CV Axle Experts needed (VIDEO)

[Ida4runner]

watching the video again I would take the skid plate off and take it for a ride,looks like it's lose and vibrating against your frame.

 

[SolRayz]

I honestly think it's your cv's, I have had birfields go in my 87 runner and it sounded just like this. I would pull them and see how much play is in them.
Are the cv's old?, sounds to me like they are low on grease and have excessive play.

CV's are original, so about 202,000 miles. Is that old?

 

[Drift Monkey]

CV's are original, so about 202,000 miles. Is that old?

Boots look ok? No rips? 202k is quite a bit...they maight have some play or are low on grease as stated above.

 

[That_Titanium_4RNR]

CV's are original, so about 202,000 miles. Is that old?

202k doesn't necessarily mean they're bad, but they could possibly be causing it. IMO its 50/50 on those. You could swap cv sides and see if anything changes? Or just buy one new one and put it in to driver side to see if that fixes it.

 

[Drunner97]

If the axles were bad, you'd know it, and they don't typically go unless you lose the grease in them. When I pulled my wheel bearings you could hear the difference between the new one and the old one. The new ones really shouldn't make any noise at all when you spin them.

 

[SolRayz]

Thanks everyone for the responses. I will probably look into getting CVJ axles and Bluepitbearings. This may have to wait a bit, but I will update with my findings once its all said and done. :thumb:

 

[Seasparrow]

Is it just me or does anyone else think the left front tire tread is shifting back and fourth in the top video ???

It also looks maybe like it's out of round, watch at 2:14 seconds.
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[SolRayz]

Is it just me or does anyone else think the left front tire tread is shifting back and fourth in the top video ???

It also looks maybe like it's out of round, watch at 2:14 seconds.
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Yup, I also noticed exactly what you described. And looking at the video on the passenger side is smooth, no wobble in the tire whatsoever. I decided to swap rear and front driver side tires and record another video. I don't see much tread shifting with this wheel.

The tires have been balanced twice now, last being at Toyota. My suspicion is that I may have damaged the wheel off road about a year ago. Hit some pretty hard ruts and drove it a little too hard on some trails north of Vegas for over 45 miles. I feel I might of thrown the wheel out of round.

That being said, the ride seems smoother now with that wheel on the rear. Here is a short clip from my GoPro.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ukrD7eHdKa4" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[Jeremy_A]

Vegas? I live in vegas. What tires are these?

Yup, I also noticed exactly what you described. And looking at the video on the passenger side is smooth, no wobble in the tire whatsoever. I decided to swap rear and front driver side tires and record another video. I don't see much tread shifting with this wheel.

The tires have been balanced twice now, last being at Toyota. My suspicion is that I may have damaged the wheel off road about a year ago. Hit some pretty hard ruts and drove it a little too hard on some trails north of Vegas for over 45 miles. I feel I might of thrown the wheel out of round.

That being said, the ride seems smoother now with that wheel on the rear. Here is a short clip from my GoPro.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ukrD7eHdKa4" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[SolRayz]

Vegas? I live in vegas. What tires are these?

Firestone Destination AT2. So far so good with these.

Quick question, what is your opinion of the roads here in Vegas? I personally find them real bad, to the point where I can't tell if theirs something wrong with my truck or its the roads vibrating me to death. The 15 and 215 are utter shit, the side roads are utter shit. Seriously wtf. In places it seems like theirs a waviness to the road, almost like your tires are out of balance, but they're not. For me it always happens in the same areas on my commute home.

It seems like you've done quite a bit of modifications on your Runner, but how is your ride quality on these roads?

 

[Jeremy_A]

Your local? You follow Vegas 4runners on FB? Im.a admin.

Anyways mine is pretty smooth.... I dont find the roads to be too bad... I lived in TN/KY before though.

 

[duffdog]

Thanks everyone for the responses. I will probably look into getting CVJ axles and Bluepitbearings. This may have to wait a bit, but I will update with my findings once its all said and done. :thumb:

If there is any possible way I can convince you to get Toyota Koyo bearings from the actual Toyota dealer instead of online I will. Literally 95% of all bearings labelled Koyo sold anywhere on any website are fakes and there is no way for anyone to know except Koyo. ( I used to work for the company who owns Koyo and it is still a massive problem 10 years later )



For my own truck, I just get multiples of the cheapest bearings I can knowing that they are all the same and they are all fake if they aren't from one of the authorized dealers in the USA. If you got a "deal" on a Koyo bearing, you did not get a Koyo bearing.

 

[gfxcruncher]

If there is any possible way I can convince you to get Toyota Koyo bearings from the actual Toyota dealer instead of online I will. Literally 95% of all bearings labelled Koyo sold anywhere on any website are fakes and there is no way for anyone to know except Koyo. ( I used to work for the company who owns Koyo and it is still a massive problem 10 years later )



For my own truck, I just get multiples of the cheapest bearings I can knowing that they are all the same and they are all fake if they aren't from one of the authorized dealers in the USA. If you got a "deal" on a Koyo bearing, you did not get a Koyo bearing.

^ This

I just went through the hassle of replacing "Koyo" wheel hub assemblies bought off eBay, they were even assembled by a Toyota tech, or so the listing said.
I posted some info about my experience in my build thread on post 34 here and Post 37 here.

Unless you like replacing them every 10-20k...
[MENTION=122163]duffdog[/MENTION] you must be the one I was referencing in post 34... I remember reading a thread someone posted in having worked for them before... I wish I could find that thread again.

 

[SolRayz]

So just wanted to update, since it's been awhile.

Ended up replacing both UCA's (passenger side upper ball joint blown out), and front wheel bearings with bluepitt Koyo bearings (even though original stock were fine, keep as spares), and also replaced passenger CV axle that was showing some boot separation. Some improvement after UCA's were replaced. However, steering wheel shimmy and subtle vibrations after 65mph remained.

I ended up going back to Firestone and had them swap out the Destination AT2's for Bridgestone Revo 3's under warranty.

I'm happy to report, problem solved.

Shimmy and vibrations are GONE. arty:

Firestone said it was probably only one of the tires that was bad. I call bs, because all four tires were rotated in every which way, rebalanced a half a dozen times and also Road Force balanced, and they would lose balance after a few days driving and start shimmying like crazy again. So either, I was unlucky to have had a bad batch of Destinations installed, or they simply don't balance probably and ride like garbage. Either way, I would suggest avoiding those tires at all cost. I'm finding that the Revo's far out class the Destinations when it comes to absorbing uneven and poor road conditions, so the ride is orders of magnitude smoother in general.

It was a long battle, but I learned a lot about rebuilding the front end and never discount the fact that your tires might be the source of your vibration woes.

 

[SolRayz]

Ok so the damn problem is back. Steering wheel shimmy between 65-70 and floorboard harmonic vibration (rmmm rmmm rmmm) while accelerating, especially at 65-70 mph.

Not sure if these items are related to each other.

Its either this...

ST001R-05 09/08/2005 Steering - Highway Speed Steering 'Flutter'

and maybe this...

Slip Yoke caused my vibration....

and/or this...

Harmonic Vibration @ 70 to 75mph?

I don't know anymore. I do know this, the steering flutter was good for several weeks after the new tires, but the floorboard harmonic vibration was always there. Now I'm back to both issues. Driving me nuts.

 

[waypoint]

How frequently do you grease the zerks on your front (and rear) driveshaft, and what grease do you use? Same for the slip joint and u-joints?

Ok so the damn problem is back. Steering wheel shimmy between 65-70 and floorboard harmonic vibration (rmmm rmmm rmmm) while accelerating, especially at 65-70 mph.

Not sure if these items are related to each other.

Its either this...

ST001R-05 09/08/2005 Steering - Highway Speed Steering 'Flutter'

and maybe this...

Slip Yoke caused my vibration....

and/or this...

Harmonic Vibration @ 70 to 75mph?

I don't know anymore. I do know this, the steering flutter was good for several weeks after the new tires, but the floorboard harmonic vibration was always there. Now I'm back to both issues. Driving me nuts.