten your lug nuts

ciscokid

You may have a bad tire that did not affect the handling that much before they were rotated. That would be my guess.

-CK

sweetsc400

I have a similar problem, although it doesn't sound as severe. I balanced my wheels twice before I found out that I have a bent wheel. For the time being it's mounted on the rear passenger side.

You mentioned that you had a previous vibration around 80, what was the cause?

Matt

mynoles1

Surely you would think that I'm smart enough to make sure my lug nuts are tight

It was a bad tire, as someone suggested. Got that replaced and all is well!

Thanks for all the help.

ajayR

hey you never know ! just trying to help

DIrEctQL

Hey Mike,

When I drive, the shaking problem really depends on the road/pavement. Is that what happens when bushing go? Can you confirm this?

Generally when I drive on the asphalt the steering wheel shakes while on concrete it does not. I think it has something to do with the shape of the road. Asphald tends to be softer and develops paths from tires. The concete stays even all the time because it's much harder.

Chris

PS. TM Engineering has them in stock. Thanks Todd for letting me know.

sweetsc400

Mine does it at various speeds. The steering wheels GENTLY shakes from side to side with about a quarter of an inch of give (the amount the steering wheel moves) at around 40-50 mph. I've balanced the hell out of the wheels and still I get this vibration. I've heard that Lexus simulates the weight of the car on the wheel/tire when they balance them, might I need this sort of balance? Or could it be the control arm bushings? Either way, it drives me nuts! If anybody has ANY input, please share. Thanks guys, take care!

Matt