Highlander control problem

I'm hoping one or more of you can help with this problem.

My 2001 Highlander (50,000 miles, 6cyl AWD) started to raod-slap and felt as if I'd just blown a tire. I was doing 60 +/- 2 on a smooth highway and was about 65 miles into a an 80 mile road trip that for the first 60 miles was dry pavement. The last 5 were wet from a passing rainstorm. The steering response and the noise/vibration was very like a suddenly very out of balance tire, severe shimmy, a pounding up through the frame and steering wheel. I slowly drove (~ 40 MPH or so) 3 miles to the next little town and as I slowed to

Reply to
Tom Scott
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Sure sounds like a tire problem. After the tires were rotated did the nature of the shaking change at all? Better? worse?

Reply to
Ray O

No, the shaking/shimmy was the same. If it were a tire thing why would the control problem be so bad at 10 MPH? I understand the high rotational vibration shimmy at highway speed, but why at 10 MPH slowing for a stop light? That's got me really wondering?

Reply to
Tom Scott

Based on your comments I would like to take a wild ass guess that something is wrong with your ABS anti-lock brake system. At least it is worth a look see. Also if you have VSC I would look into that because that is supposed to kick in at 9mph.....

-G-

Reply to
Raneman

What make you think that it could possibly be the ABS or VSC? Read the symptoms again. Hint: When ABS and VSC systems fail, the vehicle acts as if there is no ABS or VSC. Those systems do not randomly activate.

Reply to
Ray O

I'd doubt that this is pertinent but I (years ago) had a VW bug that would almost take me off the road occasionally when I'd hit the odd bump...the steering wheel would oscillate rapidly left and right taking the car with it. Turned out to be a 'shimmy damper' on the tie rod...looked and acted sort of like a hydraulic shock absorber...new one fixed it perfectly.

Reply to
Gord Beaman

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