BBLexus

I have a 1993 ES300 with 128K miles. I've noticed a slight vibration in the front end when driving at speeds above 30 mph. I had a CV boot replaced at 119K miles. At about 110K miles I started to sense this. Usually I feel some minor vibration or shimmy through the steering wheel but more so in the body of the vehicle. It continues up to highway speeds but doesn't seem to be more profound at higher speeds. When driving over pavement markers (those hard plastic raised circles or squares on the pavement that mark the lanes on the road) the steering seems to over-respond, pulling to the left or the right, more so than what I experience in other vehicles. After having replaced the ball joints on another vehicle replaced (Ford Explorer 2002 with 75K miles) I've started to wonder if this is the same situation needing to be addressed. The car has been well maintained through a local Lexus dealer until 2 years ago. I've since been using a Lexus expert service center to serviced the car which does an excellent job at addressing my issues and identifying what needs to be done to prevent future problems. There wasn't any mention of the need to address ball joints at that time. At the last service internal they couldn't sense the problem with vibration. The car doesn't drift to the left or right when I have my hands off the steering, nor does it drift under braking.
Does this sound like an alignment or ball joint problem? And if it is ball joints, what needs to be replaced and does anyone have an idea as to what it might cost to replace?

amf1932

What type of tires have you got on this car, and are they on the stock factory type rims? I'm asking this because sometimes the tread pattern and freaky tire sizes can cause this problem. Also, how much wear are on the tires?

BBLexus

stock rims, tires are Pirelli Cinturato P3000 P205/65R-15. I bought the tires at 85K miles, plenty of tread left. No signs of abnormal wear.

Choas

Yea i got the same problem to. I've heard its common.

OceanView

I would look at the tires again.
Having tread does not necessary mean that the tires are good.
I had similar problems with my car in the past and it always turned out to be the tire.

PlatES300

iTrader: (1)

are the tires directional? I've have the same problem on my 2000 ES300 and after going through multiple alignments and 3 sets of tires, I found that if your car pulls, then avoid directional tires. I had directional tires in the past and they made the car pull to the right pretty bad.

FwC

When it comes to vibration in the body of the vehicle while accelerating, I would think it may be due to worn mounts, how do those look? There are 4: torque mount, front engine mount, transmission mount, and the rear engine mount. I just changed my torque, front and transaxle (transmission) mount last night and have already noticed a smoother ride at 124k miles.

DonJuan45i

I just bought a daily driver that has this same problem, got it cheap but the front wheels feel like they are going to fly off.

BBLexus

UDPATE - Had the Lexus expert service center check the vehicle, they thought it might be the steering. They checked the steering, and front end suspension to be safe, and no problem found. I was told that the issue was my tires. Turned out I had a T rated tire which doesn't provide enough sidewall support. They were right in their analysis. I returned to Discount Tire and purchased new tires - Michelin Pilot Exalto A/S, with a trade in on my Pirelli P3000s - all four with mounting and tax for $350. They did a 'Ride Match' which is what they explained was a higher level of balancing the tire and rim, by applying a load on the tire. It required that they actually remount the tire (saw them do this on 3 of the 4 tires) so that the tire and rim produce the best balance. Don't know if this was legit or not (it cost another $10 per tire) but I can say that the new tires do not produce the same shimmy/wiggle/vibration. Have driven the car about 30 miles now and the problem is gone. I will also have an alignment done just to be safe with new tires. I spoke with my father who also had Pirellis on another Lexus a few years back and he had the same problem. He went to another brand, Goodyear, and the problem was solved. Lets hope this solves the problem for good.

OceanView

what did I say.
Good that its fixed.

BBLexus

I failed to recognize those which identified the problem correctly...kudos to OceanView. Thank you.

AdvanSC300

That sounds like you have a tire or wheel problem,start by checking the tread on your tires,make sure it does not have any abnormal tread wear,next check your wheels make sure they are not bent,and then if all checks out OK,just get your tires balanced,and get them load tested.You should try these steps first before trying anything else!

I had a customer complain about this problem before,it turns out they had tire problems(it had heavy load spots),So I replaced the tires and the problem was sloved!

sub786sub

Possible cause might be
- balancing
- Alignement
- Old Struts
One or combination of above