Im chasing an intermittent steering wobble for a while now. Started after my last dealer service and rotation 10k ago, but already had about 5k on the tires no probs. Balanced wheel/tire multiple times at discount (waste of time).
I had glazed and badly deposited rotors that shook violently under hard braking that have since been replaced. Brakes are completely smooth now, stops smooth and straight even from very high speeds. Wobble significantly reduced while driving But sadly not gone as i had hoped. Had a perfect alignment done as well with master tech shop manager at lexus at his side The whole time. 0 camber, 4 degree caster, as true a toe as we could get, tracks straight, i even asked for as little cross camber caster as possible to rule that out since i drive mostly city. Slight toe in as usual. Great weight to the steering, great smooth center return. Basically as good an alignment as possible, thanks to the UCA preset giving tons of adjustability. Never noticed any tire cupping. Did a road force balance with him on all 5, dynamic balance and road force was as low as 4lbs, highest was 12 and its in the rear. Multiple de bead and force match turns. Took our sweet time with it (make friends with them!). Used the 5 lug finger bracket as Toyota specs for balancing.
Steering rack is drum tight with one wheel up test. Sway links taught. Ive torqued everything properly on reassembly after mods and condition is exactly the same. Zero play in the wheel in any direction 12-6 or 3-9.
Cleaned my hubs with rust remover and very carefully cleaned them to a nice og silver. Took extra care very gently to not overwork it and keep it true but dont have a runout dial (yet). Truck has 72k. Final Torqued wheels on ground, played with torque as high as 120. everything is hub and lug centric. Shake comes every once in a while 65 and above only. 95% gone. No weeping shocks, AHC is in perfect order. Everything under 65 is smooth as glass. Bearden ( one of the best LC specialist in the country) said it drove perfect. Lexus master tech told me he personally sold his tundra because of a recurring shake. But he also couldn’t believe how good it rode one 33” ATs and lifted. Everyone loves it.
Ive ruled out just about everything but the wheel/tire. I am dragging my rear axle but will correct that today with adjustable panhard. Hope that might be it. The LX hydraulic steering is very good with feedback, and the hydropneumatic suspension does also behave sensitively by its nature (specially lifted). We all know this truck is very sensitive to alignment and tire pressure as is with short wheelbases. Ive played with tire pressure endlessly and have it pretty perfect. The upper ball joint is new oem, and the lowers are tight but have some normal seeping beneath. I will check for lift on the lowers but my prybar is too wide.
The only thing i can think of other than above (everyone else is stumped) is AHC and Toyo AT3 or other ATs with staggered shoulder lug design. Or my 25 offset wheels, but a ton of people run without issue and even lower offsets than that. Despite that with an ifs lift my effective offset is closer to 35 as the swing brings it closer towards the KAI intersect contact point. There will be scrub effects still of course until i go up in tire size but that does not present in a straight line.
So my theory is that since the truck drops at 65mph+ and is perfectly smooth prior to that at any speed, its going into slight negative camber just enough to ride the staggered shoulder and pull my steering into a tiny wobble vibration to the left / right as its mismatched in rotation the to opposite tire. That would explain the intermittency and the 65mph+ condition.
i have no idea what else it could be. Is anyone experiencing anything like this? I sold my oem wheels because 21s are worthless for tire selection and a horrible factory choice. My next step is to buy some tundra takeoffs but maybe i can save a grand with others input. I could also spend the grand on new hubs and studs, but i highly doubt that they are bad. I also have two great neighbor friends in the LC, one with a 16 LX on factory 20s and spacers. I could beg him to borrow his wheels but thats asking a lot lol.
I don’t believe i have a sticking caliper but thats the one thing i didnt do in my brake job, rebuild pistons and seals. When i say i was meticulous in doing brake job i mean you would send me to the psych ward if you witnessed it. Things are all greased and moved freely upon inspection. And yes i will rip them apart again just to check. System was bled multiple times.
Its just enough to drive me crazy and after 2+ years of ownership i still cant enjoy driving. Im the type of guy who wants it perfect. I demand a lot but this is not a normal thing anyone could live with. And this isn't the type of truck that wears stuff at 72k miles.
Im out of ****ing ideas. I know i saw a positive camber spec somewhere that could remedy this but all my resources are showing 0 camber standard for AHC. I know my 470 always had outer edge wear.
does anyone know about or have this problem? Are you on an AT with a staggered shoulder design?
Am i overlooking something obvious? Maybe driver globe is weak? No good test for spheres unfortunatel but they are getting swapped at 75k per my own made up interval.
Everyone says it drives like a dream, but every once in a while it picks up the steering shimmy again. I take such good care of it and bought this truck to hold on to for decades. Have been frustrated with it since day one, leaning, etc. Did i get the evil eye?
I had glazed and badly deposited rotors that shook violently under hard braking that have since been replaced. Brakes are completely smooth now, stops smooth and straight even from very high speeds. Wobble significantly reduced while driving But sadly not gone as i had hoped. Had a perfect alignment done as well with master tech shop manager at lexus at his side The whole time. 0 camber, 4 degree caster, as true a toe as we could get, tracks straight, i even asked for as little cross camber caster as possible to rule that out since i drive mostly city. Slight toe in as usual. Great weight to the steering, great smooth center return. Basically as good an alignment as possible, thanks to the UCA preset giving tons of adjustability. Never noticed any tire cupping. Did a road force balance with him on all 5, dynamic balance and road force was as low as 4lbs, highest was 12 and its in the rear. Multiple de bead and force match turns. Took our sweet time with it (make friends with them!). Used the 5 lug finger bracket as Toyota specs for balancing.
Steering rack is drum tight with one wheel up test. Sway links taught. Ive torqued everything properly on reassembly after mods and condition is exactly the same. Zero play in the wheel in any direction 12-6 or 3-9.
Cleaned my hubs with rust remover and very carefully cleaned them to a nice og silver. Took extra care very gently to not overwork it and keep it true but dont have a runout dial (yet). Truck has 72k. Final Torqued wheels on ground, played with torque as high as 120. everything is hub and lug centric. Shake comes every once in a while 65 and above only. 95% gone. No weeping shocks, AHC is in perfect order. Everything under 65 is smooth as glass. Bearden ( one of the best LC specialist in the country) said it drove perfect. Lexus master tech told me he personally sold his tundra because of a recurring shake. But he also couldn’t believe how good it rode one 33” ATs and lifted. Everyone loves it.
Ive ruled out just about everything but the wheel/tire. I am dragging my rear axle but will correct that today with adjustable panhard. Hope that might be it. The LX hydraulic steering is very good with feedback, and the hydropneumatic suspension does also behave sensitively by its nature (specially lifted). We all know this truck is very sensitive to alignment and tire pressure as is with short wheelbases. Ive played with tire pressure endlessly and have it pretty perfect. The upper ball joint is new oem, and the lowers are tight but have some normal seeping beneath. I will check for lift on the lowers but my prybar is too wide.
The only thing i can think of other than above (everyone else is stumped) is AHC and Toyo AT3 or other ATs with staggered shoulder lug design. Or my 25 offset wheels, but a ton of people run without issue and even lower offsets than that. Despite that with an ifs lift my effective offset is closer to 35 as the swing brings it closer towards the KAI intersect contact point. There will be scrub effects still of course until i go up in tire size but that does not present in a straight line.
So my theory is that since the truck drops at 65mph+ and is perfectly smooth prior to that at any speed, its going into slight negative camber just enough to ride the staggered shoulder and pull my steering into a tiny wobble vibration to the left / right as its mismatched in rotation the to opposite tire. That would explain the intermittency and the 65mph+ condition.
i have no idea what else it could be. Is anyone experiencing anything like this? I sold my oem wheels because 21s are worthless for tire selection and a horrible factory choice. My next step is to buy some tundra takeoffs but maybe i can save a grand with others input. I could also spend the grand on new hubs and studs, but i highly doubt that they are bad. I also have two great neighbor friends in the LC, one with a 16 LX on factory 20s and spacers. I could beg him to borrow his wheels but thats asking a lot lol.
I don’t believe i have a sticking caliper but thats the one thing i didnt do in my brake job, rebuild pistons and seals. When i say i was meticulous in doing brake job i mean you would send me to the psych ward if you witnessed it. Things are all greased and moved freely upon inspection. And yes i will rip them apart again just to check. System was bled multiple times.
Its just enough to drive me crazy and after 2+ years of ownership i still cant enjoy driving. Im the type of guy who wants it perfect. I demand a lot but this is not a normal thing anyone could live with. And this isn't the type of truck that wears stuff at 72k miles.
Im out of ****ing ideas. I know i saw a positive camber spec somewhere that could remedy this but all my resources are showing 0 camber standard for AHC. I know my 470 always had outer edge wear.
does anyone know about or have this problem? Are you on an AT with a staggered shoulder design?
Am i overlooking something obvious? Maybe driver globe is weak? No good test for spheres unfortunatel but they are getting swapped at 75k per my own made up interval.
Everyone says it drives like a dream, but every once in a while it picks up the steering shimmy again. I take such good care of it and bought this truck to hold on to for decades. Have been frustrated with it since day one, leaning, etc. Did i get the evil eye?
Last edited:
