Car shaking, what could it be

[lissac67]

About a month ago I backed up into a phone poll. Brakes were bad, and I didn't stop soon enough. Got the brakes fixed. I have a dent in the rear bumper and tail light. After the brakes were fixed, it started shaking, I thought only at high speeds, but can feel it even at lower speeds now. I have had the struts and shocks replaced. All new brake parts. Tires balanced and aligned. Found out two tire rims were bent so got two new rims and new tires. Still shaking. I can feel it at lower speeds, and it is really bad at high speeds. The garage is totally confused. They have no idea what it could be. I have spent $2000 on this so far! And not even had my dent fixed yet. My van is a 2002, with only 65,000 miles on it. Any idea what it could be? Could it be something from hitting the phone poll? I was literally just backing out of a drive way so maybe going 1 or 2 miles an hour. The dent isn't that big. And it only started after having the brakes fixed. But I took it in 2 days after hitting the pole. So can't say what did it. Any ideas? At least something I could ask them to check? I am dropping the van off tomorrow for a whole day so they can look it all over. He said the front end looks fine, tie rods and all of that. But since I did hit something, I am wondering if it could be coming from the back now? I have heard driveshaft, drivetrain, Ujoint etc. are any of those in the back? They say they checked over the whole front end. The two tires that remain are only 4 months old anyway. Great treads etc. There is no buldge in any tire. The rims are all new and perfect as of today. I need some idea of where to go next. Thanks if anyone has any ideas.

[mrbubl]

Think in terms of anything that rotates could be cauing a problem and setting up a harmonic vibration. I bought new tires and had everything balanced and had a vibration still. Wheels were not properly aligned with just the lug nut holes and need hub centers to be "hub centric" or centered on the hub and vibration went away.

Do the shaking occur all the time or just at different speeds?

If you hit something hard enough to bend two wheels there could be collateral damage too, rotor, brake drum, hub assembly, axle or in short, anything that rotates in either front or back.

sorry

[momof3teens]

I have had a similar experience with our 2000 Toyota Sienna. We had work done on our rear brakes about 8 months ago. For some time after that, we started having a problem with more than just squealing in the back right break. Took it back to be checked and mechanic said it appeared to need some adjustment, since there were several new parts installed. They did the adjustment. We still had squeaks, but figured it was typical of Siennas.

Went back for oil change and required service for belt/spark plugs, etc. While the van was in the shop, we mentioned again about the back rear breaks. The mechanic did check all of this and found out that the part they had used in the rear drum was defective. They replaced that with a new part at no charge. Left the garage. Everything seemed OK for the moment. The next day, drove the van on the highway and felt as though the entire vehicle was going to shake apart--never in my life have I felt that in a vehicle. Since I knew the tires were fine, the breaks had been "fixed", etc., I was frightened enough to pull to the side of the road and sit.

Took the van back to the shop. The mechanics were still uncertain what to do. Ended up doing another adjustment to the right brakes. While this seems to have fixed the squeal in the brakes, I am still having some vibration problems. I'm almost afraid to drive on any highway at speeds above 60, although I have driven it on the highway up to 65 and not had the same amount of vibration, I can still see the back seats shaking when I get up around 60 mph., all this when I'm not touching any brakes.

We're getting ready to make a major trip and we'll have to tow a small u-haul (or similar trailer). Should we take our van directly to the Toyota dealer, have our mechanic "try" again to repair the issue and be sure they include Toyota parts, or get a "second opinion" from another reputable mechanic?

I have been pleased with our Toyota (it still has less than 100,000 miles on it). I would love to have it drive and feel as it did before we had the brake drum replaced!

Thanks for any help/advice.

[Airjer_]

If your rear brakes are the drum type I would be curious if the ebrake is hanging up. We see this a lot on the tacomas and tundras here in MN. When they stick the make a horendous vibration after they warm up. Usually you can tell that the rear brakes are hot when this happens as well.

The other thing I would look at is how the front wheels are rotating. With the vehicle on a host start it and put it into drive and watch the front wheels. If they wobble, stop the car take the wheels off, secure the rotors with the lug nuts, start the car and let it spin in drive. If you can still see a wobble in the hub than the hub is bent. Not uncommon for this to happen even on front wheel drive vehicles.

Lastly have they tried rotating the tires. Its possible that one of the tires on the front is starting to seperate and may not be obvoius at this point. Rotating the tires will either make the vibration worse or better depending on what axle the bad tires ends up on.

[Goggles Piasano]

Have you checked the wheel bearings? My 2004 Toyota Sienna has a vibration at low speeds and smooths out at higher speeds. It also makes a "roar" or "growl". Tires sound noisy. When I make a turn to the left it quiets itself and turning to the right stays noisy. But, also when turning slowly to the left, it feels like the van is wobbling. Dealership says it's the rear bearing and the fix is $1200.00. Alignment was done recently and the rear tires are fairly new. I think the dealership is right but can't afford the fix. Anyone know how to replace rear bearings?

[Airjer_]

If its front wheel drive it will just bolt in from the backside. If its 4WD than it will still bolt in but you will need to remove the axle nut and make sure to retorque it to the proper spec after replacing the bearing!

[abbotabad786]

Hey Guys, I'm having the same exact issue, and desperate to get this fixed. I was wondering if you ever got to the root cause of it, if so please provide somekind of a solution. Once again desperate for a fix. Thanks for all the help.

[Joe W]

@ lissac67, was the bumper damage inline with the frame... that is about 4-6 inches from the outside of the bumper? If so there may be frame damage that would show on an a 4 wheel alignment. This could cause shaking. I only mention this as it appears the brakes have been thouroughly examined.

[Joe W]

@mom of 3 teens, I would recommend a different reputable shop (see AAA for recommendations). Especially as you are going to tow on a trip and you issue appears to be brake related as opposed to accident and brakes in the case of lissac67.

[Joe W]

@abbotabad, could you please expand on your Sienna issues as there are a few different scenerios within this post. Was you vehicle in an accident, were any of your brakes recently replaced? The more info the better