Steering wheel shakes going over potholes, is this normal?

[TeCKis300]

For the accumulators, you mean the globes, right?

Accumulator is probably the technical term

Yup.

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[Barry Dingle]

Doubt this has anything to do with AHC, just a bad design. My 2016 LC does the same thing, after a fresh dealer alignment.

 

[Harri051]

It's hard to diagnose from afar. Tires can have an effect on this even as the tires you got are largely correct. It could be alignment but the way it shakes suggest it's compliance (suspension and tires) related. Unless they got the alignment so wrong. Factory spec is pretty flexible on camber.

When it shakes, does it feel like more than just steering feedback? Do you feel like stability is effected and the whole car is hopping?

Does AVS damper adjustment make any difference? What position are you in normally? Does changing it to sport or comfort change the symptoms?

Have you ever serviced AHC and changed fluids? I'm more suspicious of lost compliance in the AHC system either due to fluid or a prematurely failed accumulator.

I agree with @Zill that these suspensions are incredibly robust and to damage it would not be something subtle. Bushing wear is not usually an issue until 200k miles even in harsh use.

It’s mostly just the steering wheel. The roads here are really bad, so it’s hard to say if it feels like the whole truck is hoping. As far as Avs (i am assuming that’s the knob the center console?), it does shake more in comfort vs. sport. I had the fluid changed at 93k miles after I realized it had not been done. The dealer rebled the system and gave it back to me after I took it in for the shaking. I’m thinking it’s a prematurely worn globe.

 

[vipergrhd]

It was out of alignment and it did get an alignment at the dealer. The camber was set to zero. It still does it.

Zero camber is not so bad but you want a little negative camber even on a truck suspension, when I use to do alignments I like to give it up to half a degree of camber (negative) and maximize the caster for better handling.

What should I ask for? Are there certain specs it should be at? This is all new to me, and I have not lived in the Dallas area for long, so finding that type of place is going to be a challenge.

I know it's hard to find shops that will do alignments, I would explain to the shop what's happening and maybe they will dial in the adjustments and ask them to test drive it. I had to return on one occasion because the person didn't drive it and didn't fix the drift all he said was it was in the green (Specs.).

 

[Harri051]

Yup.

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Thanks for that info. I did buy this part off a different eBay seller (14k transactions with 98% rating) for a similar price. I figured this might be the issue and after watching videos, I thought I might try to replace them myself. I have found a great indy mechanic that only works on Lexus vehicles and I will ask him about replacing them if I provide the parts. I will try and find a good alignment spot and try that first.

 

[TeCKis300]

it does shake more in comfort vs. sport

This is another indicator it's the accumulators. It's opposite of intuition as one would expect less impact harshness in comfort.

When the suspension is set to sport/stiff, it will absorb more of the shock load, rather than relying on the accumulators. In comfort, the damper stays more open transferring majority of the shock load to the accumulators. But with bad/worn accumulators, they are bottoming out.

The LX570 should ride buttery and the degree of steering shake in the video would never pass muster as normal for a Lexus. It's not alignment, or at least not likely only alignment.

 

[Harri051]

Update: replaced the globes. It does drive much better and I can tell the difference between comfort and sport now. However, it did not fix the shaking of the steering wheel when hitting larger potholes. If I figure it out, I’ll post another update.