Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I have a 2000 Toyota Corolla. I had the inner tire rod ends replaced 2 days ago. It is still shimmying and the steering wheel still twitching, although not as badly and the "womp womp" sound it was exhibiting before is gone. He did say I'd need an alignment, which I haven't yet done yet but likely will in the next few days.
Would alignment issues cause this shimmying and wheel twitching? I'm hoping it's that vs the mobile mechanic's work not being done correctly. (I'm not home currently, when I am I will jack up the car and check for 3/9 o'clock free play in the wheels.) He seems to be a good guy yet I get the feeling that if it turns out it is the tire rods he will charge to do it again as opposed to doing it again at no cost due to not doing it properly, and regardless even if it were at no charge I wouldn't care for the extra aggravation. I'm also hoping it's not a case of that not having the alignment done THAT SECOND undid his work.
Could be ball joints or a bad wheel bearing. Hell, even an out of balance wheel. Is the sound more pronounced when turning in a specific direction (left or right)? What speed does it occur at?
It occurs more at higher speeds like 60. Again the "womp womp" sound from the right is gone. It does seem to pull a bit, it doesn't seem worse one direction vs the other, but the part which worries me is my wife said when she first got it back it was shimmy free whereas now it isn't. I know new tire rods were put on, I bought them myself, I'm just really hoping his work wasn't for naught, and if it's simply an alignment or something simple still to go that's fine but I have never heard of an alignment (although you are supposed to do one after new tire rods are installed) causing shimmy and I sure hope I'm not needing to have something like $500-700 worth of suspension work done and right this minute because I'm probably a good 6 weeks away from having THAT much.
Anyone of- Tie rod, ball joint, wheel bearing, bushing, wheel balance. Alignment [toe in/out, camber] does not cause shimmy but while cause quick tire wear.
I would hope it wouldn't be tire rods since I just replaced those 2 days ago. I did fear alignment wasn't it. The other things, are they as pricey as tire rods? (The garage wanted $520 to do that, the mobile mechanic did it for $175.)
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
34,705 posts, read 58,031,425 times
Reputation: 46172
Tie rods have inner and outer ends... usually the outer wears first / more pronounced for shimmy. Lots of causes tho... acceleration, braking, turning, drifting is easier to diagnose problems,
Very difficult to change tie rod ends and NOT do an alignment. Question your mechanic on this (and check the wheel bearings, Outers, struts, ball joints and a-arm bushings, BEFORE bothering with alignment
Last edited by StealthRabbit; 01-21-2017 at 10:37 PM..
At parking lot speeds, it feels like it has a bit of "crab" movement towards the left. There is none of the "womp, womp" from the right side as before, no such noise that I can hear anywhere, but it definitely wants to go to the left. You can tell this clearly at parking lot speeds, where it tends to move with that "crab" like movement (all of it leftwards, it's like it goes "left, center, left, center, left, center.")
As you increase speed you feel it very much "tugging" towards the left. You have to have the wheel turned a good 20 degrees towards the right to keep it going straight, the minute you let go, it's "zoom" towards the left. I bet it would be off the road onto the left shoulder within 3 seconds or so if you let go of the wheel and left it alone.
There is no "shimmy" in the wheel, other than it pulling to the left, none of that "center, right, left--center, right, left" that it was doing prior to the tie rod ends repair. The whole car isn't shaking like it was before, it's more like a "shimmy" that you feel underneath your feet or on the steering wheel, but not so much the rest of the car itself as it was doing before the tie rod end repairs.
As you increase speed, the "pull" towards the left is the prominent feeling vs any "crab-like" movement you notice at lower speeds. Around 70 mph it almost smooths out, as you lower speeds to around 65 (let off the gas to let it coast a bit) the shimmy is more noticeable.
Overall, it's very different and very much better than pre-tie rod ends repair job, but still definitely something to be fixed. I do understand that you need an alignment after replacing the tie rod ends, every garage I called said they'd do such right after and the mobile mechanic said I absolutely needed to go to a place to get it done after he replaced the tie rod ends. I have no problem doing an alignment and will, I just question whether these symptoms are due to that need or something else (figure the alignment shop can tell me).
If it was a tire balance issue, why didn't I noticed this before? I haven't changed any tires in months.
Last edited by shyguylh; 01-21-2017 at 11:20 PM..
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Update: Observations After Driving It Home
