Over the last few years our Highlander has had very infrequent but
alarming problem of shaking violently at speeds of about 35-45 mph.
This vehicle only has 47k miles and has been well-maintained. The
shaking can last for up to a couple of minutes. If we decelerate the
shaking stops and doesn't happen again usually for weeks or even
months at a time. People at the service department just give a blank
look when I tell them about the problem and that I'm worried something
is wrong with the transmission. They tell me they can't do anything
without being able to drive it and reproduce the shaking. It happens
so infrequently I'm not sure how to trouble-shoot it or ask for
help.

Has anyone else had this happen? Any ideas what it is? I don't want
to ignore an issue that needs to be fixed and I don't want to be
stranded going over donner pass later this month. It happened just
the other day where it was shaking violently at about 40mph and then
continued to shake as I slowed almost to a stop. It was the first
time it persisted as I slowed down so I checked to make sure I didn't
have a flat. The tires were all fine and when I started up again the
ride was smooth. This is much different than the air pressure waves
you can get inside the vehicle when the windows are down. It is
something mechanical. I don't really feel the steering wheel shaking
and is not associated with braking. Any help?

ansonhatch@sbcglobal.net wrote:
> Over the last few years our Highlander has had very infrequent but
> alarming problem of shaking violently at speeds of about 35-45 mph.
> This vehicle only has 47k miles and has been well-maintained. The
> shaking can last for up to a couple of minutes. If we decelerate the
> shaking stops and doesn't happen again usually for weeks or even
> months at a time. People at the service department just give a blank
> look when I tell them about the problem and that I'm worried something
> is wrong with the transmission. They tell me they can't do anything
> without being able to drive it and reproduce the shaking. It happens
> so infrequently I'm not sure how to trouble-shoot it or ask for
> help.
>
> Has anyone else had this happen? Any ideas what it is? I don't want
> to ignore an issue that needs to be fixed and I don't want to be
> stranded going over donner pass later this month. It happened just
> the other day where it was shaking violently at about 40mph and then
> continued to shake as I slowed almost to a stop. It was the first
> time it persisted as I slowed down so I checked to make sure I didn't
> have a flat. The tires were all fine and when I started up again the
> ride was smooth. This is much different than the air pressure waves
> you can get inside the vehicle when the windows are down. It is
> something mechanical. I don't really feel the steering wheel shaking
> and is not associated with braking. Any help?

This is a tough one on a NG so this is just a guess.

Check closely for a broken rear spring coil and that both shocks are
dampening. Check both struts and their springs for weakness, dampening,
or damage. Put the vehicle on a lift to do this inspection so you unload
the suspension.

The drive train might be getting into just the right harmonic to cause a
shake because of a weak or broken suspension component(s).

<ansonhatch@sbcglobal.net> wrote in message news:d60e4433-dee5-4166-82e5-fb91f529d6f7@s19g2000prg.googlegroups.com...
> Over the last few years our Highlander has had very infrequent but
> alarming problem of shaking violently at speeds of about 35-45 mph.
> This vehicle only has 47k miles and has been well-maintained. The
> shaking can last for up to a couple of minutes. If we decelerate the
> shaking stops and doesn't happen again usually for weeks or even
> months at a time. People at the service department just give a blank
> look when I tell them about the problem and that I'm worried something
> is wrong with the transmission. They tell me they can't do anything
> without being able to drive it and reproduce the shaking. It happens
> so infrequently I'm not sure how to trouble-shoot it or ask for
> help.
>
> Has anyone else had this happen? Any ideas what it is? I don't want
> to ignore an issue that needs to be fixed and I don't want to be
> stranded going over donner pass later this month. It happened just
> the other day where it was shaking violently at about 40mph and then
> continued to shake as I slowed almost to a stop. It was the first
> time it persisted as I slowed down so I checked to make sure I didn't
> have a flat. The tires were all fine and when I started up again the
> ride was smooth. This is much different than the air pressure waves
> you can get inside the vehicle when the windows are down. It is
> something mechanical. I don't really feel the steering wheel shaking
> and is not associated with braking. Any help?



Wow, is the shaking effected by the load on the power train? I would
imagine applying more power to a power train problem would make
the shaking much worse.

Is the shaking effected buy the road conditions? Something like a wheel
with a totally blown shock can let the tire get bouncing clear off the ground
at highway speeds.

Regardless I would be worried about the car not being safe to drive on the
road.

GL
Dan

On Dec 5, 2:29 pm, "Danny G." <dan...@pacbell.net> wrote:
> <ansonha...@sbcglobal.net> wrote in messagenews:d60e4433-dee5-4166-82e5-fb91f529d6f7@s19g2000prg.googlegroups.com...
> > Over the last few years our Highlander has had very infrequent but
> > alarming problem of shaking violently at speeds of about 35-45 mph.
> > This vehicle only has 47k miles and has been well-maintained. The
> > shaking can last for up to a couple of minutes. If we decelerate the
> > shaking stops and doesn't happen again usually for weeks or even
> > months at a time. People at the service department just give a blank
> > look when I tell them about the problem and that I'm worried something
> > is wrong with the transmission. They tell me they can't do anything
> > without being able to drive it and reproduce the shaking. It happens
> > so infrequently I'm not sure how to trouble-shoot it or ask for
> > help.
>
> > Has anyone else had this happen? Any ideas what it is? I don't want
> > to ignore an issue that needs to be fixed and I don't want to be
> > stranded going over donner pass later this month. It happened just
> > the other day where it was shaking violently at about 40mph and then
> > continued to shake as I slowed almost to a stop. It was the first
> > time it persisted as I slowed down so I checked to make sure I didn't
> > have a flat. The tires were all fine and when I started up again the
> > ride was smooth. This is much different than the air pressure waves
> > you can get inside the vehicle when the windows are down. It is
> > something mechanical. I don't really feel the steering wheel shaking
> > and is not associated with braking. Any help?
>
> Wow, is the shaking effected by the load on the power train? I would
> imagine applying more power to a power train problem would make
> the shaking much worse.
>
> Is the shaking effected buy the road conditions? Something like a wheel
> with a totally blown shock can let the tire get bouncing clear off the ground
> at highway speeds.
>
> Regardless I would be worried about the car not being safe to drive on the
> road.
>
> GL
> Dan- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

I couldn't answer either the load or road conditions. It's usually
routine in-town driving and my reaction is to slow down when it
happens. It has never happened on the freeway yet but that is a
worry. I'll definitely look into the shocks and spring coil. Like Ph
said above that could explain the intermittent shaking based on the
right conditions for harmonic feedback.

Thanks for the comments and I'll let you know what I find out. Any
other ideas please let me know

<ansonhatch@sbcglobal.net> wrote in
message
news:5503b9c2-d2c9-4e4a-a699-9c0177fa9f1a@d4g2000prg.googlegroups.com...
> On Dec 5, 2:29 pm, "Danny G."
> <dan...@pacbell.net> wrote:
>> <ansonha...@sbcglobal.net> wrote in
>> messagenews:d60e4433-dee5-4166-82e5-fb91f529d6f7@s19g2000prg.googlegroups.com...
>> > Over the last few years our
>> > Highlander has had very infrequent
>> > but
>> > alarming problem of shaking
>> > violently at speeds of about 35-45
>> > mph.
>> > This vehicle only has 47k miles and
>> > has been well-maintained. The
>> > shaking can last for up to a couple
>> > of minutes. If we decelerate the
>> > shaking stops and doesn't happen
>> > again usually for weeks or even
>> > months at a time. People at the
>> > service department just give a
>> > blank
>> > look when I tell them about the
>> > problem and that I'm worried
>> > something
>> > is wrong with the transmission.
>> > They tell me they can't do anything
>> > without being able to drive it and
>> > reproduce the shaking. It happens
>> > so infrequently I'm not sure how to
>> > trouble-shoot it or ask for
>> > help.
>>
>> > Has anyone else had this happen?
>> > Any ideas what it is? I don't want
>> > to ignore an issue that needs to be
>> > fixed and I don't want to be
>> > stranded going over donner pass
>> > later this month. It happened just
>> > the other day where it was shaking
>> > violently at about 40mph and then
>> > continued to shake as I slowed
>> > almost to a stop. It was the first
>> > time it persisted as I slowed down
>> > so I checked to make sure I didn't
>> > have a flat. The tires were all
>> > fine and when I started up again
>> > the
>> > ride was smooth. This is much
>> > different than the air pressure
>> > waves
>> > you can get inside the vehicle when
>> > the windows are down. It is
>> > something mechanical. I don't
>> > really feel the steering wheel
>> > shaking
>> > and is not associated with braking.
>> > Any help?
>>
>> Wow, is the shaking effected by the
>> load on the power train? I would
>> imagine applying more power to a
>> power train problem would make
>> the shaking much worse.
>>
>> Is the shaking effected buy the road
>> conditions? Something like a wheel
>> with a totally blown shock can let
>> the tire get bouncing clear off the
>> ground
>> at highway speeds.
>>
>> Regardless I would be worried about
>> the car not being safe to drive on
>> the
>> road.
>>
>> GL
>> Dan- Hide quoted text -
>>
>> - Show quoted text -
>
> I couldn't answer either the load or
> road conditions. It's usually
> routine in-town driving and my
> reaction is to slow down when it
> happens. It has never happened on the
> freeway yet but that is a
> worry. I'll definitely look into the
> shocks and spring coil. Like Ph
> said above that could explain the
> intermittent shaking based on the
> right conditions for harmonic
> feedback.
>
> Thanks for the comments and I'll let
> you know what I find out. Any
> other ideas please let me know


Ya, Take it to the service department
and tell them something is wrong
with it that could cause a accident.
I'm sure they will take a very close
look at it before giving a car with a
safety issue the OK written on their
work order.

<ansonhatch@sbcglobal.net> wrote in message
news:5503b9c2-d2c9-4e4a-a699-9c0177fa9f1a@d4g2000prg.googlegroups.com...
> On Dec 5, 2:29 pm, "Danny G." <dan...@pacbell.net> wrote:
>> <ansonha...@sbcglobal.net> wrote in
>> messagenews:d60e4433-dee5-4166-82e5-fb91f529d6f7@s19g2000prg.googlegroups.com...
>> > Over the last few years our Highlander has had very infrequent but
>> > alarming problem of shaking violently at speeds of about 35-45 mph.
>> > This vehicle only has 47k miles and has been well-maintained. The
>> > shaking can last for up to a couple of minutes. If we decelerate the
>> > shaking stops and doesn't happen again usually for weeks or even
>> > months at a time. People at the service department just give a blank
>> > look when I tell them about the problem and that I'm worried something
>> > is wrong with the transmission. They tell me they can't do anything
>> > without being able to drive it and reproduce the shaking. It happens
>> > so infrequently I'm not sure how to trouble-shoot it or ask for
>> > help.
>>
>> > Has anyone else had this happen? Any ideas what it is? I don't want
>> > to ignore an issue that needs to be fixed and I don't want to be
>> > stranded going over donner pass later this month. It happened just
>> > the other day where it was shaking violently at about 40mph and then
>> > continued to shake as I slowed almost to a stop. It was the first
>> > time it persisted as I slowed down so I checked to make sure I didn't
>> > have a flat. The tires were all fine and when I started up again the
>> > ride was smooth. This is much different than the air pressure waves
>> > you can get inside the vehicle when the windows are down. It is
>> > something mechanical. I don't really feel the steering wheel shaking
>> > and is not associated with braking. Any help?
>>
>> Wow, is the shaking effected by the load on the power train? I would
>> imagine applying more power to a power train problem would make
>> the shaking much worse.
>>
>> Is the shaking effected buy the road conditions? Something like a wheel
>> with a totally blown shock can let the tire get bouncing clear off the
>> ground
>> at highway speeds.
>>
>> Regardless I would be worried about the car not being safe to drive on
>> the
>> road.
>>
>> GL
>> Dan- Hide quoted text -
>>
>> - Show quoted text -
>
> I couldn't answer either the load or road conditions. It's usually
> routine in-town driving and my reaction is to slow down when it
> happens. It has never happened on the freeway yet but that is a
> worry. I'll definitely look into the shocks and spring coil. Like Ph
> said above that could explain the intermittent shaking based on the
> right conditions for harmonic feedback.
>
> Thanks for the comments and I'll let you know what I find out. Any
> other ideas please let me know

Start by checking that the wheels are properly mounted and the lug nuts are
properly tightened.
--

Ray O
(correct punctuation to reply)