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Dec 20, 2013
When I came home from work my dad was repairing the splash shield on his ’11 Camry. I didn’t ask how it got damage but I believe while he was backing up the parking block got caught and damaged it. Anyways, after he did that he decided to rotate his tires since it hasn’t been done in a while.
Dec 21, 2013
When I came home from work, my dad told me that his car sounded funny and he wanted me to drive it to see what’s up.
Dec 24, 2013
My dad reminded me again to check his car. So I took it for a test drive and man he was right to be concerned. Unfortunately I couldn’t record the sound but I’ll do my best to describe it. When I left my house, at low speed, it felt like the car was going over rumble strips except the vibration was on the front driver side. The vibration isn’t audible as I drove with the windows down and my head out the window like a happy dog. As I climb to 40 the vibration subside a bit but it’s still there. Next I took it on the highway and brought it up to 65. The vibration is still present but not as obvious at lower speeds. As I exited the highway to return home, I applied the brakes and the steering wheel shook. The vibration resonated in the car like I was going over rumble strips. When I return home, I told him that it could be a bad tire since I had a similar experience when all four of my tires were wearing down below 3. He switched the tire later that day and the vibration is still there at the same spot. All four of his tire are still good and haven’t wore down to the wear indicator yet. Is there something that I haven’t taken into account that’s causing this vibration? I suspect the repair he made the splash shield but I haven’t check the work nor look underneath since he works afternoons.
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Probably time to raise the car and look underneath. Watch for any marks on the undercarriage that would suggest what was struck. See you can find anything with play. Also, spin the wheels to see if any wobble.
A good visual inspection of the problem area should bring the issue to light.. Check for anything that looks out of the ordinary… Check: ball joints, strut, tie rods, rotor, caliper, bent rim, frame etc….
Keep us informed.
-Karl
First guess is whatever hurt the splash shield also tore a CV joint rubber boot or two.
Now you have dirt or rubber pieces getting mashed up by the CV joint internals.
But that’s just a guess. The way to determine what’s going on is to get the car up a bit so you can have a good look-see underneath, with a flashlight. There should be nothing touching the rotating parts like the axles, CV joints, wheels, tires, and brake rotors.
Does the vibration go away when throttle is opened? Let’s say it’s vibrating at 55 and you slap the throttle open, does it disappear? Is it at low speed and can you feel it when moving strait but it goes away during a turn? First step is to jack it up and check all suspension components for excessive play and look for fluid from the cv boots.
A bent frame can also create abnormal driving shakes when braking, slowing etc…..Given the tires are good, that is a possibility. What did he hit/drag?
One: I didn’t know there were more people responded to my problem. I didn’t get a notification in my email.
Two: From my last post, I never had a chance to inspect the car myself so I can’t give any detailed information on the damage.
Three: My dad took it to Pepboys for an inspection and stated that the strut are bad. I don’t know if they are telling the truth or out for money, who knows.
Four: The car is currently at the dearlership getting repair. My dad was cutting it kinda close because he was about to lose his factory warranty if he kept driving the clear for a little longer. He was a couple of miles short from paying out-of-pocket for the repair.Once backing an turning at the same time I hit a post with the tread of the driver’s side front wheel. The post didn’t touch the car’s body. Driving away the steering wheel had to be held 90 degrees from it’s normal position.
Once home I found the rear bushing for the lower control arm was dismounted. I repaired the bushing, set toe and the car drove fine but with a noise. If I grasped the strut in the center and pushed and pulled I could duplicate the noise. So, new strut.
Anyway, if the wheel hit something hard, a new strut is probably needed. However, there remain some alignment issues.
The dealership just released the car today. As suspected, Pepboys were after some money. The dealership stated that the requested job wasn’t performed for there was no reason to. I drove it home and I noticed that the sound has somewhat went away but again, I’m not the driver of the car. I have to wait for my dad to drive to be the judge of that. Since they inspected the car and no work was done, I had a chance to raise the car and snapped a few pictures of the strut assembly. Through my inexperienced eye, I see nothing wrong.
Repair made to the shield shown with a courtesy arrow:
Driver Side:
Passenger Side:
Final Verdict
Turns out that all four structs were shot. Because of that, the tires were cupping on the inside causing the noise. After replacing all four structs, all four tires and replace all the brake pads, the car runs like new again.[quote=”marik7410″ post=86048]Final Verdict
Turns out that all four structs were shot. Because of that, the tires were cupping on the inside causing the noise. After replacing all four structs, all four tires and replace all the brake pads, the car runs like new again.[/quote]Glad you worked it out. Thanks for the update and the fix.
You were right to start with the tires. Especially the way things turned out. The brake vibration was another issue as you also found out. That said, I do have articles on both of these issues that might help you if you run into this type of problem again in the future. Here are some links.
http://www.ericthecarguy.com/faq/diagnosing-noises-in-your-car
http://www.ericthecarguy.com/faq/determining-the-causes-of-vehicle-vibrations
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