Front end shake with deacceleration over 55 mph

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Buzzard67
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Posts: 66
Joined: Tue Jul 17, 2012 10:00 am
My tercel:: 1984 Toyota Tercel Delux
Location: Minnesota

Front end shake with deacceleration over 55 mph

Post by Buzzard67 »

Hi I know I have seen and post about this in the past, but I need more help and or guidance. I( trusted garage ) have just replaced both left and right front axles for the third time. I brought the car to a independ Subaru Dealer garage just to have a 2nd set of eyes look at it. They said - Ball joint , Tie rods, Struts, Sway bar, Steering, Tires and alignment all good. Good axles because just replaced.
The front end shake less now but still shakes. Only with Deacceleration !
Here are the symptoms : Speeds over 55 mph and "Deaccelerate " ( Not during acceleration ) the front end shakes and steering wheel shakes.
Here are the Specs : 1984 Toyota Tercel ( Automatic ) DXL 4WD. Motor 3A 1.5lt 64 horse.
Iam at my wits end...WTF is going on ?
I want to take it on trips ( camping ) but need to be able to get over 55mph speed to do that.
My family loves this car even though we have 3 other cars to drive , this by far is our Favorite! Every gas station we end up at someone wants to tell us about there great times they had in their Tercel 4wd or wants to buy it.
This car deserves better !
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Petros
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Posts: 11930
Joined: Sun Jan 28, 2007 6:31 pm
My tercel:: '84 Tercel4wd w/extensive mods
Location: Arlington WA USA

Re: Front end shake with deacceleration over 55 mph

Post by Petros »

Almost any worn part, or bad alignment can cause that kind of behavior, but if everything is good, it sounds like the bushings on the ends of the anti-sway bar are soft. these go between the lower suspension arm and the end of the sway bar. They can look okay but allow too much forward and aft play in the lower arm. when you accelerate the wheels shift forward and changes the toe-in so it becomes more stable, when you decelerate the wheels relax back and changes toe-in so it becomes unstable. I found the solution is to stiffen up these bushings to reduced the change in wheel position and alignment.

For a quick fix I made some 1/4 think rubber washers from some sheet rubber I had laying around, I put them behind the large rubber bushings on the backside of the lower are, under the big washer. You might be able to buy something like that, but I had the rubber material, on a road trip I used some think leather to do the same thing. The washer would be about 3" dia, with about a 1/2" hole in the middle.

Another alternative of course is to replace the bushings. but I have found using the rubber washers to stiffen the assembly up allows me to run them longer before they need to replaced.

Good luck.
'87 Tercel 4wd SR5 (current engine swap project)
'84 Tercel 4wd (daily driver, with on going mods)
'92 Mazda MPV 4wd (wife's daily driver)
'85 Tercel 4wd DLX auto(daughter's daily driver)
'01 Honda Civic (other daughter's daily driver)
User avatar
Buzzard67
Advanced Member
Posts: 66
Joined: Tue Jul 17, 2012 10:00 am
My tercel:: 1984 Toyota Tercel Delux
Location: Minnesota

Re: Front end shake with deacceleration over 55 mph

Post by Buzzard67 »

Petros wrote: Tue Aug 01, 2017 1:59 pm Almost any worn part, or bad alignment can cause that kind of behavior, but if everything is good, it sounds like the bushings on the ends of the anti-sway bar are soft. these go between the lower suspension arm and the end of the sway bar. They can look okay but allow too much forward and aft play in the lower arm. when you accelerate the wheels shift forward and changes the toe-in so it becomes more stable, when you decelerate the wheels relax back and changes toe-in so it becomes unstable. I found the solution is to stiffen up these bushings to reduced the change in wheel position and alignment.

For a quick fix I made some 1/4 think rubber washers from some sheet rubber I had laying around, I put them behind the large rubber bushings on the backside of the lower are, under the big washer. You might be able to buy something like that, but I had the rubber material, on a road trip I used some think leather to do the same thing. The washer would be about 3" dia, with about a 1/2" hole in the middle.

Another alternative of course is to replace the bushings. but I have found using the rubber washers to stiffen the assembly up allows me to run them longer before they need to replaced.

Good luck

I know I'm being a pain in the ass about this problem but can you direct me to any pictures or diagrams on this site.
Thanks for all you do.
User avatar
Petros
Highest Ranking Member
Posts: 11930
Joined: Sun Jan 28, 2007 6:31 pm
My tercel:: '84 Tercel4wd w/extensive mods
Location: Arlington WA USA

Re: Front end shake with deacceleration over 55 mph

Post by Petros »

this is a view from the bottom of the lower arm where the sway bar enters it.

Image
'87 Tercel 4wd SR5 (current engine swap project)
'84 Tercel 4wd (daily driver, with on going mods)
'92 Mazda MPV 4wd (wife's daily driver)
'85 Tercel 4wd DLX auto(daughter's daily driver)
'01 Honda Civic (other daughter's daily driver)
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