4th gen vibration.

[B_pedigo09]

Hey all, 05 4runner 2wd. Having a vibration when driving. Vibration only happens when I’m driving 50+mph or when I brake after driving 50+mph. Had tires rebalanced, still happening. Changed tires and wheels, still happening. Front brake pads/ rotors are about 6 months old. Rear pads/rotors are only a month old. Jacked up front did the tire side to side, up and down trick and hardly any play either way. While I had it jacked up I pulled on the inner tie rods they seem to have some play in them and I noticed the stabilizer links are shot(don’t think they would cause the vibration, but will replace them). I’m going to replace the inner and outer tie rods and the stabilizer links. My question is, is there anything else to check that could possibly be causing this vibration that I may be over looking? I wanted to try and replace it all around the same time if possible. Only other thing I know to do is process of elimination. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[ElZilcho]

My money is on a frozen caliper.

 

[Muskoka4runner]

second the frozen caliper

 

[B_pedigo09]

What is a good way to check for the caliper?

 

[ElZilcho]

You can lift the front of the truck and move the wheels by hand listening for a dragging sound...

If that doesn't tell you anything you'll have to remove the calipers and inspect them...

...or, if you have an infrared thermometer you can take the temperature of your hubs and calipers after driving around for a while. If one of them is significantly hotter than the others it's a stuck caliper (or a bearing about to fail). You might be able to tell by hand, but be careful. A stuck caliper can get hot enough to burn you.

 

[B_pedigo09]

Alright I’ll check that in the morning. Thank you for your help!

 

[verman84]

Could be a dragging caliper, bad wheel bearing, wearing suspension components etc.

How many miles are on your vehicle and are all the suspension components still stock?

 

[catrains]

2 things that with my experience drive shafts or a bent axle.

calipers will vib at all speeds. if they do bind up the wheel heat will be much smoking higher hot then the other wheels.

axle bent you can check that out rotate wheel see if the wheel using a gauge indicator dial indicator does not vary much.

axles are soft so they will not crack ..

lube drive shafts check for any damage etc..missing weights .bearing wear..yoke binding leaks ..

 

[B_pedigo09]

Check the calipers. The front are fine. Could the back cause this? They didn’t seem bad when I changed the rear rotors and pads a little while ago.

 

[B_pedigo09]

It has the 2.5/1.5 Daystar lift on it. I am about to remove it because it rides terribly rough. I’m going to put the Daystar 1” level spacer.

It’s 2wd so no front axles. I’ll check the drive shaft.

 

[ElZilcho]

Rear calipers can cause the vibration. You say it happens when driving and when you brake after driving 50+ MPH which leads me to believe its in the braking system (caliper/rotor) but there are other questions.

Is the vibration in the truck (seat) or the steering wheel? Or both?

Does it change when braking?

Does the truck track off-center when braking?

Can you approximate the speed of the vibration?
at 50+ MPH a wheel/tire vibration will be ~8-10Hz and a driveshaft vibration will have turned into a buzz or hum.

My guess, still, is that it's wheel/tire/brakes related. You could have picked up something in a tread or thrown a wheel weight, but braking wouldn't affect those. It could be uneven material transfer between your new-ish pads and rotors. You can try getting the truck up to speed and standing on the brakes a few times until you can smell the brakes then driving around long enough (without stopping) to let them cool. That will, either, redistribute pad material evenly, make the problem obvious, or... do nothing. If it is pad material the problem may seem worse while you're doing this but resolve after the brakes have cooled. It's not a guaranteed fix but it works more often than you would expect...

and it's free.