Vibration from front end at low speeds.

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Cole 2005 prius, Jan 16, 2023.

  1. Cole 2005 prius

    Cole 2005 prius New Member

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    I recently bought a 2005 prius with 125,000 miles. Car runs very smooth and everything works great on it. Just took it on a trip to mammoth and had to run through some snow and pushed it pretty hard at times.
    It now intermittently at low speeds (5-15 mph) makes a loud vibration under the car. I can feel the vibration with my feet and with driving carefully can avoid this sound most of the time. It seems more likely to happen when turning the wheel left. I haven't been able to find anyone with a similar issue, I'm thinking maybe a u joint or something has gone bad. I may have knocked something out of place with all the snow and ice under my car. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I have a video of the sound just can't upload it to here for some reason. If you're interested in hearing it I can send it to you through email or text.
     
  2. sam spade 2

    sam spade 2 Senior Member

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    You NEED to have a shop check this out.......SOON.
    It could be a lot of different things, some of which could be dangerous, like loose lugnuts on one wheel or a sticking brake caliper which could overheat and start a fire.
     
  3. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk MMX GEN III

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    Have you uploaded it to YouTube? I think that's the only way to post video here. Plus being newly joined, there might be a min post limit before you can do links. Might be 5?

    Noise only during turns in one direction is symptomatic of failing CV joint. Not conclusive, but might be. IIRC if it happens during left turn it's the right CV joint that's the cause, and vice versa.
     
  4. Cole 2005 prius

    Cole 2005 prius New Member

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    Thank you guys for all the help! Update I took it to a mechanic and he found the sound odd. He drove it around and it turned out I bent the catalitic converter cover when driving over heavy snow and when the exhaust would rattle at low speeds it would hit against it. He put a piece of wood under it and bent it back to normal. Car doesn't make the noise anymore and everything's great. Thank you!!
     
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