Moogy

Hey everyone - many of you may remember my post from a month or two ago talking about the shake in my 2004 LS430U. I got new tires (the $190 Michelins) and got the road balance done, etc. and the problem is the car STILL doesn't feel "shake free". Here's the weird part - when I first get on the freeway, I can actually visually see my steering wheel jittering about 1mm, but as I drive more and at higher speeds it goes away. Then after driving for awhile, if I go back to the "jitter" speed, it's much smoother.

I've had 3 tire companies balance my tires, and all 3 have reported my tires were all way out of balance.

At this point, I'm wondering if there's something inheritly wrong with my Lexus. The minor shake is always there it seems, and I can feel it most in the steering wheel.

The Road Balancing would point out any defects in my rims or whatnot; and it came up clean... so the question is this.

What could the problem be? The car has 49,600 miles on it. While I'm the 2nd owner and it had a clean carfax, the VIN sticker is missing from the front passenger panel, however there's no evidence of a repaint or any damage (from underneath or anything).

Any feedback would be appreciated.

airtime

Have any of them balance the wheels while its on your car? That is a great method to see where the issues may lie. Not all store has the ability to do so but call around and find one that does. Also, I'm asuming the car doesn't pull left or right so it would not be alignment issue, just jitters.

Moogy

Hmm didn't know they COULD balance them on the car. I guess I can ask about it. Yah the Alignment is fine - no pulls.

The other oddity about my car is the missing VIN sticker. Perhaps it was involved in a minor accident that was never reported? I'm just trying to figure out all of the other things it could be.

But this is driving me nuts. The car just isn't as smooth as it should be...

Craig B

They call that a finish balance when they balance the wheels on the car. My Lexus dealer used to have one. They replaced it with the Road Force balancing machine. You should take your car by a good body shop and ask them to inspect the car. Something doesn't sound right. I had a 2002 LS 430 and had no vibrations at all. I now have an LS 460...

Craig

OBXTucker

Have you checked your rotors? They can produce some jitters, though normally on upon breaking. If they've worn differently, you could have a slight balance issue. It takes VERY little to produce vibrations on these cars. They're so smooth you notice anything that's not perfect.

airtime

That is exactly the thinking behind my "on the car balancing" suggestion. Slightly out of wack rotors can produce hard to find vibration.

Moogy

But it's not as much vibration as it is "jitter" and the feeling that the car is simply unstable in some fashion... Plus I changed the brakes myself and the rotors seemed to be fine...

bb430

iTrader: (1)

It could be worn shock, have you check your strut/shock? If it were air ride may be it has a leak.

Moogy

The mechanic mentioned that - I'm supposed to talk with him again on Tuesday... However he's the one who did the last Road Force Balance and when he examined the shocks he said he saw no telltale signals of them being damaged or messed up in any fashion.

bb430

iTrader: (1)

If I drove through some rough road at high speed (70~75), my steering wheel shakes a bit until the air suspension are fully aired up, it took about 20~30 seconds for it to smooth out. It was weird the first time it happened and I was puzzled but my guess of the air ride made sense to me and it was the only way to explain this. Hope you can resolve this and good luck.

bb430

iTrader: (1)

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=284148 , Just saw this.

Moogy

Tell me about the air suspension "airing up"? My shake seems worse early on yet it seems to dissipate after a few minutes... Could this be related?

mywong23

Road Force is an optional wheel/tire test only done on a Hunter 9700 Balancer.
It simulates driving over variety of roads. It can detect if the wheel is bent, out of round tires... Wheel weights may not be able to resolve bent wheels.

Generally, it is an extra cost option; done by request.

When the tires are new, the 9700 can detect light areas on the wheel and heavy areas on the tire and tell the technician where to rotate the tire on the wheel for the best balance (and ride

***************************************************************
If you still suspect tires, try swapping front to rear; and even side to side - test if your problems seem to originate from a different part of the car (following placement of tire).

bb430

iTrader: (1)

My take is that since we don't have springs with our struts, the air bags serve as the springs and I don't think it react as fast as the springs it needs to air up once it looses some air AND it does not pump it in as fast as it could that's why it smooths out after a short time. But if it had a leak then it is pumping air to the bag constantly and I guess the shakes just won't go away. Again, just my opinion...

TemIS300

Are you the original owner of the car? Its sounds like it might have been in an accident and had frame damage. I test drove an 01 LS430 and it felt like I was driving sideways and the steering wheel vibrated alot. I asked the owner about an accident and they said no. Looked it up on carfax and it had been in a serious accident and had a salvage title. My IS300 had the vibration at lower speeds. Had the tires balanced with them on and now the vibration is gone.