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Car Forum / Driving, Maintenance, Tuning / Maintenance and Repair / March 2007'98 Corolla Steering Rack
Hello All, I'm the mechanic-in-charge of my girlfriend's '98 Toyota Corolla (1998-2003 body style). It's got 170k miles and a shimmy on the highway. I believe I've narrowed it down to some play in the steering rack. The Hayes manual we have for the car only mentions replacing it as a unit. Does it not have replacable tie-rod ends on the inboard side? I checked out the U-joint going into the rack and it looks fine. Suggestions? Thanks, Harry >Hello All, > >I'm the mechanic-in-charge of my girlfriend's '98 Toyota Corolla >(1998-2003 body style). It's got 170k miles and a shimmy on the >highway. Look for a tire balance problem for that symptom. Or, if it only happens with your gas pedal foot on the floor, look for a worn inner cv joint. Shake from worn steering linkage almost always occurs at low to moderate speeds. > I believe I've narrowed it down to some play in the steering >rack. The Hayes manual we have for the car only mentions replacing it >as a unit. Does it not have replacable tie-rod ends on the inboard >side? Yes. 45503-19215 Toyota #, or Sankei 555 and probably other aftermarket numbers as well. If they are bad you will be able to move one wheel side to side independently of the other. Make sure you are not actually seeing lower ball joint play. Don www.donsautomotive.com > I checked out the U-joint going into the rack and it looks >fine. [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] >Thanks, >Harry >> I believe I've narrowed it down to some play in the steering >>rack. The Hayes manual we have for the car only mentions replacing it [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > one wheel side to side independently of the other. Make sure you are > not actually seeing lower ball joint play. The tip I was taught was: if you grab the top and bottom of the tire and you can wiggle it, it's ball joints or wheel bearings or the like; if that doesn't wiggle but you can grab the sides of the tire and wiggle, then it's tie rods. (That is, if I'm saying that right.)  SignatureMartians drive SUVs! <http://oregonmag.com/MarsWarm307.html> > The tip I was taught was: if you grab the top and bottom of the tire and > you can wiggle it, it's ball joints or wheel bearings or the like; if > that doesn't wiggle but you can grab the sides of the tire and wiggle, > then it's tie rods. (That is, if I'm saying that right.) This is the method I used to check out the suspension/steering. I feel no play in the vertical axis, but a little slop in the horizontal axis. The outer tie rod ends feel tight and the crummy Hayes manual made no mention of inner tie rod ends. However, come to think, I can't rule out a tire balance issue. I was thinking we had rotated them but on second thought I don't believe we did. Comboverfish, You sound doubtful that a little slop in the steering would cause these symptoms...more likely wheel balance? She now insists she can feel the vibration coming from the right front and that it is detectible even at lower speeds with a quick cut of the wheel to the right. Anyway, I guess we'll get the wheels balanced and get back to the group with the results. Thanks, Harry "Harry Smith" <ev1lbastard@yahoo.com> wrote in news:1174267641.963567.10780 @e65g2000hsc.googlegroups.com: >> The tip I was taught was: if you grab the top and bottom of the tire and >> you can wiggle it, it's ball joints or wheel bearings or the like; if [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > right. Anyway, I guess we'll get the wheels balanced and get back to > the group with the results. Not just balanced, but remounted to spin true BEFORE they rebalance. I'm not a pro, but I've seen way, WAY too many "suspension/steering" problems that were 100% to do with crappily mounted tires. Raise the car one or two feet up off the ground on a hoist, start the car, allow it to idle and put the tranny in gear. At least one wheel will spin. Start the other side manually if needed. Now watch the tires as they spin. Do they hop? Do they squirm? Do they wobble from side to side? A combination of both? Then they've been badly mounted and no amount of balancing will fix the vibration. If they've been on the rim like that for a while, they may have taken a "set" like that and it may be impossible to mount them properly. The non-driven wheels can be just spun by hand to conduct your observations. SignatureTegger >> The tip I was taught was: if you grab the top and bottom of the tire and >> you can wiggle it, it's ball joints or wheel bearings or the like; if [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] >feel no play in the vertical axis, but a little slop in the horizontal >axis. When you feel the play do both wheels turn together or just one? Both turn together that's steering gear play -- normal if the wheels are not straight ahead. One wheel turns left to right slightly but not the other -- that's tie rods. Don www.donsautomotive.com > The outer tie rod ends feel tight and the crummy Hayes manual >made no mention of inner tie rod ends. However, come to think, I [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] >Thanks, >Harry > When you feel the play do both wheels turn together or just one? > Both turn together that's steering gear play -- normal if the wheels > are not straight ahead. One wheel turns left to right slightly but > not the other -- that's tie rods. Hi, Sorry it's taken me a while to get back with you. We're probably going to mess with it again some more this weekend. I am certain the play was in the steering rack and not the wheel/u-joint. I'm not so certain if the wheels moved together or not, as it was a relatively small amount of play and I couldn't watch both sides at once. Either way, the body is fairly rough and I expect it was poorly maintained. The tires are cheap and a little old (but not worn excessively or unusually). Really it could be either tires OR steering, neither is perfect. Guess I'll let everyone know how it turns out. Thanks, Harry > When you feel the play do both wheels turn together or just one? > Both turn together that's steering gear play -- normal if the wheels > are not straight ahead. One wheel turns left to right slightly but > not the other -- that's tie rods. Hi, Sorry it's taken me a while to get back with you. We're probably going to mess with it again some more this weekend. I am certain the play was in the steering rack and not the wheel/u-joint. I'm not so certain if the wheels moved together or not, as it was a relatively small amount of play and I couldn't watch both sides at once. Either way, the body is fairly rough and I expect it was poorly maintained. The tires are cheap and a little old (but not worn excessively or unusually). Really it could be either tires OR steering, neither is perfect. Guess I'll let everyone know how it turns out. Thanks, Harry > Hello All, > > I'm the mechanic-in-charge of my girlfriend's '98 Toyota Corolla > (1998-2003 body style). 1998 - 2002. > It's got 170k miles and a shimmy on the > highway. I believe I've narrowed it down to some play in the steering > rack. How did you determine this as the cause of a high speed shimmy? > The Hayes manual we have for the car only mentions replacing it > as a unit. Does it not have replacable tie-rod ends on the inboard > side? Yes, the inner tierods are replaceable and available in the same manner that all other Toyota rack and pinion tierods are. > I checked out the U-joint going into the rack and it looks > fine. Well, it certainly wouldn't cause a high speed vibration if that is your concern. Look into getting your tires balanced or a set of quality new tires + alignment if yours are worn unevenly/defective. Toyota MDT in MO |
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