Jitters on bumps
- Thread starter 1985taylor1925
- Start date
notrayray
New member
When is the last time you pulled your front brakes apart and cleaned them?
Clean, grease pins, compress pistons etc. make sure everything is moving properly.
Check for bearing play in the fronts....did you replace the lbj's yet?
1985taylor1925
Senior Member
Yep.
1985taylor1925
Senior Member
1985taylor1925
Senior Member
My brakes work fine. My queston in not whether or not warped rotors will cause a vibration. Thats pretty obvious. Whether they are actually warped, or just have an unever distribution from the pads, there gonna cause a vibration when braking. My question is if a warp in the rotor can cause a cruising vibration. One reason Im suspicious of this is because the vibration seems to be worse at certain angles. For example, at 75 when Im going straight the vibration is worse than when I go around a bend. Seems like when the wheels are slightly turned in either direction on the highway, some pressure is taken off of the vibration.
Maybe a brake person could comment. But my understanding is that there's nothing that pulls the pads away from the rotors, they're just not putting force on the rotor when the brake pedal is released. I would guess that technically, yes, a BADLY warped rotor could be out far enough that it's contacting the pads causing a vibration at high speed. But that doesn't explain if the vibration returns after the turn. Once the pads are pushed out they shouldn't return to the rotor until the pedal is pressed, unless a caliper is sticky.
(My high speed vibration from 66-68 after special balancing was tire related. The vibration was worse when the tires were cold but they are old are being replaced)
Would this be wheel bearing?
Have you solved your jitters issue?
I have a new-to-me 1999 Limited 4x4 with 143k miles on it. I replaced the suspension with Toytec Ultimate lift. Toytec coilovers in the front and 906 springs with 5125 shocks in the rear. I then put 265 75/16 Toyo Open Country AT IIs on the factory wheels. It rides like total crap, at all speeds, but the highway is the worst. I dread getting on the highway. I have had the wheels balanced twice. The second time was with the flange adapter and road force balancer. I wanted to see what your thoughts were before I start chasing this issue.
1985taylor1925
Senior Member
Wow, its been over two years since Ive seen this thread!
First of all, how did it ride before you made these changes?
Man, it rode fine. It had tired shocks and springs but no vibrations or jitters.
1985taylor1925
Senior Member
Ok. Now when you say the ride is terrible, are you talking about the way it handles bumps, or are talking about consistant wheel vibrations? These are two seperate issues.
As far as rough handling, you just went from old soft suspension as you mentioned, to a brand new suspension that is significantly stiffer, along with a larger AT tire thats going to ride a little harsher. Had you gone with new OEM suspension it would ride a bit stiffer. But an aftermarket suspension will be MUCH stiffer. I know those 907s are a stiff rear coil. Also, a stiffer and taller suspension is going to bring out any other pre existing front end component issues. If you have worn upper/lower ball joints, inner/outer tie rods, cvs, sway bar bushing, steering rack, etc, you may not have noticed it so much with the old suspension. The new suspension will compound any issues significantly.
As far as high speed consistant vibrations, they are always caused by a spinning part. So either drive shaft, wheels/tires, or like you mentioned hubs/bearings. I would say with about 90% confidence that your issue is still an imbalance between the new tires and wheels. I have had mine balance 5 times between my three different tire and two different wheel combos, and every time it has changed the location or severity of the wobble, but never eliminated it. The best its ever been was when I had Discount Tire do the balance. They got it close to perfect. Really your only option there is to keep getting it balanced until its right, or just put up with it. Maybe try to find a shop with someone who really knows what theyre doing.
ReconCmdr
New member
I had the wheel wobble at speed for years....bought my 98 new off the lot and of 97. It would get progressively worse up to about 65 then even out until about 80 then come back. I had my wheels balanced and front end aligned more times than I can count to no avail....new shocks tires on a few occasions over the years and always the same. Last year after I did my lift my boots tore so I replaced my front axles cheaper than paying to have the boots replaced and viola perfectly smooth as long as my wheels are balanced!
1985Taylor1925 did your fix for the jitters last? That is the one thing that bothers me about my truck for yrs....when I hit a small bump esp while turning left or braking...it feels like my wheels are gonna fall off.
1985Taylor1925 did your fix for the jitters last? That is the one thing that bothers me about my truck for yrs....when I hit a small bump esp while turning left or braking...it feels like my wheels are gonna fall off.
1985taylor1925
Senior Member
Are you talking about your cv axles?
No, I have never solved mine. The closest I got was when I had Discount Tire balance the wheels. They did a good job and the high speed vibration was very minimal. I have literally replaced everthing in my front end trying to solve this issue. And like you said, it is the one thing I REALLY hate about the 4runner
white_n_slow
Senior Member
Same. Both my runners did. Maybe we just have more finely tuned asses than the average driver.
Nelsonmd
New member
I was getting vibration at high speed, it turned out to be my U-joint. It was a shimmy that picked up around 50 or so, peaked around 65-70, then dropped significantly over about 73. My u-joint had 2/4 posts that were completely rusted over, which means they hadn't touched the bearings in a long time. $12 part later and it feels like a new car.
I don't think what you guys are describing could be bearings, they tend to whine more than they vibrate. Don't look just to the front end though. I thought I had a bad front bearing, but it turned out to be the rear. I had driven with the windows down listening for it and everything, I could have sworn it was the front...
I don't think what you guys are describing could be bearings, they tend to whine more than they vibrate. Don't look just to the front end though. I thought I had a bad front bearing, but it turned out to be the rear. I had driven with the windows down listening for it and everything, I could have sworn it was the front...
I am fighting the same thing with my runner. I have 194K on it with all stock suspension and bushings. Part of my problem is I put on E rated Falkens 265/75s. I am saving my money to redo all the suspension and bushings. I really feel that problem stems from the suspension.. front being too stiff and the rear being too soft...along with all the fore mention ubj,lbj, rack mounts,etc. I think the rear needs a really good shock like a sway a way. Something that can really control the compression and rebound. The end all would be a bypass shock but, cost and actually getting it under there is a big problem.
I have a few vehicles including a freightliner and a 3500 Dodge 4x4 with a cummins in it. So I know rough rides. lol I swear there are times I feel my 3500 rides better than my runner.
I have a few vehicles including a freightliner and a 3500 Dodge 4x4 with a cummins in it. So I know rough rides. lol I swear there are times I feel my 3500 rides better than my runner.
1985taylor1925
Senior Member
I have wanted to change my u joints for some time now, though I thoroughly looked them over and cant see any rust. But I have always suspected them as a potential contributer to my wobble. At the moment I have quite a few things I need to do for maintenance, just dont have the time right now.
Werent the u joints quite a pain to change? Or am I thinking of bearings? I remember seeing one of those in your thread. I plan to change the u joints myself. I just dont want to get half way in and run into an issue I cant resolve with my tools and what auto zone rents out.
Nelsonmd
New member
The U-joint was actually one of my smoothest repairs to date, but I know you have seen my build thread, so that isn't saying much... It's not bad though. Mine was COVERED in rust, to the point that I couldn't tell the difference between the bearing seal and the retainer ring (I wasn't super confident about what pieces were where). As a result, the first bearing I pressed out I hadn't actually removed the c-clip and ended up shearing it off in the press. It damaged the yoke a a little bit but I was able to file it down a little to fix it.
Anyway, the only tricky part for me was getting the yoke to sit flat in the press. Toyota for some reason cast the yoke such that it doesn't stand straight up and down in the press, the arms have an angled side to them which make them sit crooked when pressing.
In this pic, the bearing cup is the round part, and if you compare depth of the bearing cup at the tip end of the yoke arm versus the root end, you can see that the outer face of the yolk (where the parting line of the casting is ground down) is not at a 90deg angle to the bearing cup, which means it won't just sit upright in the press, you have to chock the tip a bit. Google image search makes it look like other brands thought of this and have a lip around the bearing cup cavity so that it will sit straight in a press...
I dealt with this by cutting one of the old c-clips and putting it under the tip end of the yoke arm to make it sit flat, but not interfere with the bearing cup (the c-clip is slightly smaller diameter than the outside of the bearing cup, so even this isn't a perfect fit...). It was a bit of a balancing act to get the yoke with cut c-clip balanced on top of a big socket so I could press the bearing cup out, but I eventually got it.
BTW, I was shocked to find out that 2 of the 4 posts on the u-joint were covered in rust, meaning they hadn't been in contact with the bearing in a long time (long enough for the bearing surfaces to rust). For the last couple years probably I have been driving on only 2 of the 4 u-joint bearings. The 2 that were left were also dinged up but clean. I was amazed that I only recently felt any driveline vibration from it.
Last edited:
1985taylor1925
Senior Member
The U-joint was actually one of my smoothest repairs to date, but I know you have seen my build thread, so that isn't saying much... It's not bad though. Mine was COVERED in rust, to the point that I couldn't tell the difference between the bearing seal and the retainer ring (I wasn't super confident about what pieces were where). As a result, the first bearing I pressed out I hadn't actually removed the c-clip and ended up shearing it off in the press. It damaged the yoke a a little bit but I was able to file it down a little to fix it.
Anyway, the only tricky part for me was getting the yoke to sit flat in the press. Toyota for some reason cast the yoke such that it doesn't stand straight up and down in the press, the arms have an angled side to them which make them sit crooked when pressing.
(this isn't mine)
In this pic, the bearing cup is the round part, and if you compare depth of the bearing cup at the tip end of the yoke arm versus the root end, you can see that the outer face of the yolk (where the parting line of the casting is ground down) is not at a 90deg angle to the bearing cup, which means it won't just sit upright in the press, you have to chock the tip a bit. Google image search makes it look like other brands thought of this and have a lip around the bearing cup cavity so that it will sit straight in a press...
I dealt with this by cutting one of the old c-clips and putting it under the tip end of the yoke arm to make it sit flat, but not interfere with the bearing cup (the c-clip is slightly smaller diameter than the outside of the bearing cup, so even this isn't a perfect fit...). It was a bit of a balancing act to get the yoke with cut c-clip balanced on top of a big socket so I could press the bearing cup out, but I eventually got it.
BTW, I was shocked to find out that 2 of the 4 posts on the u-joint were covered in rust, meaning they hadn't been in contact with the bearing in a long time (long enough for the bearing surfaces to rust). For the last couple years probably I have been driving on only 2 of the 4 u-joint bearings. The 2 that were left were also dinged up but clean. I was amazed that I only recently felt any driveline vibration from it.
You have your own press dont you? I dont have a press and so Im wondering what method I would use for this.
