Hey,
I'm updating my original thread, where I had just purchased my '96 SR5. I'll try to keep this post as brief as possible, but still get all the details out.. it's been an odyssey of love and rattles.
My '96 had a loose swaybar, leaky rear seals, bad FR tie rod, plankboard suspension, nonfunctional rear window+wiper, loose e-brake, and edison record-grade rotors. There Dueler Alenza's all-around. The rear two got replaced, as they were bald and mangled. The old front set now went on the back, and they put the new set in the front, unfortunately.
Geez - sounds worse than it seemed. Luckily my mechanic is really fair, and I only paid $3k for a rig with otherwise excellent internals and NO STRUCTURAL RUST.
I fixed the most critical stuff upfront, and just this week took it in to re-do the shocks and bushings. I have gas-a-justs in the back, and sensa-tracks in the front. I wanted GR-2's in the front, but they're hard to come by. BTW, had a terrible experience with discount auto shock warehouse or some such company.. sent me two Celica struts (diff years!) and two previa shocks!
I got E-susp poly bushings for shocks, steering rack (from wheeler's 4x4), and front sway bar. I asked the mechanic to replace any other bushings possible, so maybe some others. They also did some electrical work for the back hatch, which seems like a replacement after a mild hit to the ass of the vehicle in some vicious 20mph mall accident. Back right side panel (where the bed window is) seems like it got repainted and un-waffled.
The mechanic said it took most of a day to get the back shocks off, and 1/2 day to do the struts. They were OEM from '96 or something close. Who knows what else went down in the removal process.
I drove the truck that night, 60 miles round trip on 50-65 mph craggy Upstate pavement, and it felt great. There was a moment or two where the truck had a left-right motion, but I figured I was simply feeling what was always there albeit with some actual absorption. The ride is by no means plush, and I have good control and enough dampening. When I go over potholes and such at 10mph, they are nice and smoothed out and I don't hear every single piece of the undercarriage rattle.
The next day, I headed out on my 1.5 hr commute, and at the first patch of smooth, straight highway, 65mph, it does a left-right wobble. That builds up in amplitude until it hits a resonance of sorts, and at that point its rocking left-right about 1 cycle a second. It seems like it can happen at about 40 and above. If I'm going faster, it may rock a bit quicker, but its not necessarily more likely. Sometimes a pair of small crests in the road will set up a resonant moment. There does seem to be a difference in the amount of "poise" from corner to corner of the truck in general, and when the deathwobble happens, the left seems more planted, while the right really bucks. This NEVER happened on the shot shocks.
Is it wheel balance / alignment, or cupped tires from the set that came with the truck? The day after I came back from the tire shop, my steering wheels 'on center' spot, moved a few degrees to the left. It's since been realigned, and the shop swears its zero'd out. I'm taking it in to the tire place to get a balance check, as I hope this is the main issue. I'll ask about lug centric balance, and the flange plate adapter..
Is it the effect of older springs and new shocks? I called Toyota, and my truck had the springs replaced in 2002 per the recall. Should I get some OME comfort shocks, JIK?
Is it the fact that the rear sway bar didn't get poly bushings? Or, shudder to think, somehow the spacing or fitment of the shocks/struts got mangled in the removal and replacement? Or.. bent axle?
I'm taking her in to the tire shop this afternoon. If it's still wobbling, I'll take it to the mechanic.. If it's STILL wobbling, I happen to live down the street from the ROCK KRAWLER guys' shop, so I'll see if they do consulting..
*UPDATE*: Got the truck back from the tire place today. They rebalanced the front, but wouldn't say whether it was off. Didn't fix the wobble completely, but lessened the intensity and severity *alot*.. The wheel still wants to be a touch over to the left for the truck to go straight. BTW, that steering issue has been nonstop since I first went to them for the new rubber.
I'm updating my original thread, where I had just purchased my '96 SR5. I'll try to keep this post as brief as possible, but still get all the details out.. it's been an odyssey of love and rattles.
My '96 had a loose swaybar, leaky rear seals, bad FR tie rod, plankboard suspension, nonfunctional rear window+wiper, loose e-brake, and edison record-grade rotors. There Dueler Alenza's all-around. The rear two got replaced, as they were bald and mangled. The old front set now went on the back, and they put the new set in the front, unfortunately.
Geez - sounds worse than it seemed. Luckily my mechanic is really fair, and I only paid $3k for a rig with otherwise excellent internals and NO STRUCTURAL RUST.
I fixed the most critical stuff upfront, and just this week took it in to re-do the shocks and bushings. I have gas-a-justs in the back, and sensa-tracks in the front. I wanted GR-2's in the front, but they're hard to come by. BTW, had a terrible experience with discount auto shock warehouse or some such company.. sent me two Celica struts (diff years!) and two previa shocks!
I got E-susp poly bushings for shocks, steering rack (from wheeler's 4x4), and front sway bar. I asked the mechanic to replace any other bushings possible, so maybe some others. They also did some electrical work for the back hatch, which seems like a replacement after a mild hit to the ass of the vehicle in some vicious 20mph mall accident. Back right side panel (where the bed window is) seems like it got repainted and un-waffled.
The mechanic said it took most of a day to get the back shocks off, and 1/2 day to do the struts. They were OEM from '96 or something close. Who knows what else went down in the removal process.
I drove the truck that night, 60 miles round trip on 50-65 mph craggy Upstate pavement, and it felt great. There was a moment or two where the truck had a left-right motion, but I figured I was simply feeling what was always there albeit with some actual absorption. The ride is by no means plush, and I have good control and enough dampening. When I go over potholes and such at 10mph, they are nice and smoothed out and I don't hear every single piece of the undercarriage rattle.
The next day, I headed out on my 1.5 hr commute, and at the first patch of smooth, straight highway, 65mph, it does a left-right wobble. That builds up in amplitude until it hits a resonance of sorts, and at that point its rocking left-right about 1 cycle a second. It seems like it can happen at about 40 and above. If I'm going faster, it may rock a bit quicker, but its not necessarily more likely. Sometimes a pair of small crests in the road will set up a resonant moment. There does seem to be a difference in the amount of "poise" from corner to corner of the truck in general, and when the deathwobble happens, the left seems more planted, while the right really bucks. This NEVER happened on the shot shocks.
Is it wheel balance / alignment, or cupped tires from the set that came with the truck? The day after I came back from the tire shop, my steering wheels 'on center' spot, moved a few degrees to the left. It's since been realigned, and the shop swears its zero'd out. I'm taking it in to the tire place to get a balance check, as I hope this is the main issue. I'll ask about lug centric balance, and the flange plate adapter..
Is it the effect of older springs and new shocks? I called Toyota, and my truck had the springs replaced in 2002 per the recall. Should I get some OME comfort shocks, JIK?
Is it the fact that the rear sway bar didn't get poly bushings? Or, shudder to think, somehow the spacing or fitment of the shocks/struts got mangled in the removal and replacement? Or.. bent axle?
I'm taking her in to the tire shop this afternoon. If it's still wobbling, I'll take it to the mechanic.. If it's STILL wobbling, I happen to live down the street from the ROCK KRAWLER guys' shop, so I'll see if they do consulting..
*UPDATE*: Got the truck back from the tire place today. They rebalanced the front, but wouldn't say whether it was off. Didn't fix the wobble completely, but lessened the intensity and severity *alot*.. The wheel still wants to be a touch over to the left for the truck to go straight. BTW, that steering issue has been nonstop since I first went to them for the new rubber.
Last edited:
