Hello there,
I have a 2008 Toyota Corolla LE with 103k miles, I have it since it had 80k miles with no issues at all. I changed the tires about 9 months ago (4x Cooper Evolution Tires) and since few months ago when I'm going in the highway about 70-75 mph (sometimes 80mph to test) I feel a vibration in the wheel. Sometimes is harder then others, however at a lower speed it runs perfect with no vibration at all (50-60mph and lower). I replace the front disk brakes and pads and nothing changed, then I took it to the shop where I got the new tires installed and they rotated the tires and balanced them again but still has the vibration (They did all the work in front of me so I can confirm they did the job). I haven't done anything else since I'm not sure what else should I check. I would really appreciate some advise in what I should check next.
As additional information, I leave in South Florida and the tires are all season tires. I heard good things about the Cooper tires I install reason why I decided to go with them, not sure at this point if it has anything to do with the tires.
Thanks in advance 🙂
Robert.
Just to rule out the obvious, can you try another reputed shop for the balancing & check if they are indeed balanced correctly?
If it only started doing this after your tyres were replaced, it’s pretty much a balancing problem, as @yaser mentions..
You can also try fitting tyres from another (same size) known good Corolla & check if your car still vibrates at speed.
Thanks for the information. I hadn't seen the Scotty's video which is very informative, thanks. I'll check with another shop and see what I get. But it is weird, the tires were rotated and always the vibration has been in the wheel. Thanks.
That’ll mean it’s something in the front end. Were you present when the shop changed the tyres? Did they damage anything while working on it?
Thanks for the response. They didn't damage anything as far as I know. This was not the first time a have been in that shop and previously had no issues. Not sure what it could be. I will take it tomorrow to another shop to hear what they say to see if it make sense. I also did an alignment to this car when the tires were replaced about 9 months ago. Thanks.
Ok. 9 months ago, you got the new tires...So what I'm reading in your OP, is everything was ok until you said problem started a few months ago. So how long did you drive where it was good? Later you said tires were rotated. Which way did they rotate? Front to back/Back to front or did they do left side to right side/right side to left side? I don't see where you had the balancing re-checked. If a front tire threw a weight off and they rotated side to side could be why you're still getting the vibration. If they did front to back/back to front then something isn't right in the front end steering/suspension.
Hi there. Thanks for your message. Being honest I don't remember exactly when the vibration started since I wasn't driving too much, only occasionally as I work most of the time from home. When I started noticing I thought that it was the brake disks since the tires were new and balanced not long before, then I changed the front brake disks and nothing changed. After that I took it to the shop where I purchased the tires and they rotated them but I don't remember how they were rotated, I believe it was moving the front to back and back to front, they also did balance the tires in front of me and all looked OK in their machine, they adjusted some of the weights but nothing, still has the vibrations at high speed. I’ll take it tomorrow to a shop to get a second opinion and I’ll let you know.
Thanks
I did some digging and found in the Honda forums where it was the tire and wheel combination that his car just didn't like. Did everything you did and then tried new set of steel rims and tires and no more vibration. And for one other person it happened to be all 3 motor mounts, and no more vibrations. He said it took him 6 months to finally figure out. And both these two people went thru numerous balancing, rotating, etc. and there's probably other fixes that other people have had... So, there is a solution for your particular circumstance, keep at it Good luck....
Thank you very much for your help. I hope to find out sooner than later. The weird thing is that even at 60mph there is no vibration at all, only at high speeds so not sure. I will let you know once I can figure it out.
Thanks.
@toyotagrl ‘s post got me thinking, do you have OEM wheels or are they aftermarket? If OEM, are they the factory size/spec?
@inthrustwetrust @toyotagrl ; I have OEM wheels and the tires are the manufacturer recommended size. I took the car to one shop today, they drove the vehicle and showed me that the the low arm controls are bad specially the left one and that is causing the vibration at high speed. That would explain why even after the tires were rotated the vibration continued happening, however I'm not 100% sure. What you think about that diagnostic? Does that causes the vibration at high speed? They showed the rubber support that is bad, however you can barely see it in details without taking it apart. Any thoughts?
Hmm, does it clunk over potholes/bad roads? I’m not 100% convinced lower control arms will cause vibration at speed. If they aren’t worn out really bad. It’ll likely be some other front end part. Did they load test all your other front end parts?
No they didn't, they showed me how it was doing when you stop and that side moved a little bit more than the other side. I also went to another shop to get their opinion but today they were going to close early so they had no time to check it, I will probably take it there and get a second opinion. I will also do some tests myself. Thanks for the help
You need to balance the tires.
Thanks
@inthrustwetrust @toyotagrl I still haven't resolved the issue, one mechanic says that the problem are the struts, others says that the problem is specially the arm control in the driver side (which seems to be) but I'm not confident with any of their advice. I've done a video where I can hear like a clunking sound when I brake, which would be caused by the arm control in this side I believe. If you guys could check it out and provide your input I would really appreciate it, link is below. Thanks 🙂
https://drive.google.com/file/d/19poAZ2uw45x2zDc_3Z9GvShMECzTn3V3/view?usp=sharing
Load test the control arm using a pry bar with the car jacked up. Use this excellent video as a guide to rule them out, one at a time -
good video. test those engine mounts