Shimmy Shimmy SHAKE

OMG, I have an intermitant shake that is driving me nuts. I just had the truck in for service at my local Toyota dealer and all the service guy would say is "there is definitely something happening with your brakes, do you wanna schedule an appointment for us to do a complete brake inspection?" He goes on to tell me that with 50,000 miles and the truck being 5 years old and all the winters up here with the salt and such that my calipers are probably in need of replacement. hmmm ok. Of course when I ask him "how much?" he tells me "ohhhhh probably near the $700 dollar mark" .... ok then, I'll just pay for my oil change and get back to ya.

There has been a slight back and forth shake in the steering for a while, I just figured that the tires being original, probably just need to be balanced or maybe even replaced. Then one morning, on my way to work the shake got alot worse ... when I applied the brakes, the whole truck started to shake unbelievably !! Like I said, this doesn't happen all the time, it's only done that twice in the last month. But why? Could it be the rotors out of round? But if that was the case, wouldn't it happen all the time? Any help will be greatly appreciated. I'm leaning toward pulling the tires and replacing the rotors and pads first, the maybe the calipers if that doesn't fix it. Last resort would be to then replace the tires also. If it doesn't go away with pads, calipers, rotors & tires being new, I'm gonna freak. LOL

Have your suspension checked - ball joints, tie rods. Those are easy to diagnose. Next is wheel bearings and brakes. Your tires might have thrown a belt. That could cause an intermittent problem like you describe.

Could be rotors are warped, a symptom of warpped rotors is shaking when braking.

Good Luck

Usually when your rotors are warped you will feel a "Pulsing" of the brake pedal on your foot when you apply the brakes. This is a good indication of warped rotors. Are you braking OK? Are your brake pads wearing out prematurely? Do you feel a "dragging" or "tugging" sensation on the vehicle when your moving down the road? If so, this could be an indication that one of your brake calipers is malfunctioning.

You said you've had a back and forth shake in the steering for awhile? How often do you balance and rotate your tires? I'd definitely start with the simple things......get your tires balanced and rotated (if you haven't done so recently), If this does not cure the problem, have your front end looked at thoroughly. Are your tires new?

Mike

Warped rotors are not usually intermittant. He definitely has an intermittent problem.

What about a bent Rim?

Worth looking for, but a bent rim isn't intermittent either.

I pulled the tires this weekend and all connections seem to be tight. The pads have an ample amount to meat left on them. I spun the hub and looked at the rotors and they don't seem to be warped (visually I mean) I did find that I had only 10 psi in my front right tire. Filling that took away most of the side to side shake in my steering wheel. But I still have a "pulsing" when I apply the brake.

You never mentioned the pulsing when braking on your initial post. You have a warped rotor(s).

Mike

You won't see warpage (runout), you have to measure it with a dial gauge. Pulsing on braking is probably like wrigley said.