Re: HELP: 93 Toyota Corolla vibration problem!

"N8N" <njnagel@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message 
news:19fbb3f5-104a-4e7e-aa43-351caa0a322f@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> You can start to see the problem when you spin up the wheel on the car.
> Most tire stores will CHECK the wheel balance OFF the car for free.
> Especially the store where you bought the tires.- Hide quoted text -

< I'd say it's VERY likely a hose or caliper based on the symptoms
< posted.  Sounds like dragging pads which have caused the rotor to
< warp.  So probably he will end up with a new hose, caliper, and rotor
< before the problem is solved.  I say caliper because even if the hose
< is the cause of the problem the seals in the caliper may have been
< toasted by the heat and I would replace all three just to be certain
< that I've got the problem and won't end up with another one shortly.

    It can seem the pads are bad when in fact the rotor is not running
true. 
Rotors on the Corolla generally warp because they have been turned at
least 
one time too many. You can't just replace one side. IF it turns out that
is 
the culprit - calipers and rotor - he'll need to do both sides. That gets 
expensive. You are looking at maybe a $300 - $600 job. Given that the
steel 
wheels on the Toyotas are a bit thin to start with, and tend to go egg 
shaped just with normal use (pot holes) you might consider that 15 year
old 
wheels may be just a little egg shaped. It may be that simple. Start with 
the cheap stuff first. Since he just got new tires - a dynamic balance 
(spin) seems a good place to start, most tire stores will check it for
FREE. 
If the wheel is true, then you can look at the rotor. IF that's it it is 
going to stick out like a sore thumb. The rotor will be blue as hell. 
Somebody MAY have put new pads on without turning the rotor. So the pad
will 
also look like dog meat. This stuff is hard to miss.

    I don't know where the guy got his new tires. It seems to me that it 
would be unlikely that any tire store would miss bunged up rotors etc.
Every 
mechanic is a salesman. They are paid to notice that stuff and pass it up 
the food chain to sell a brake job. Now, many tire stores get VERY sloppy
on 
wheel balances, they often miss our of round wheels especially on 15 year 
old cars. But the problem may be more subtle - something a "tire mounter" 
would miss. That says to me a failed SUSPENSION part. OR a CV joint. You 
need a REAL mechanic to see that. In 99% of tire stores the guys who mount

new tires are at the bottom of the food chain, often high school kids who 
are taught only how to bust and mount tires and maybe do a static balance.

(Little bubble machine.) These grunts work on volume getting tin (cars) in

and out as fast as they can. They usually can't spot problems that don't 
yell at them like a blue rotor or hanging pad. They look at only the big 
stuff they can see. The REAL mechanics are busy on high dollar profitable 
work, brake jobs, front ends and the like given the limits of the shop's 
scope of work. Maybe en exhaust system job.

    The hose on the Toyotas are one of the more robust parts on the car.
I'd 
just not start at the least likely. You are right about the brakes, but 
generally those tend to share the problem from side to side. It's easy to 
spot for a car owner with 20/20 vision. Look at the rotor. Is it gouged or

dark blue. If so, you have an expensive brake problem. If not, look at
those 
wheels and wheel bearings. The Corollas tend to use up bearings if they
are 
not repacked at least once a year. Same for the Nissans. Since the Corolla

is FWD, the CV joint may be shot. Those tend to wear unevenly from side to

side and the right joint tends to fail first in most FWD cars. Again it is
a 
job that when you replace one side, do BOTH because you'll be back in
weeks 
to do the left side anyway.