Steering wheel/columm vibrating and rattling when driving on rough road

I'm definitely going into this more hesitant and cautious than the last shop. The guy who's about to check out my car today works at Big O Tires and I had them do my last Oil Change.

I'm worried about them recommending I replace parts that don't need to be replaced and I'm always worried places will take advantage of my lack of knowledge about car stuff.

Should I be prepared to be swindled? Or is there a real chance they could diagnose the real issue and recommend a legit fix?

The guy said before doing the diagnosis he was going to check if either the tire balance or alignment job was the issue and make sure everything that would be adjusted or messed with during an alignment is all tightened down how it's supposed to be. And if that's not the issue then they're going to do a diagnostic and a "shake test" or something like that.

Since he's doing all that for free I'm expecting that they're going to want me to get any work that might need to be done, by them. And I'd be willing to, depending on if they are being legit about their diagnostic and all that. But how can I tell if they're BSing me or not?

And if they recommend replacing parts, would you guys recommend I wait on replacing the parts so I can find a good price on them and then bring the parts to the be replaced at that Big O Tires or another reputable shop? Or is it even possible to get a decent price on parts and labor from a big shop like Big O Tires? Or would it be worth it to bite the bullet and just have them replace what's needed on the spot?

 

Is that type of thing possible with brand new tires? The pull was still going on after getting all new tires put on and balanced and an alignment. I'm hoping my car isn't stuck with a permanent pull to the right and that a proper alignment will fix the pull to the right. And hopefully the violent shaking/vibrating from the steering column when I drive over rough ground, is a simple and inexpensive fix.

I'm taking it to get looked today. If they recommend replacing parts, should I hold off and let you guys know what they said, and then do some more research and try to find the parts at a good price and then bring the parts in to get replaced at the shop?

And should I ask them to swap the front tires to see if that's what's causing the pull to the right? Idk if that can happen with new tires but, the pull had been going on with my old set of tires too.

 

This post was an accidental duplicate of the last one, sorry guys!

 

I was wanting to do something like this because having him in the car with me would make it so he can't deny the claims I'm making since they'll be demonstrated. But after the last visit to that shop, the mechanic is now making it seem like they're going to fully charge for any testing or any further assistance, regardless of whether or not the issue was potentially caused by their alignment job.

I'm really curious if it could be a bad tire balance and alignment job that caused whatever issue is causing the vibration and shaking in the steering column.

Because the parts he recommended I get replaced are suspension parts right? And wouldn't he have seen if that was an issue when he was doing the alignment? And if not, is that something someone could tell without inspecting the suspension?

The mechanic said I should replace the front struts and the sway bar link. Could those be the issue? Or is he possibly just throwing parts at the issue because he didn't want to redo the work?

The shop said if I got the work done there theyd do a free alignment. Which is cool and all. But my experience there makes me wary of getting anymore work done there.

 

I wasn't able to swap the tires yet. I don't have a jack unfortunately (I lent mine to a friend last year and he never returned it).

I took it to get checked out by a new mechanic today and the mechanic said the alignment job they gave me at the other shop was a joke it was so bad. Apparently they didn't do much, if anything at all.

They even gave me a print out showing how bad it was. And I guess the pic that the other gave me for an alignment spec sheet might not have been from my car, because the mechanic at Big O Tires said it's most likely impossible that the alignment could change so much in a short time unless it was already terrible and the alignment isn't terribly bad, it just is obviously not aligned properly.

And they said my sway bar links are pretty shot and worn out and after doing what the call a "shake test", and they're saying they're pretty confident that is what's causing the violent shaking from my steering column.

Could worn out and loose sway bar links cause the issue I'm experiencing?

It isn't like the whole car is vibrating, it more feels like the steering wheel column and the front two wheels are like loose or something, or like something in my suspension or tire area is loose or broken and I'm feeling the vibration through the steering column because it's coming up through the suspension system or something lol. It's hard to explain but it only happens on rough ground or bumps.

But either way, I'm going to ask the mechanic to at least rotate the front tires just in case that's part of the issue. It couldn't hurt right? Lol

 

I guess the place I originally took it either did a really crappy alignment or they didn't do one at all and just charged me for one.

The new shop I took it to is replacing the sway bar links because they're super worn out and loose or something and they think that's causing the knocking around down there.

They checked out my struts and shocks and said they look good and aren't leaking or worn out or anything. Idk of the struts and shocks have ever been replaced. I got the car used a few years ago from a guy who worked at a Toyota dealership repair center a few cities away from me. From what I could tell, he kept up with the maintenance and necessary repairs so it was in great condition when I got it.

I mentioned that the shaking/vibrating was only when I was going over bumps or rough ground in my initial post... It's pretty long so it's easy to have missed it. I mentioned it quite a few times throughout a few posts so far though. My apologies for the mix up.

 

I'm at around 165,xxx I believe.

The new mechanic that checked it out and worked on it after the last shop messed up the alignment, said the sway bar end links were totally worn out and needed to be replaced badly.

The shaking/vibrating/clunking around sound is way less than it used to be now. I just had the sway bar links replaced and I think that helped a lot. I figured most of the issue was the sway bar end links, but since there's still a tiny bit of a knocking around sound like something is loose when I drive over extremely rough ground or a big pot hole, I'm wondering if the struts might need to be replaced as well.

Before it was violent shaking and knocking around when I'd go over any tiny bumps or any slightly rough ground, and then really rough ground made it feel like the steering wheel column was going to break from the shaking. But now it's only a tiny bit of a vibration sound like something is knocking around down in the suspension or something, and it's only when I go over extremely rough ground or bad potholes. Idk if it's normal or not because I've never paid attention to if anything sounded loose when going over bad potholes and stuff.

They did a free alignment check and tweaked my alignment for free as well so it's driving a lot more straight now. I've only noticed a tiny bit of pull but it's pretty much driving straight so I'm thinking it's fine. The only weird thing now is that there's a little more resistance when turning my steering wheel to the left than to the right. It isn't enough to make it a hassle to drive but it's definitely noticeable sometimes. Sometimes there's a little more resistance than other times though.

Luckily, I think all or most of the work done by the previous owner was done through Toyota so I'll try to find out if the front struts have ever been replaced. That's another thing that both mechanics had mentioned. The first one that did a bad alignment said my left strut was broken and totally not doing anything anymore. But the last mechanic that worked on it today said that the front struts weren't showing any signs of failure or that they needed to be replaced. But he also said they could be worn out and could benefit from being replaced even though they don't necessarily need a replacement from broken parts or anything like that. So that might be my next course of action when I have some money in the near future.

 

How much was it to get your struts replaced?
The Big O Tires I took my car to doesn't install parts bought through anyone besides them so I'd have to get the parts from them at whatever marked up price they'd charge lol

Do you think I'd need to replace all 4? Or just the front 2?

And also, are the struts just the inner part or is it the full assembly with the coil around it and all that? I'm not sure what the difference between struts and shocks are, or if they're the same thing lol. My knowledge of car stuff isn't vast but I'm willing to always learn whenever possible