Excessive vibration over 60mph. Suspension related?

[Aclosefriend]

Hello all. I am new to the forum and just got a great deal on a 2008 HB that is a little dinged, but rust free and perfect under the hood. It has 64k miles and has not had any accidents on the books.

I test drove it for about 20 minutes and did not notice any serious handling issues but it was all on back roads. After purchasing it then taking it on the highway, I noticed over 60mph there is excessive vibration. The headrest on the passenger seat visibly moves back and forth by quite a bit and it feels like it is most pronounced towards the front right wheel. The handling doesn't feel too safe either at high speeds.

The previous owner told me he hit a massive pothot and blew the front right strut. He replaced it ~20k miles ago. Looks like a super budget ebay brand (Auto parts international). He did not replace the front left strut. I've always heard you should replace them in pairs.

I got the wheels aligned, rotated, balanced, and did a full brake job (new rotors, drums, pads, shoes). There has been no difference in the handling at high speeds and the excessive vibration persists. The tires have plenty of tread. The rims are all true with no dents.

Do you think this is a suspension related issue? What else could it be? There is no noise that indicates a bad wheel bearing and the boot on the CV joints look fine. The tires are budget tires but there is no strange wear and plenty of tread left. I wouldn't expect excessive vibration to be caused by suspension though. I've had horribly balanced tires in the pas and this is more what it feels like. When I got this yaris, I ripped the old weights off and had them all rebalanced just to make sure they were all freshly balanced. No change in vibration.

Also, I just noticed that the front right sits about half an inch higher than the front left when measuring from the ground to the fender on the same point.

Any advice would be helpful.

[CoryM]

When you say vibration, where are you feeling it? In the steering wheel? In your feet? In the seat? Is it more a noise, or a feeling? When you rotate the tires, does it change at all?

Yes, shocks/struts should be done in pairs. It's possible you have a bad dampener, and you're feeling the whole assembly bounce up and down on the freeway. Should show up on tires as hand sized flat-spots on the tread if so.

[Aclosefriend]

I don't feel it so much in the steering wheel as I do through the seats. If I put my hand on the dash I can also feel the up/down vibration and it seems a little more pronounced on the passenger side than driver side. It feels like the car is bouncing up and down. The passenger seat seems to vibrate visibly from it.

There isn't any noticeable irregular wear on the tires. I think the previous owner mostly used it for around town driving though. I had the wheels rotated, balanced, and aligned with no difference in handling or vibration.

[MUSKOKA800]

Could just be a tire out of balance. Typically between 50 and 70 is when the most vibration is felt. If a front tire you will have a shudder in the steering wheel. A rear will vibrate the car and can shake the headrests and mirrors among other items.

[Exiwolfman]

Wheel balance and tire rotation and you should be good to go.... So about 40$ at your local shop.

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[WeeYari]

Read the first post guys. Balance and rotate has been done. Unless the shop screwed it up, balance is not an issue.
He has also stated vibration doesn't change rotating tires to different positions.

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[Exiwolfman]

Originally Posted by WeeYari

Read the first post guys. Balance and rotate has been done. Unless the shop screwed it up, balance is not an issue.
He has also stated vibration doesn't change rotating tires to different positions.

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Sorry was lazy lol
Any idea if axle shafts are original cos I was cheap and got me an aftermarket one that is missing the rubber isolator so I get a hum like noise at hwy speed in 5th gear mainly.



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[Aclosefriend]

As far as I know the axle shafts are original. Would be a shame if I bought a vehicle with a bent axle.

[Aclosefriend]

The previous own left me his maintenance records. I did a more thorough look through them today and found that 8k miles ago he had a cracked rim welded. He had the wheels rebalanced twice since then (in 8k miles).

Sound like the source of the problem to you guys? May have to go find some cheap rims somewhere. I don't care how they look. Any suggestions?

[tmontague]

I'd think that is your problem right there. If the original owner has them rebalanced 2x in 8,000miles then chances are he noticed the same issue and was trying to fix it. If the rim is bent too bad then no matter how many weights are put on it, it will never fully balance.

You could try putting on the spare in replacement of the welded rim and see if the vibration stops. If so then go to a junk yard and pick up a rim and your problem should go away.

In hindsight always highway test drive a car, things show up at higher speeds that you just cannot tell at low speeds.

[Redbat01]

"Also, I just noticed that the front right sits about half an inch higher than the front left when measuring from the ground to the fender on the same point."

Perhaps this is because you're running different brand struts front versus left. If the new strut came with a new spring already installed, or if the owner installed a new spring along with the strut, the spring rates may be different, in which case, the car would definitely stand taller on one side.

More important things: It's possible that, when the prior owner hit the massive pothole, the impact blew out a tie rod end, ball joint, or other suspension bushing. He may have even bent the lower control arm or distorted the mounting points where the control arms are mounted to the unit body. The fact that he blew out the strut and cracked a wheel rim indicates that the impact was really severe. I would not be surprised if some of these other parts were compromised at the same time. Any one of them could cause a high-speed vibration.

Rest assured that, when you get this straightened out, your Yaris will be vibration free and a pleasure to drive at any speed. Mine 2008 Yaris hatch has 136,000 miles on the odometer, has been driven hard in time trials several times, and rides fine on the highway at 90 mph. (Not that I drive that fast normally!)

[Aclosefriend]

I looked at the rims when I did the brakes a couple weeks ago. They did not look dented anywhere. I didn't inspect them close enough to see if there are any freshly welded surfaces though. I am inclined not to trust a welded rim considering a new rim is ~$70. I just have to identify whether it is the front or back now. I am positive it is on the right side of the car. Definitely will be test driving cars on highways in the future before purchase.

Redbat - I am hoping that there isn't other severe damage in the front. Things could get expensive looking for a cause. These all seem like things that aren't too obvious just by visual inspection. I had an annual state inspection and it passed with flying colors, I don't know how thorough they really get though.

[tmontague]

It wouldn't be too hard to check for other damage to the suspension components.

Remove the front wheels and get in there w/ a light. Do a visual check of the control arm and see if one is bent/shaped differently, check the rubber on the bushings.

Then grab the tie rods and move them around to see if there is play. It also helps to have someone hit the tire straight on the tread while you are holding various components to see if there is play.

Then w/ the wheel on, perform the wiggle test at 12:00/6:0 and 3 and 9:00 positions. If there is play then either hub bearings or ball joints could be issues.

Hopefully everything checks out and it's just the rim that needs replacing.

[Aclosefriend]

FYI Problem Solved!

I finally found a set of 4 2005 civic steelies for super cheap. They had old tires with some tread on them. I put them on and drove at 80mph. No vibration at all!

I'm convinced that one of the original Yaris rims had been re-worked/welded based on the original owner's paper work but I couldn't tell which one. This along with the cheapest tires money can buy, were the source of the vibration. I bought a new set of Michelins ($421 installed with TPMS repair kit at BJs) on the new rims and now I am much happier about the Yaris purchase. Suspension looks great as does everything else on it. Not a speck of rust.

[tmontague]

Glad to hear you've solved the problem. Thanks for posting your solution and not abandoning your thread.

Fwiw, i'd recommend you purchase a set of KYB excel G front struts so you have the same upfront. They're priced well and will help your handling a bit.

[nerdyguy]

Originally Posted by CoryM

When you say vibration, where are you feeling it? In the steering wheel? In your feet? In the seat? Is it more a noise, or a feeling? When you rotate the tires, does it change at all?

Yes, shocks/struts should be done in pairs. It's possible you have a bad dampener, and you're feeling the whole assembly bounce up and down on the freeway. Should show up on tires as hand sized flat-spots on the tread if so.

I am running megan coilovers and my front left feels like the whole assembly bounces up and down. How do i fix this??

[nerdyguy]

anyone?

[Frank the Tank]

i didnt want to start a new thread so i'll just add to this one.

today i took a left turn at the lights aggressively at approximately 50km/h.
once i started to accelerate out of the turn i noticed the car began to shake. this shaking happens at around 80-90km/h. i feel it mostly through the seats.

the car has roughly 170,000km and it looks like nothing has been changed in respect to suspension.

this car is my daily for work and needs to be in working condition. its mostly used on the highways as well.

what could be my main problem and how much would it cost?