OK so I have been working on my 02 Runner fixing things here and there. I finally was able to upgrade my wheels and new tires from the stock 225/75R15 to 225/70R16. Before I did that this past weekend, I noticed aon the freeway when I would hit 70, the truck would start to vibrate. Not so much as to panic and slow down, just enough to wonder what it could be. The strange thing is if I punch it a bit more close to 75, it stops and rides normal again. The old tires were bad already except for one so I though with brand new tires it would take care of the vibration. The vibration still persists. I'll finally have a full weekend off coming up. Anything I should begin to look into before having my mechanic look at it. TIA.

If your new tires and wheels were balanced I'd look at the drive line. Have you greased your drive shafts at all?

Honestly no. I have been doing more of the basic preventative maintenance and fixing interior things. I've had the truck since January. Bought it off my parents. With the exception of the transmission being rebuilt 2-3 years ago, everything is factory. Other than the tires, I changed the front brakes and rotors, refilled the differential, new battery, oil change from conventional to synthetic. I will look into it this weekend. Thank you for the info.

Did you get aftermarket wheels or OEM wheels? If aftermarket did you get hub rings with them? Also, wheels need to be match mounted and balanced using a lug-centric adapter (Haweka plate/flange plate). Call your tire shop and asked if they used one and if they used a Hunter road force balancer.

This sums it up: Vibration Problems

These rigs are incredibly sensitive to any little thing being off in the front end or wrong with the wheel balance.

Having the same 70mph vibs. Not as noticeable as 75 or, 65mph. Rebalanced tires do not solve the vibs.
Mines turned out to be front shocks are shot and need to be replaced.

Could also be lower control arm bushings, lower ball joints, outer tie rods, inner tie rods, sway arm bushings, steering rack bushings, wheel bearings etc. Could also be something loose in the rear end if you feel the shimmy more in your seat and feet than in the steering wheel. Or you might just need a good alignment.

Lift the front end and shake the wheels at 3/9 and 12/6 to see if there's any play. 12/6 play could mean a ball joint or a wheel bearing. 3/9 play could mean tie rods or steering rack bushings. If you can get someone else to shake the wheel while you're under the car looking at things you might be able to spot what it is.
Pull on the tie rods fwd/aft and in/out and see if there's any play.
Get a pry bar on the control arms and see if there's excessive play in the bushings.
Put the pry bar under the tire and try to lift the wheel and look at the ball joint. If there's vertical movement, the ball joint is shot.

That's all the stuff I've been instructed to check since I started looking at my 60-70 mph vibes. Still haven't found the culprit but I need new tires so the shops don't want to do anything unless I get new tires. My one rear tire is low on tread but not bald by any means and I almost had to beg Discount Tire to balance just the fronts. I've kind of put things on hold until I get my winters mounted next month.

I recently had a similar issue. Ended up being the rear u-joint.

Ask your parents if they had the drive line lubed. Most of us are greasing every or every other oil change. Might be a good idea to get under there and hit all the zerks with grease either way. Like the last post mentioned, the U joints go out if not lubed and you will feel the rear at freeway speeds.

I had a front U Joint on the 04 Grand Cherokee go bad. It caused a intermittent vib above 50mph.

The joint barely had any play in it and it was only noticeable after the driveshaft was removed.


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2WD or 4WD?

(they have different rear driveshafts - and require different solutions, depending)

Is it a shake (wobble) or a vibration (bzzzzzz)?

-Charlie

Check the lower ball joint if they are the factory ones.

Looks like alot of things I will have to check. The wheels are OEM off of a Tacoma. It's 2WD. I don't think the wheels were balanced on a Hunter machine as mentioned. I don't think my dad did much of that work on his own. If he had any drivetrain or suspension work done it was a mechanic. I will find out from him and I will do what I can from my end that will not have to be done with a mechanic. Thanks to all for your helpful input.

If it is a "BZZZZZ" vibration, it is likely the driveshaft - and you should probably just install a complete new one. The OEM shaft has a rubber coupler/isolator that goes bad and can't be fixed. Replacing just the u-joints might work, but the whole shaft will go at some point. You can get one on RockAuto...

-Charlie

It is more of a vibration which starts at around 68mph and will stop around 72-73mph. Like I mentioned before, the transmission was rebuilt a few years ago. I didn't get a chance to do any work on the truck since some last second work came up. Any indicators I should look into when I get a chance to crawl under and look?

Sorry to hijack thread but I’m new and cont post new thread yet...my truck is a 2001 v6 2wd

I replaced my drive shaft and I also have a bzzzz/hum but mine starts at 40-50pmh and gets louder more pronounced the faster I go. I replaced upper ball joints and wheel bearings about 20k miles ago. One side was tighter than the other and was hard to turn by hand until I reinstalled on the car. It was still a little tight and had some drag but freed up some. I had them pressed in at the dealership in Midland, TX. I’ve also done the TBU and cut a liberal amount of the dust covers off to make room for the calipers. I’m wondering if the dust covers are my problem. But I don’t remember the buzz being an issue after installing the bigger brakes.

Side note: the other other day when leaving work, after reversing out of my parking spot and shifting into drive, the car acted like it didn’t want to go forward. It rolled forward slowly and the RPMs revved up but the car had no acceleration. I stoped and shifted through the gears and tried again. There as a slight lag and then off I went without issues. Hasn’t done that again since.