At wits' end: yes another highway vibration thread!

[infamousRNR]

is there anyone who DOESN'T have a vibration at highway speeds?....

everything was fine until i put the TOYTEC lift on... from 58mph - 72mph.....vibration.

Question: why would it vibrate at certain speeds and not below or over a certain speed?

 

[iowajosh]

theory

If a rear end link was bad, would it not impact pinion angle? Making the driveshaft vibrate only under load?

When you lift a 4runner, do you shim the carrier bearing? Is there a carrier bearing? I have a 1 peice. 2runner. It vibrates

 

[riflecountry]

I got the highway vibes after my lift. Tundra coils, Bilstein shocks, Superflex in the rear. When I first installed it, I set it to the second perch. Too much rake, moved it to the 3rd. No vibrations on 2nd, bad vibes on 3rd.
My conclusion was cv angles. Installed diff drop, major reduction in vibes, but still there. Machined a new groove between 2nd and 3rd perch, dropped front to new perch. Got rid of my vibration!
I do still notice a bit of vibration under heavy acceleration, but this seems more likely a driveshaft problem, similar to above.

 

[96LTDrus]

is there anyone who DOESN'T have a vibration at highway speeds?....

everything was fine until i put the TOYTEC lift on... from 58mph - 72mph.....vibration.

Question: why would it vibrate at certain speeds and not below or over a certain speed?

My situation is under certain conditions (applying a fair amount of throttle) at speeds of 45mph+ I can start to feel this sort of 'wobble' coming from the body of the truck. Most commonly noticed at higher speeds like 70mph+ when almost constant throttle is applied to maintain speed. Sometimes when on a downhill everything can be perfectly smooth, up to 75mph and beyond even. Can't wait to pick up the driveshaft today and swap it back on!

 

[96LTDrus]

Got a call from the shop, they couldn't balance the shaft as it was, rear u joint was infact bad. Once that was done they ran it again it and it was .030 out (slightly bent I guess???), so they balanced it.

Picking it up tomorrow and installing it, fingers crossed!!

Picked up the shaft during my lunch break and chatted with the guys that fixed it. New u joint they put in (wouldn't balance with the old joint) feels tighter than the Moog that got taken off. After that they used heat treating to straighten the run out (the .030" that was off), then finally painting and balancing. All for $80! Let's just hope that this actually solves the issue, and does not make things worse (I was a bit worried about how stiff that new joint felt) Still not sure how the shaft was supposedly bent, original owner never wheeled it that I can imagine, and there aren't really any other indications on the truck that it's been abused offroad.

 

[cbr900boy]

I found this post by another member and decided to try this fix myself. My vibration happens between 60-70 mph and I feel it mostly on my seat. I'm going to remove the zerks today after work and see if it solves it while driving home.

 

[96LTDrus]

I found this post by another member and decided to try this fix myself. My vibration happens between 60-70 mph and I feel it mostly on my seat. I'm going to remove the zerks today after work and see if it solves it while driving home.

Very interesting! Now that I think about it, I think one of the times that the truck drove totally smoothly was after getting a lube job, and this happened more than once (I lube all zerks every oil change).

 

[cbr900boy]

Very interesting! Now that I think about it, I think one of the times that the truck drove totally smoothly was after getting a lube job, and this happened more than once (I lube all zerks every oil change).

Well, the problem seems to be too much grease in the slip yolk is the cause of the problem. Maybe you have too much grease in there, especially if you are adding grease every oil change?

 

[96LTDrus]

Well, the problem seems to be too much grease in the slip yolk is the cause of the problem. Maybe you have too much grease in there, especially if you are adding grease every oil change?

This very well could be the case, I'll take the zerk off when I'm installing the DS tonight, we'll see what comes of it. I also wonder what kind of shape the grease might be in if the DS was heat-treated to straighten it...

 

[cbr900boy]

This very well could be the case, I'll take the zerk off when I'm installing the DS tonight, we'll see what comes of it. I also wonder what kind of shape the grease might be in if the DS was heat-treated to straighten it...

It's worth a shot, it doesn't take much to remove those things to let the excess grease seep out. Let us know if it works, I'll post up as well after I do it.

 

[gamefreakgc]

Interested to see how this finally plays out, since I too have joined the "highway vibration" club. I know my driveline has been neglected, it "bumps" at starts and stops. I might eventually need the whole enchilada done like what you did. Working on some other obvious issues though, leaking rear shocks and tired coils.

 

[96LTDrus]

having read up on all the different strategies and opinions on lubing the slip yoke, I wonder what happens on the inside of it when you put new grease in. Suppose you don't fill it up to the point that the joint starts to extend, but just put in like 7-8 pumps worth. Does that grease just sort of sit there by the hole it came in through until the joint is compressed and spreads it out? Does the driveshaft spinning have enough centrifugal force to spread the grease around the circumference of the inside of the shaft? If the internal space isn't occupied by grease, is it just an air pocket?

I've always just kind of guessed and pumped in a bunch, but never noticed that it was enough to cause the joint to extend.

 

[nevada]

having read up on all the different strategies and opinions on lubing the slip yoke, I wonder what happens on the inside of it when you put new grease in. Suppose you don't fill it up to the point that the joint starts to extend, but just put in like 7-8 pumps worth. Does that grease just sort of sit there by the hole it came in through until the joint is compressed and spreads it out? Does the driveshaft spinning have enough centrifugal force to spread the grease around the circumference of the inside of the shaft? If the internal space isn't occupied by grease, is it just an air pocket?

I've always just kind of guessed and pumped in a bunch, but never noticed that it was enough to cause the joint to extend.

every oil change is way too often.


it maybe needs a couple pumps a year. assuming it is cleaned and fully greased to begin with.

 

[cbr900boy]

having read up on all the different strategies and opinions on lubing the slip yoke, I wonder what happens on the inside of it when you put new grease in. Suppose you don't fill it up to the point that the joint starts to extend, but just put in like 7-8 pumps worth. Does that grease just sort of sit there by the hole it came in through until the joint is compressed and spreads it out? Does the driveshaft spinning have enough centrifugal force to spread the grease around the circumference of the inside of the shaft? If the internal space isn't occupied by grease, is it just an air pocket?

I've always just kind of guessed and pumped in a bunch, but never noticed that it was enough to cause the joint to extend.

My theory is this, centrifugal force spreads the grease inside of the cavity only so much. I think some of the grease gets clumped together on one side causing an imbalance which is the cause of the vibration. I made the mistake of pumping 40-50 pumps from my grease gun in the zerk causing the shaft to extend only 1/8". Someone mentioned that the proper way to greasing the slip yoke is to do it until the old grease is expelled through the seal. Well, in my case only a fraction came out the seal which tell me a shit load of grease is still in there. This tells me that it's pretty air tight in there which also tells me that the shaft is not compressing or expanding like it is supposed to be.

By driving around with my zerks removed, I hope some of that excess grease gets expelled. Sorry for the long post, like I said this is my theory and I could be completely wrong.

 

[gamefreakgc]

every oil change is way too often.

it maybe needs a couple pumps a year. assuming it is cleaned and fully greased to begin with.

Yeah I wasn't gonna say it since I'm not up to snuff with 3rd Gens, but 2nd Gens it's once every 2 years (15k miles) of normal driving per the FSM. If it's off-roaded all the time, the FSM says only once per year is required (7500 miles). I can't imagine the 3rd gens being all that different.

 

[AzCosta]

Had a very similar issue with my '00 T4R 170k miles. 65 mph on freeway and a strong vibration. Clicking at slow speeds turning. Had the driveline rebuilt for about $200 with new u-joints and balancing at a specialty driveline shop. Problem was solved.

 

[v3bahumut]

Well all this hits close to home. I went through hell and back blaming the tire shop, ended up with all kinds of new front suspension parts, new tires and new rims......and still have the 65-70ish vibration.

I'll have to follow this to see if you get any resolution.

 

[cbr900boy]

Ok guys, have some good news. So yesterday after work I removed the front and rear zerks on the slip yokes. I drove home and made sure I hit several speed bumps along the way. I know some grease did expel from the holes cause there is splatter on the undercarriage. How much? I don't know for sure. While driving to work this morning, I would say 90% of the vibration is gone. I tried like hell to stay between 60 to 70 mph (problem range) and I could not get it to vibrate the way it did. So yes, it did solve my problem. I'm going to re install the zerks after I drive home today. Lesson learned, Don't over grease the slip yokes. Hope this helps.

 

[96LTDrus]

The saga continues for me...

Installed the new shaft and went for a drive. At 70mph, I did not detect the usual lower frequency 'wobble' but now at any speed 65-69 mph and above an indicated 74mph there is a very typical high frequency unbalanced driveshaft 'BRRRRRT" type of vibration. I have no idea how the driveshaft shop could actually have screwed the balance up, I mean isn't that what their fancy machines are for??

Regarding the slip joint, I removed the zerk and compressed it completely until all the grease came out, then replaced the zerk and pumped in some grease (not a lot). Now in order to reinstall the shaft, I actually had to stretch it out, there was a vacuum inside the slip joint that wanted to keep it compressed. I'm heading back out now to remove the zerk and try driving like that a bit.

But I'm afraid I may have made things worse, not better, by having the driveshaft rebuilt/rebalanced. :gun5:

 

[nevada]

The saga continues for me...

Installed the new shaft and went for a drive. At 70mph, I did not detect the usual lower frequency 'wobble' but now at any speed 65-69 mph and above an indicated 74mph there is a very typical high frequency unbalanced driveshaft 'BRRRRRT" type of vibration. I have no idea how the driveshaft shop could actually have screwed the balance up, I mean isn't that what their fancy machines are for??

Regarding the slip joint, I removed the zerk and compressed it completely until all the grease came out, then replaced the zerk and pumped in some grease (not a lot). Now in order to reinstall the shaft, I actually had to stretch it out, there was a vacuum inside the slip joint that wanted to keep it compressed. I'm heading back out now to remove the zerk and try driving like that a bit.

But I'm afraid I may have made things worse, not better, by having the driveshaft rebuilt/rebalanced. :gun5:

take the 4runner to the driveline shop and have them drive it.

let them see for themselves that its not balanced properly, or at the least there is a vibration there.