Wheel Vibration - Corolland: the Toyota Corolla Forums

Guest davect

Now that I've got the fuel injector problem taken care of, there is another problem that has been plaguing me for years with this car ('99 LE). I have a vibration in the front end at about 50-65mph that the dealer cannot find the cause of. When this first began I thought it might be the tires. Nope! I'm on my third set of tires and the problem persists. No sign of unusual tire wear. I always make sure they're rotated, balanced, and properly inflated. I've also had four alignments. Interestingly, the problem goes away whenever the tires are removed (to be rotated, brake repair, etc.) and then returns in a few days. Case in point: I just replaced the tires and the vibration went away. It slowly returned about 5 days later. Any thoughts on this? Wheel bearing perhaps?

Did you replace the wheels themselves - or just get new tires put on? Sounds like a suspension problem to me. A bad wheel bearing could also cause problems - but they should be readily apparent - shouldn't disappear and slowly come back. Could also be a bad wheel. I replaced all my steel ones with alloy - had a weird resonance that couldn't be pinned down. But after the new wheels with new hubcentric centering rings, used a torque wrench to torque them the same - no more vibration. If the face of the rotor hat / drum has some corrosion - that has to be brushed off to make a clean contact with the wheel. If your springs are starting to sag or if some of the suspension maounts have been loosened up or worn out - could cause some of the components under there to "wiggle around". Basically - once you hit the road - enough movement has happened to cause your suspension to walk around, give a vibrating, pulling sensation on the steering wheel/structure.

Guest davect

Did you replace the wheels themselves - or just get new tires put on? Sounds like a suspension problem to me.

Just new tires. I'm thinking suspension problem too, but as I said, the dealer's mechanics "can't find anything". Rather frustrating. Perhaps I'll try the Toyota dealer in a neighboring city to see if they can find out what's going on.

I experienced sporadic vibration on my 01 LE, but mine was usually at slower speeds...turned out to be a warped rotor (at 50,000 miles). Update us when you find the fix!

Guest davect

I experienced sporadic vibration on my 01 LE, but mine was usually at slower speeds...turned out to be a warped rotor (at 50,000 miles). Update us when you find the fix!

I wanted to make another appointment two weeks ago but their brand new alignment rack wasn't installed yet (although I'm 99.9% sure it's not the alignment). I'm going to call again tomorrow. I'll give this dealer one more try.