Front end vibrations

[Myrunr2010]

Bought my 97 a good while back, ever since I've owned it it's had a vibration that doesn't start until you're doing 70 on the highway. I don't drive the highway much so I've just dealt with it by doing under 70 until now. The wife and I were getting ready to take a road trip so I sought to eliminate the vibration. My first assumption was the balance of the tires. I had the two front tires balanced, they were both out, however, still have the highway vibration, just not as pronounced. So then I replaced my sway bar end links (which were both broken). The vibration went down again but is still there.

While doing the sway bar work helped, I know that it is just masking a bigger problem. The vibration can mostly just be felt through the steering wheel, but at times is enough for you to feel if sitting in the passengers seat.

Any suggestions or ideas? Anyone had a similar case?

 

[SilverRidgeRunner1]

I was researching some information about a different problem but from what I understand the Rack and Pinion bushings can cause this and a highway sway issue.. But that my two cents I am still doing some research.. I had a similar issue and turned out rotor and driver side caliper was sticking

 

[nicolasballia]

Check your rear control arms, I had a vibration start due to a loose control arm bolt

 

[shiftmx]

If they did not balance your wheels with a Haweka adapter, then your front tires are still not balanced properly. I just dealt with the same issue. Discount tire would balance them, say they were perfect but the issue remained. When they re did it on a different balancer, they were off already. After three balances with their own "toyota adapter", I still had the issue. I finally got fed up and went to the dealer where they have the haweka. This finally fixed my balance issue.

 

[AZ4Running]

Front end vibrations can be caused by many things. Most common is out of balance tires, separated tire, out of round tires, warped rotor(s), bad front end bushings, bad rack bushings, bad hub bearing, bad ball joints. All are things to be checking fix what you find to be bad. Most of these things are fairly easy to replace if you have tools ans basic know how.

 

[SilverRidgeRunner1]

Front end vibrations can be caused by many things. Most common is out of balance tires, separated tire, out of round tires, warped rotor(s), bad front end bushings, bad rack bushings, bad hub bearing, bad ball joints. All are things to be checking fix what you find to be bad. Most of these things are fairly easy to replace if you have tools ans basic know how.

Except rack bushing those are tough well one aspect is that is... This just came to mind when someone mention Discount tire balancer... Look at the front wheels and figure how much weight they put on inside and outside the tires if u see someone has pounds multi wait etc etc I'd say there machine was out of calibration or the used the wrong wheel connector on there machine on another note it shouldn't take tons wheels waits to show balance

 

[AZ4Running]

Except rack bushing those are tough well one aspect is that is

Typically yes you are correct. Rack bushings on 4runners and tacomas are beefy and dont fail often. I was simply covering all bases. Things like oil leaks on rubber bushings or hard driving/ off roading can cause bushings to fail.

 

[SilverRidgeRunner1]

Typically yes you are correct. Rack bushings on 4runners and tacomas are beefy and dont fail often. I was simply covering all bases. Things like oil leaks on rubber bushings or hard driving/ off roading can cause bushings to fail.

No I am saying part of installing the rack bushing is a tough job not that they are tough and don't fail. sorry about that

 

[Myrunr2010]

Check your rear control arms, I had a vibration start due to a loose control arm bolt

You think something in the rear could be cause for the vibrations I'm feeling in the front/steering wheel? I only balanced the front tires because I didn't really think the rear would cause front end vibrations, but if it can maybe I need to get those balanced too?

 

[Myrunr2010]

Front end vibrations can be caused by many things. Most common is out of balance tires, separated tire, out of round tires, warped rotor(s), bad front end bushings, bad rack bushings, bad hub bearing, bad ball joints. All are things to be checking fix what you find to be bad. Most of these things are fairly easy to replace if you have tools ans basic know how.

I'm sure all of this can cause vibrations, but not all of it is characteristic of a vibration that only starts when you hit 70 mph, right? Like the warper rotors, that would only cause vibrations during braking, right?

 

[AZ4Running]

As a mechanic i would be looking at everything in the front end. You can rotate tires front to back and see if that helps. If the vibration goes away or moves to the rear then you know it is a bad tire or balance.

 

[MStudt]

Check your lower ball joints!

 

[Myrunr2010]

Check your lower ball joints!

Would those cause a speed specific vibration? How hard are ball joints to do?

 

[MStudt]

Would those cause a speed specific vibration? How hard are ball joints to do?

Yep! Should take you a coupe hours. I have vibrations in my steering wheel at highway speeds. I changed them and the vibrations went away. Spray some PL Blaster on the bolts the night before, and that would help. You should also get a pickle fork and tie rod puller. You can rent these from Autozone and get your money back when you return them.

If you've never replaced them or had them replaced. I'd do it anyways, one less thing to worry about.

 

[JRZEE2000TR4LTD]

Except rack bushing those are tough well one aspect is that is... This just came to mind when someone mention Discount tire balancer... Look at the front wheels and figure how much weight they put on inside and outside the tires if u see someone has pounds multi wait etc etc I'd say there machine was out of calibration or the used the wrong wheel connector on there machine on another note it shouldn't take tons wheels waits to show balance

This is just the kind of S@#T I hate whenever I take my truck to have someone else work on it. Usually because I don't have the equipment to do it myself. When does common sense kick in, or pride in workmanship??
On a side note to this picture, I also look for wheel weights opposite or almost opposite, each other on the rim which is called counterbalancing.

If all the following proper procedures are followed one should except a balanced wheel assy:

Mounting the tire assy properly on the balancer which includes identifying a lug-centric or hub-centric rim If concentric uses cones properly wherever the centering bevel is on the rim. If lugcentric, use the "Haweka" lug adapter.

Identifying any damage to the rim or tire that will cause wheel wobble.

The machine itself is properly calibrated and the mounting cones, spindles, and adapters are in good shape.

Try to match balance the rim to the tire to minimize weight on the rim. (you never see any tire tech do this and it's easy if you know how to use a balancer equipped with this function which most are.

Not chasing that .25oz weight all over the rim. Especially on our larger truck tires. Nothing looks worse than 3 or 4 .25 or .5 oz weights all around the rim and you're not going to feel that .25 oz of weight anyways.

Of course all this depends on a properly trained tire tech, and in my years of going into hundreds of shops and garages, these guys are few and far between.

 

[JRZEE2000TR4LTD]

All the thing mentioned in this thread need to be looked at. I had a semi seized brake caliper which caused my vibration. Definitely take a good look at those LBJs. You don't want those to fail and as Mstudt said, if they've never been done, I would do them for piece of mind.
A few other thing to look at are the inner and outer tie rods and that rack bushing inside the rack itself (not the ones that hold the rack in place, although look at them too. Get underneath with someone turning the wheel and just try to find any play in any of the steering components. Checking LBJs is another easy procedure. Search the forum for that procedure.

 

[Myrunr2010]

LBJ's=lower ball joint?

 

[MStudt]

LBJ's=lower ball joint?

Yes, LBJ's are lower ball joints. Make sure you either pick up OEM or Napa Premiums. Don't use anything else besides those two. Also, you'll start seeing people criticize me for telling you to use anything beside OEM for the LBJ's. These are known to fail, and failing LBJ's are very bad. The OEM's are known to be the best, and Napa's a coming in second. You can ask any of these people to show you one example of a Napa LBJ's that has failed, and they can't. I run Napa's with no issues, and so do tons of other people on here.

 

[Myrunr2010]

Yes, LBJ's are lower ball joints. Make sure you either pick up OEM or Napa Premiums. Don't use anything else besides those two. Also, you'll start seeing people criticize me for telling you to use anything beside OEM for the LBJ's. These are known to fail, and failing LBJ's are very bad. The OEM's are known to be the best, and Napa's a coming in second. You can ask any of these people to show you one example of a Napa LBJ's that has failed, and they can't. I run Napa's with no issues, and so do tons of other people on here.

What type of cost can be expected to replace both sides?

 

[MStudt]

What type of cost can be expected to replace both sides?

$200-$300 for both sides.