Rx330 Steering Wheel Vibration?

[PTO]

I now have 2,000 miles on my RX330. A while back I noticed that there was a vibration coming through the steering wheel. I am very familiar with tires being unbalanced and this is not one of those cases. The steering wheel has no shimmy to it, it is just a vibration. I really notice it while cruising at 65 or 70 mph on a really smooth road. I can actually feel the cycle of the vibration where it gets stronger over about 4 seconds and then goes away for about half a second and then starts again. Has anyone ever heard of such a thing? I drove another RX today and it definitely didn't have the vibration.

[Rx330driver]

I now have 2,000 miles on my RX330.  A while back I noticed that there was a vibration coming through the steering wheel.  I am very familiar with tires being unbalanced and this is not one of those cases.  The steering wheel has no shimmy to it, it is just a vibration.  I really notice it while cruising at 65 or 70 mph on a really smooth road.  I can actually feel the cycle of the vibration where it gets stronger over about 4 seconds and then goes away for about half a second and then starts again.  Has anyone ever heard of such a thing?  I drove another RX today and it definitely didn't have the vibration.

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Never happened to me but im guessing it does have to do with the tires. Have them aligned again and make sure the tires themselves are okay.

[Booyah]

Rotate your rear tires to the front and see if it goes away! Easy check. Make sure youre tire pressure is correct

[PTO]

I did check the pressure and all tires were correct. Usually unbalenced tires will cause the steering wheel to shake back and forth. In this case, there is just a vibration but no shake. I think I will still rotate the tires before taking it in just so I can tell them it is not a tire problem if that is in fact the case.

[Booyah]

Yes, that will get rid of the tires being at fault

[PTO]

Yes, that will get rid of the tires being at fault

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I drove quite a bit on the highway last night trying to gather as much info as I could. I did find that it is worst at about 64 mph and goes away above 70. The fact that it goes away at a certain speed does make me think it could be the tires or maybe a half shaft that is unbalanced.

[COZ]

I'm gonna say check the balance. Rotate like booyah said and see how it feels. Out of all the things on your front end the tires are what wear the fastest and therefore changes the most. It is also the chaepest and easiest to fix. I had a tire that gave me fits because the balance was always changing. The cause was water in the tire. It got there from using the air pump at the gas station that didn't have a water trap.

[LexNYC]

Actually, I had a problem where the steering wheel vibrating really badly when I put on the brakes at highway speeds. Actually, it was more like the front wheels were vibrating, but I could feel it through the steering wheel. I took it to the dealership and they fixed it completely. I found out later through my insurance company's web site that it was a known problem. So yours might have something to do with that possibly. I'd get the dealership to check it.

[PTO]

Actually, I had a problem where the steering wheel vibrating really badly when I put on the brakes at highway speeds. Actually, it was more like the front wheels were vibrating, but I could feel it through the steering wheel. I took it to the dealership and they fixed it completely. I found out later through my insurance company's web site that it was a known problem. So yours might have something to do with that possibly. I'd get the dealership to check it.

I actually rotated the spare onto one of the fronts. I noticed that the left front wheel had a stick on weight but there wasn't one on the inside lip. I couldn't see any marks of a clip on weight so maybe the wheel didn't need it but when I replaced it with the spare, the vibration went away. At the same time I also put all the tires at exactly 30 lbs so that could have also helped fix the problem.

[kalinsandiego]

I now have 2,000 miles on my RX330. A while back I noticed that there was a vibration coming through the steering wheel. I am very familiar with tires being unbalanced and this is not one of those cases. The steering wheel has no shimmy to it, it is just a vibration. I really notice it while cruising at 65 or 70 mph on a really smooth road. I can actually feel the cycle of the vibration where it gets stronger over about 4 seconds and then goes away for about half a second and then starts again. Has anyone ever heard of such a thing? I drove another RX today and it definitely didn't have the vibration.

I am surprised I found this post, because I just got my 2006 Lexus RX330 back from the dealership for the same exact problem, except the vibrations in my steering wheel were happening between 75 and 80 mph (perfect cruising speed on highway). On the first attempt (last week), the dealer balanced the wheels, but this did not fix the problem; on second attempt (two days ago) dealer did alignment and installed new tires and new rims, all under warranty of course. I am sad to report that I still noticed that while most of the vibrations were gone, I could still feel a minor form of deeper vibration, as if coming from inside the steering column (a really weird feeling); I am not sure if I have become too sensitized to this issue and I am instead feeling normal road vibrations, but I have decided to drive the SUV for a while to see what happens. I will report in a couple of weeks or sooner if I have any new "experiences" or info.

[Rx330driver]

I never noticed this before, but today, i took an hour and a half drive and i did notice some excessive vibration between 75-80 mph. Its very hard to separate that from the road...so im not too sure yet.