LX470 Steering wheel shimmey

[Zogman]

My 02 LX has 125k miles on it. I have 23" Antera wheels that have just been re-balanced. Rotors are about a year old with new brake pads. Steering wheel schimmies back and forth from 25 to 45 mph. Much better at higher speeds and no schimmey at all when making turns.

I don't think it's my rotors since they are pretty new but I'm willing to have them turned just in case. Could the front CV joints be going bad??? Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Thanks
Z

 

[2000UZJ]

With 23's have you checked to make sure the rimz aren't bent? It could be a CV as well, bit expensive to have them pulled just to see. Do you have a set of OEM wheels to swap out and see?

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[TheFuzz]

Not ruling anything out, but I highly doubt its a brake system issue unless you're feeling the pulsing during active braking. A rotor issue would make the shimmy worse when trying to slow down, and the problem wouldn't be speed dependant. Don't bother turning your rotors yet, you'd likely be sacrificing valuable rotor thickness for no reason.

I'm with Nick - my money is on the wheels/tires.

 

[lexi4darin]

Based on what you described it isn't rotors. Sometimes, you can have a warped rotor affect shimmy while turning but it's a rare case. And the speed issue being in a such a small range kind of eliminates any of that.

I'd work the problem with cheapest and easiest stuff first. Wheel balance and rotation. Check tires for a faulty sidewall...sometimes you'll see it bubbling or bulging. Then check for slack in the hubs or steering rack.

 

[Zogman]

Thanks guys. I rotated the tires when I first noticed the problem. It was still there after the rotation. I then had my front tires re-balanced and it was still there. i still have my stock rims & tires, I think I will mount them to see if it goes away.