shimmy @ 70mph - GreenHybrid

infael · #1 (**permalink**) 07-30-2004, 12:01 PM

My girl borrowed my Prius while I was on vacation. She made a round trip to KS and somehow the car developed what she calls "A shimmy" that only shows at 70 miles per hour.

Toyota hasn't found the problem. Has anyone seen this or have an idea of what it could be?

TIA
infael

Jason · #2 (**permalink**) 07-30-2004, 02:35 PM

A what? As in a shake or something? If your car does that, it's the first that I've heard of.

ericbecky · #3 (**permalink**) 07-30-2004, 02:38 PM

In the years I've owned cars, I've seen the following causes of wheel "shimmying".

Bent rim. (from hitting a curb; hard)
missing wheel weight
bad tire (obvious bowing in one part); broken belt
excessive buildup of snow/ice
excessive buildup of dried mud

I would expect that Toyota would find these, but who knows.
You could got for a "second opinion" at another shop.

Also, are you actually Toyota to take your car out and exceed the speed limit? Horrors!

flare · #4 (**permalink**) 07-31-2004, 08:57 AM

I've heard of the car waverign a little bit at high speeds and some people have actually solved the problem by upgrading the tires to michellin hydroedge. ya know those tires that do REALLY well in rain because they are paranoid that they will hydroplane and crash their prius. i would be paranoid too x_x. anyways, they claim to get better handling and the wavering at high speeds goes away.

Stevo12886 · #5 (**permalink**) 07-31-2004, 04:26 PM

Flare,
You brought up a good point, maybe its not a true "shimmy" but the car is simply tracking the bumps on the highway. And i will tell you, hydroedge tires are very nice...

infael · #6 (**permalink**) 08-02-2004, 02:32 PM

What tires has anyone upgraded to? I heard that someone upgraded to Bridgestone RE950 which apparently only get a "good" rating for snow handling. I live in Colorado Springs and want a tire that handles snow well.