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SolaraGuy.com • View topic - Front Suspension Issue
Stock talk about the Generation 1 and 1.5 Toyota Solara which were produced from 1999 to 2003.

Front Suspension Issue

Front Suspension Issue

Postby bigmike2112 » Sun Apr 13, 2014 11:10 am

Hey guys, first post go easy on me. I'll try to be as specific as possible.

I have a 2002 Solara 2.4, its my baby, love this car. Its been so incredibly reliable for me the past 5 years. 290k miles and still running strong (drive train wise).
Problem i've ran into recently, I'm getting a lot of shimmy in my steering wheel. I can tell that the shimmy even starts at low speeds, its barely noticeable, but its there (15 mph-55 mph barely noticeable). When I reach speeds of 55+ mph, the shimmying gets alot worse, and I get vibration in my front end, and inside the car (its actually opened my glove box on the expressway). It gets much worse if i'm going.. say.. 65 mph, and I let off the gas. The vibration/shimmying gets pretty violent. During the same speed, if I press on the brakes, the issue gets 10x worse. Best way I can explain while braking is, the car shakes back and forth, front to back to front and i feel vibration in the brake petal.. Now the other day I did a test on the xpressway. I got the car running up to 90+ mph, at that speed the steering wheel does NOT shake it vibrates, and I can still feel alot of vibration in the front end. One more important thing I think I should mention, the car seems to be worse when I'm on an incline, going up hill, going downhill it seems better.

What I've tried:
New pads/rotors (front)
Tested calipers, none seized or sticking, both pistons move nice and smooth.
I've had tie rods/ball joints checked on both sides
Got different tires on the front (honestly not sure how good they were balanced got it done at a little corner shop. Either way, it was the same when I had a different set of tires on the front)
No misfires, if the problem was coming from the engine, it wouldn't shake the steering wheel right? Runs smooth at all RPM's

What I haven't tried:
Alignment, I just got my new tires the other day, I havent had a chance to get the car aligned yet. (It does have a bad alignment, uneven ware on both front tires)
CV axle? If i'm not mistaking, a CV axle is only noticeable when accelerating right?
CV Joint?
Haven't checked any steering components
Motor mount???
ABS or Master Cylinder faulty causing uneven ware on rotors? (no ABS light on)

One reason I haven't wanted to get the alignment done is because I honestly don't think my problem is 100% alignment issue. I don't want to do an alignment, turn around and have to issue persist, then have something else on it fixed, on top of another alignment and so on.

Really hope I can get some help figuring this out. I've had mechanics look at it, but no one can give me a straight answer. I'm tired of paying for diagnostics, and having a mechanic tell me it could be this or that or this. Basically saying "Hey just give me your credit card and lets do all of it" I don't want to do any needless spending. So what I'm hoping for, is some advice on this, and maybe for someone to tell me how I can test to see whats wrong myself.

Thanks guys
bigmike2112
Just Licensed SolaraGuy
 
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Dec 11, 2012 11:40 am

Re: Front Suspension Issue

Postby patrick vincelette » Thu May 22, 2014 6:37 pm

Have you replaced the rear brake rotors and pads. warped rear break rotors will make the stearing wheel shimmy or vibrate at speed.
patrick vincelette
Just Licensed SolaraGuy
 
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Nov 29, 2011 4:48 pm

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