Front End Vibration at 70mph

[Rusty Shackleford]

Like the title of the post says, I get a slight vibration in the front end when I'm driving at highway speeds. It doesn't start vibrating until I get to 70mph. It doesn't feel like anything severe. I had it in the shop yesterday and they replaced a tie rod (not sure which one), balanced all four tires, and corrected the alignment. They did a test drive after fixing all these things and the vibration is still there. I haven't had a chance to get it out on the highway yet, so I'm going by what they tell me.

I went ahead and brought the truck back home because A - I need something to drive and B - I don't feel like paying them a bunch of money to chase this down. They mentioned the possibility of it being a bad rotor or maybe a bent front axle, but they were just speculating.

Any suggestions on where I should start? New rotors would be an easy enough fix. I just don't want to start throwing money at it blindly.

 

[D Farms]

do you have a lift?

 

[Rusty Shackleford]

do you have a lift?

No, suspension & tires are stock

 

[NorthShore4Runner]

A bad u joint somewhere in the drivetrain would be my next guess after rotors or wheels. Is there a noise when you drive also, like a tire noise? Could be wheel bearings too.

 

[Rusty Shackleford]

A bad u joint somewhere in the drivetrain would be my next guess after rotors or wheels

Interesting. Greasing the driveshaft & ujoints is actually on my "next things to do" list. I'll see if it helps any. It won't hurt to replace the rotors either since I have no idea how old they are.

 

[7echo]

There is a known issue with getting the wheels properly balanced. Do you have a bunch of weights on the wheels for balance? There are some threads here that discuss the balance issues. A particular type of balance machine and/or adapter is needed to do it right. That could be the issue.

 

[sterbenlicht]

I doubt it's the rotors. You say it's a "slight" vibration at 70+mph, I think if I were you I'd decide if it's something I could live with. Check the usual things that you don't want failing on you such at shocks/springs, ball joints, steering rack bushings, control arm bushings, inner and outer tie rods, wheel bearings. If you find play in any of these things, replacing them won't qualify as shotgunning parts. Tire treat, tire quality, and balance method can even come into play. In the end though, a slight vibration over 70 can be difficult to diagnose, so waiting until it gets worse might make it easier to figure out. Don't go throwing expensive parts at it. It'll just frustrate you further.

 

[e46inperrycounty]

I work in a shop and 99.9% of the time, rotors will only give a vibration under braking. The only time brakes will come into play when not braking is having a brake line swollen that is engaging the caliper or the caliper is sticking and giving brake force without brake pedal being pushed. There is a special hub adaptor that must be used for Toyota wheels. When I got my 4runner it had less than 50 miles on the tires and fresh alignment and I had to rebalance all 4 tires myself and when I checked the alignment it was slightly out of spec. Most shops will balance to within .75 ounces. Our shop sets everything at 0. The alignment was 1/32 out of preferred specs and would run fine like that and not wear tires down but I am very anal retentive when it comes to alignments and I put it back into perfect factory spec. If tires and alignment are good though I would check the CV shafts to make sure they aren't binding up at all as a slight bind will cause a heck of a shake at higher speeds. If you feel the shake in the wheel it is most likely in the front. If you feel it in your seat then most likely in the rear. Hopefully this helps track down your wobble issue. Feel free to pm me if you have any further questions as to what else to check once you have ruled out the 3 main causes of a shake at higher speeds. Also, can you outrun the shake? If it starts around 70 does it clear up around 80-85? If it does then I would put money on it being a tire balance issue.

 

[Rusty Shackleford]

I work in a shop and 99.9% of the time, rotors will only give a vibration under braking. The only time brakes will come into play when not braking is having a brake line swollen that is engaging the caliper or the caliper is sticking and spelling brake force without brake pedal being pushed. There is a special hub adaptor that must be used for Toyota wheels. When I got my 4runner it had less than 50 miles on the tires and fresh alignment and I had to rebalance all 4 tires myself and when I checked the alignment it was slightly out of spec. Most shops will balance to within .75 ounces. Our shop sets everything at 0. The alignment was 1/32 out of preferred specs and would run fine like that and not wear tires down but I am very anal retentive when it comes to alignments and I put it back into perfect factory spec. If tires and alignment are good though I would check the CV shafts to make sure they aren't binding up at all as a slight bind will cause a heck of a shake at higher speeds. If you feel the shake in the wheel it is most likely in the front. If you feel it in your seat hen most likely in the rear. Hopefully this helps track down your wobble issue. Feel free to pm me if you have any further questions as to what else to check once you have ruled out the 3 main causes of a shake at higher speeds. Also, can you outrun the shake? If it starts around 70 does it clear up around 80-85? If it does then I would put money on it being a tire balance issue.

I haven't gone over 70 yet due to both the vibration & I haven't been on any long trips on the freeway. I'll see if I can get a chance this weekend to drive it a little faster

 

[MONTYMTB]

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/engines-suspension-wheels-tires-audio-accessories/173-tire-balancing-must-read.html

 

[sggaz]

I'm not sure if it is the same as the vibration you are experiencing but I had a shake/shimmy in my steering wheel at 65-75mph that slowly got worse over time. The resolution for me was replacing the lower ball joints. I believe my mileage at the time was 145k. I'm close to 160K now, have changed tires and done at least one alignment and the shake has never returned.

Boilermaker here!

 

[Rusty Shackleford]

I'm not sure if it is the same as the vibration you are experiencing but I had a shake/shimmy in my steering wheel at 65-75mph that slowly got worse over time. The resolution for me was replacing the lower ball joints. I believe my mileage at the time was 145k. I'm close to 160K now, have changed tires and done at least one alignment and the shake has never returned.

Boilermaker here!

Yeah I need to get under there & inspect everything thoroughly. I'm at 176k & really have no knowledge of its maintenance history, so I'm trying to go through all the major stuff first. I've done quite a bit of work to it & I've only had it two weeks.

 

[MStudt]

Yeah I need to get under there & inspect everything thoroughly. I'm at 176k & really have no knowledge of its maintenance history, so I'm trying to go through all the major stuff first. I've done quite a bit of work to it & I've only had it two weeks.

I 2nd the lower ball joints. I had the same thing going on until I replaced them.

 

[themad1lv]

4th Generation same issue

I have an 06 V8 Limited, same issue. Vibration from 70-80ish when doing a light acceleration, especially uphill. If you do a hard acceleration or if you are slowing down, no issues/no noises.

We have replaced the front Wheel bearings (both), drive shaft u Joint, new tires, alignment, etc. No Avail.

Everything was done at a independent Toyota shop and they are totally stumped. They want to put an additive in the front differential to see if that quiets it down (i guess to determine if its a bearing in there).

Thoughts?

 

[gamefreakgc]

I have an 06 V8 Limited, same issue. Vibration from 70-80ish when doing a light acceleration, especially uphill. If you do a hard acceleration or if you are slowing down, no issues/no noises.

We have replaced the front Wheel bearings (both), drive shaft u Joint, new tires, alignment, etc. No Avail.

Everything was done at a independent Toyota shop and they are totally stumped. They want to put an additive in the front differential to see if that quiets it down (i guess to determine if its a bearing in there).

Thoughts?

Do you feel it in the seat or in the steering wheel? Seat = wheel/tire/driveshaft issue, wheel = steering/suspension issue.

Normally the vibration under acceleration is driveshaft but you said you already fixed that one... Differential bearings normally make noise and a harmonic vibration, so that might be it. An additive is a whole lot cheaper than having them pull it and rebuild it so that sounds like a good idea.

 

[AL B.]

Sounds very similar to the noise I hear. Vibrates like crazy. Replaced all four wheels and tires. When I do feel/hear this loud vibration I can also touch the 4WD shifter and its vibrating like crazy. Feels like holding on to a blender while its on.

 

[baja1]

my vibration is coming from passenger side rear LCA bushing, reading up on it here im gonna let a shop handle this one!

 

[stecow]

my vibration is coming from passenger side rear LCA bushing, reading up on it here im gonna let a shop handle this one!

Can LCA's be a factor for highway vibrations? I had no idea, I'm still chasing a vibration and haven't considered looking at the LCA's

 

[benjamin247]

Just bought a 1999 SR5. Driving it back from LA to SF, I did notice seat vibration when I was going 65-70mph but would go away if I go faster or slower from that range. So is this most likely a wheel balancing issue?

 

[4yodaa]

I work in a shop and 99.9% of the time, rotors will only give a vibration under braking. The only time brakes will come into play when not braking is having a brake line swollen that is engaging the caliper or the caliper is sticking and giving brake force without brake pedal being pushed. There is a special hub adaptor that must be used for Toyota wheels. When I got my 4runner it had less than 50 miles on the tires and fresh alignment and I had to rebalance all 4 tires myself and when I checked the alignment it was slightly out of spec. Most shops will balance to within .75 ounces. Our shop sets everything at 0. The alignment was 1/32 out of preferred specs and would run fine like that and not wear tires down but I am very anal retentive when it comes to alignments and I put it back into perfect factory spec. If tires and alignment are good though I would check the CV shafts to make sure they aren't binding up at all as a slight bind will cause a heck of a shake at higher speeds. If you feel the shake in the wheel it is most likely in the front. If you feel it in your seat then most likely in the rear. Hopefully this helps track down your wobble issue. Feel free to pm me if you have any further questions as to what else to check once you have ruled out the 3 main causes of a shake at higher speeds. Also, can you outrun the shake? If it starts around 70 does it clear up around 80-85? If it does then I would put money on it being a tire balance issue.

Iv been reading up on my issue and finally i found something similar to mine .
I got 08 sr5 4.7 and this issue been on since i bought the car but not as bad as last long drive about 300 miles up to 70 everything is fine but once im going past 70 mph i can hear this harmonic hauling and harmonic vibration underneath my feet up 80 mph and than it goes away oo and one more think its only happening between 70-80 with foot on the gas once im gonna take foot off the gas everything goes away and gets quiet but then gas on and starts again it getting worst when heading against heavy wind or when i got car loaded with tool and other crap if some out here had the same issue and found the FIX PLEASE HELP ITS ANNOYING AND HELL