2001 133k vibration at 55+

Y

YOLORunner

New member
Hey guys - newbie to the forum. Found out about y'all from a friend. Anywhoo - I have a 2001 SR5 2wd. I started getting a vibration at about 60 mph. I cant really feel it in the steering wheel, gas pedal or shifter. So I took it to a recommended mechanic and he said it was "tire noise" and charged me $50 to rotate them. Great....$50 for something I could have done on my own. Needless to say, the vibration was still there, but I went and bought new tires. Michelins ATs. All wheel alignment and balance. Still have the vibration. Checked the U joints, replaced both of them (gotta a great story for that - Tire Choice mechanics....:eek:. Still have the vibration....big surprise. He said it was the tranny mount - so I replaced that. Guess what....vibration still there. I removed the skid plates (thought they might be loose or something) also removed the roof racks (wind vibration???). The rear diff is full of brand new fluid as well. I'm at my wits end.....Anyone have an idea?
Thanks in advance!
Nik:fro:
 
Register to hide this ad
If I remember correctly, the 2wd 4Runner's have a slip yoke end on the driveshaft, at the transmission. If that's the case, there is a bushing in the tail end of the transmission which centers the slip yoke. If those bushings wear significantly, the slip yoke will no longer spin true, but tend to wobble as it spins, causing a vibration.

Since u-joints were replaced, hopefully the mechanic that did the work, marked all the pieces so it went back together with all the parts in the same relationship to each other, as when it was balanced when originally assembled.

That is of course assuming that it is a driveline vibration, and not tire related.

Finding someone that is a qualified driveability technician, and specializes in NVH (noise, vibration, harshness) problems, can be difficult to do.

FWIW, I've had several sets of Goodyear tires (on cars and trucks) that simply couldn't be balanced due to defects in the tires. If you can, find a place that has a Hunter GSP 9700 road force balancer, and have them determine if the wheels and tires are both good.

Good luck.
 
New Michelin LTX M/s2's, balancing and steering rack bushings cured mine (well, it starts at 95 mph, I can live with that). How are your rack bushings?
 
Can't feel it in the steering wheel? Probably not the rack bushings.

Is there loss of power or just vibrations?
 
I replaced my steering rack bushings and put in two new sway bar links this weekend. Didn't cure the vibes but sure helped alot.
 
zcruiser said:
Can't feel it in the steering wheel? Probably not the rack bushings.

Is there loss of power or just vibrations?
Click to expand...

OOPS! I read the "can't" as "can". Definitely leads to focus on the driveline, mounts, etc. Lot's of people have reported success with help from driveshaft specialists who can do a lot more than just swap u-joints.
 
TheDurk said:
OOPS! I read the "can't" as "can". Definitely leads to focus on the driveline, mounts, etc. Lot's of people have reported success with help from driveshaft specialists who can do a lot more than just swap u-joints.
Click to expand...

Well, sometimes (to me) when you have a hammer everything looks like a nail. I was chasing a long shot that it's the spark plugs because I've had three T4R's that had over 100K on original plugs, and they developed a distinct shuddering at 55+ that made me panic about all kinds of things. Like I said, it's a long shot but maybe the simplest answer is the best.
 
UPDATE - Problem Fixed

Hey guys - well I tried everything - at least everything that wasnt the problem. It was the drive shaft - internal bushings caused the entire shaft to come out of true. $700 fix, but she rides like a dream! :trophy:
 
Does the same ring true for a 4WD model..?

I have a distinct vibration around 45-55mph in my 2001 4WD 4Runner, as well. I've thought it was mud caked in the wheel, or in the tires. Maybe an issue with tire pressure being low, and the truck sitting for a while. I tried shifting into neutral while going downhill to maintain 55, and the vibration was still there, so I assume that it's not in the tranny or drivetrain anywhere (but I haaaave been fooled befo). The truck tends to pull a little to the right, and the vibration isn't constant, which led me to believe it's the wonderful roads that we have here in Oregon. I will say that my new tires realllllllly tell me what kind of surface I'm driving on...anything other than brand new asphalt is LOUD!!! I also thought that I threw a weight during one of my (many) off road adventures, but because the vibration isn't always there at speed, I am confused!!! I have Bridgestone Dueler A/T's with about 5000 miles on them. Oh, yeah...almost forgot...I have 247K on the beast, AND I LOVE MY RUNNER!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Last edited:
Sorry for the necro post, but was so happy to resolve my vibration problem today.

My 2002 4Runner had always been vibration free until 146,000 MI & 2WKS after 4th set of tires.

Wasn't tires, even though the clods at the Goodyear tire store tried to talk me into other things to steal more money from me.

The vibration started at 60-70MPH and gradually got worse over a couple of months.

After much thought, I figured it had to be the drive shaft and/or U-joints.

I took the 4Runner to the only shop I trust in North Texas, Davenport Motors, Plano, TX.

They replaced U-joints & re-balanced drive shaft for $300.

Now rides smooth as glass.

Forgive me for my plug for Davenport Motors.

If you need Lexus or Toyota service, these are some of the finest people to deal with.

The Technicians are factory trained ex Lexus/Toyota techs.
 
The rear 2WD driveshaft is a totally different design than the 4WD driveshaft. The slip yoke is at the trans (instead of middle of the shaft), it has two standard but non-greasable u-joints (instead of greasable double cardan and u-joint), etc.

The 2WD shaft has an internal rubber isolator that goes bad with time/mileage and can only be fixed with a complete new shaft (not just u-joints).

The 4WD shaft has a different set of problems (hard to repair front double-cardan, sticking slip yoke, etc.).

Different design, different problems and solutions.

-Charlie
 
Just wanted to jump in here. Recently picked up an 02 sr5 2wd for 1k. Body in very good shape, paint a little tired in a couple spots. But it needed brakes, timing beltand had misfire code. Those are all pretty easy. Just did tundra brake upgrade today. Anyhow it also had a driveline vibration in the little I could drive it. That's how bad the brakes were.

I can do all the work myself so I can handle it. Anyway, I figured the vibrating was the shaft from what I read. After reading this I'm pretty sure it is. Here are the symptoms... Vibrating starts around 40. Gets worse as speed increases. At 70 it is a roar too. I'm not going faster than that lol.. As soon as I let off the gas and into a coast, it gets tons better. Still slight vibration. This clearly isn't tires as not getting vibrating from the steering. Shifter shakes like crazy.

Also clunk when coming to a stop.

So, axle and ujoints? TIA for the feedback. Much appreciated.





Sent from my LM-Q710(FGN) using Tapatalk
 
I Concur with 02SE -
My 2002 SR5 2wd developed vibrations at 55 mph and up vibrations werent ‘that bad’ but noise was significant.

This is daily driver for my 2x week runs between ft worth and odessa texas so miles roll up fast 284k)

As original owner know the history and wuirks well

Simple test to isolate if front end bearings vs drive line - i chocked front tires put rear on jacks ensuring wheels had ample clearence, turned off the VSC then started and run up the speed in drive - sure enough symptoms kicked in at 55 and up

I inspected rear axles for movement (besrings), rear diff fluids were goid shape, no clicking besring noise when spinningvrrar wheels - rear brakes in good shape- so

I assumed isolated tondriveline so ...

Had a driveline shop in Ft Worth pull drive line (eh propeller shaft per toyota lexicon)a they installed neW timken u joints at both ends- Included zerk fittings, checked runout on shaft - needed to be aligned because the yoke on transmission side was worn and not concentric - and i needed tonreplace rear bushing/bearing on transmission out shaft

340 bucks all in -

-
 
Phattyduck
Makes a great call out on the 2wd version

In that driveshaft has an insulator which wears

I was fortunate in that at 284k miles the driveshaft on ‘02 SR5 2wd is in great shape.

Given unique construction of 2wd shaft with insulator - pulling one from wrecking yard carries a lot of risk - best to simply have a new driveshaft constructed when it is time.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Members online

Total: 472 (members: 1, guests: 471)

Forum statistics

Threads
278,310
Messages
3,554,080
Members
248,016
Latest member
Advally Service

Share this page

Trending content

Back
Top