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As you increase speed you feel it very much "tugging" towards the left. You have to have the wheel turned a good 20 degrees towards the right to keep it going straight, the minute you let go, it's "zoom" towards the left. I bet it would be off the road onto the left shoulder within 3 seconds or so if you let go of the wheel and left it alone.
I do understand that you need an alignment after replacing the tie rod ends
But you may not understand why you need one...because otherwise your car will drive like this. By the way, this is dangerous. In sketchy road conditions where you need to correct, the car won't respond to your steering input the way it should. Hit a big pothole in the rain at speed and you could cross the center lane.
A coworker and I both had 1990's Chevy Geo cars, which are actully Corollas, and we had the same symptom of vibration at highway speed that smoothed out at even higher speeds.
New tires did not help.
For both of us, the problem went away when we each replaced our front struts.
It also sounds like you have more than one problem.
Overall, it's very different and very much better than pre-tie rod ends repair job, but still definitely something to be fixed. I do understand that you need an alignment after replacing the tie rod ends, every garage I called said they'd do such right after and the mobile mechanic said I absolutely needed to go to a place to get it done after he replaced the tie rod ends. I have no problem doing an alignment and will, I just question whether these symptoms are due to that need or something else (figure the alignment shop can tell me).
Look, just go and do alignment, will yah? And what is that you describe by "shimmy"? Up-down or side to side? Steering wheel or car? Front end or rear end? You keep tossing tons of "observations" in your posts. try to KISS it - keep it simple and clear to be described and understood.
You are likely:
- needing alignment ASAP
- needing balance ASAP
- needing to do hub bearing and control arms test
- needing OUTER tie rod test ASAp. Why did you replace INNER ones to start with? Outer go bad way faster than inner.
Also be prepared for alignment shop telling you they can not align camber and you need camber bolts. Not sure about your year and model, but my 07 Camry has no camber adjustment provisions and I am driving on camber bolts for 3 yrs now. And bad camber WILL toss you off straight line oh so badly!
But you may not understand why you need one...because otherwise your car will drive like this. By the way, this is dangerous. In sketchy road conditions where you need to correct, the car won't respond to your steering input the way it should. Hit a big pothole in the rain at speed and you could cross the center lane.
I am apt to have this done tomorrow (Mon), if for no other reason than I KNOW it will wear out the tires quickly and then you'll have to replace those AND have an alignment, thus it's more expensive to wait. Besides that every garage has said that they'd do an alignment if I had them do the tie rods, and the mobile mechanic very adamently stated that I needed to do one, so I'm not disputing that.
I'm simply asking if the alignment issue could cause all what I'm talking about (as the mobile mechanic is saying). I've NEVER heard of that, I've always heard of it causing tire wear and drifting issues but never this behavior.
As for outer vs inner tie rods, the guy said the outer ones were fine, it was the inner ones needing replacing. He also said, upon performing his inspection while replacing the inner tie rods, he found no problems with the ball joints (or the outer tie rods).
I have a 2000 Toyota Corolla. I had the inner tire rod ends replaced 2 days ago. It is still shimmying and the steering wheel still twitching, although not as badly and the "womp womp" sound it was exhibiting before is gone. He did say I'd need an alignment, which I haven't yet done yet but likely will in the next few days.
Would alignment issues cause this shimmying and wheel twitching? I'm hoping it's that vs the mobile mechanic's work not being done correctly. (I'm not home currently, when I am I will jack up the car and check for 3/9 o'clock free play in the wheels.) He seems to be a good guy yet I get the feeling that if it turns out it is the tire rods he will charge to do it again as opposed to doing it again at no cost due to not doing it properly, and regardless even if it were at no charge I wouldn't care for the extra aggravation. I'm also hoping it's not a case of that not having the alignment done THAT SECOND undid his work.
Replacing inner tie rod ends without performing an alignment is malpractice. There is a risk of rapid tire wear and there is also the risk of treacherous handling due to a possible gross toe error and even a risk of losing control of the vehicle at highway speeds.
Toe error essentially means the front wheels are trying to go in separate directions.
After an immediate alignment, look to a tire problem as the likely cause of the shimmy.
I am apt to have this done tomorrow (Mon), if for no other reason than I KNOW it will wear out the tires quickly and then you'll have to replace those AND have an alignment, thus it's more expensive to wait. Besides that every garage has said that they'd do an alignment if I had them do the tie rods, and the mobile mechanic very adamently stated that I needed to do one, so I'm not disputing that.
I'm simply asking if the alignment issue could cause all what I'm talking about (as the mobile mechanic is saying). I've NEVER heard of that, I've always heard of it causing tire wear and drifting issues but never this behavior.
As for outer vs inner tie rods, the guy said the outer ones were fine, it was the inner ones needing replacing. He also said, upon performing his inspection while replacing the inner tie rods, he found no problems with the ball joints (or the outer tie rods).
Let's be honest, you don't know really anything about auto repair yet you are challenging the judgement of an actual mechanic who replaced the inner tie rods. I believe it's a $$$ issue for you which makes you hesitant to do something unneeded. At this point, just take it to a shop and explain in clear language what the car is doing. They have ASE certified mechanics that have dealt with this exact issue many times over. Check out Yelp for reviews of shops in your area.
The reason I mentioned wheel imbalance is those wheel weights fall off sometimes or in the winter, you can have an accumulation of snow or ice imbalance a wheel. It's likely a non-issue at this point so don't get hung up on it.
I agree with others that you likely have some other parts that may be a bit worn. Get that alignment done and you will soon find out if there are other issues.
Do the easy things first. Move the front tires to the back and see what happens. Could be a tire with a broken/separated cord. Could be out of balance, could be a million things. Have a competent mechanic look at it.
I had a Corolla that did that on brand new tires. Kept going back to the tire shop. Finally, they put the front end on one of those spin balancers that balances the entire rotating assembly, and rebalanced it. Problem went away.
Try the tire rotation trick first, and examine the sidewalls and tread of the front tires while they are off, looking for any irregularities.
Yes, do forgive me if I sound a bit disjointed, but this is quite the much upsetting me. Yes I am going to have a shop do an alignment tomorrow, but I am EXTREMELY anxious for it to be that an alignment and ONLY an alignment be the reason for it and then all will be well. If it only needs (say) a new tire, wheel balance, or something minor like that and that's it, then great I will be so relieved, but if it turns out to need new ball joints, OUTER tie rod ends (the mechanic checked those two and said those looked fine to him), bearings, bushings, CV joints, control arms etc and the bill swells accordingly to the $300 range and up, I'm going to be crushed. I just don't have that kind of money right now, I just flat-out don't have it. No time is a GOOD time for such things but then there are not-so-bad times and awful times for such to occur, and right now is an AWFUL time for such to occur because I've drained myself trying to keep the second car going, with no success, and thus we have no backup car to allow us to deal with this in a less urgent manner. (When I had to change the brake pads, rotors and calipers on this last year, we had another car and I was able to simply park this one for a few days so that the problem wouldn't get any worse, then I fixed it, no big deal.)
You wish these things would give you some WARNING when they're about to do this, a "countdown timer" of sorts so you can prepare for them the way you do with paying the bills, not just jab you with a right-hook totally out of nowhere. (Oil changes are good that way, besides being cheap they also can be done on very predictable cycles and they don't demand that you must do them NOW OR ELSE as things such as these do.) If I had $5000 or so in the bank then no big deal, and I do try and keep some "side money" put away for such situations, but the past couple of months or so have been tight and so this is an AWFUL time for it to become a large thing, if that happens.
Crossing my fingers for tomorrow that it's only going to need an alignment and maybe a wheel or two balanced or tire replaced etc.
I may be "out in left field" on this, ShyGuy, but . . .
Is this the type of problem / condition a Mobile Mechanic is capable of handling efficiently? Regardless of his experience and/or education, wouldn't having your vehicle raised on a lift with the weight off the wheels be a better arrangement for solving such a critical, potentially dangerous situation?
Just my TWO CENTS WORTH.
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