new member/owner in PDX

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chukrad

New member
Purchased my first 4runner last week. 98 sr5 5spd. Couldn't be more pleased with the purchase. Have learned a lot from just reading 3rd gen threads over the last week, so I decided to join and one day contribute.

I have the infamous vibration problem that I suspect is the result of improper wheel balancing after spending upwards of 600 bones at chuck schwabs. :dammit: :gun5: If anyone can recommend a shop and a specific tech to talk to in the portland/vancouver area that is setup to properly balance lug-centric wheels I will be in your debt.

Also seems I get the heat wobbles in my brakes, yay germantown rd. Gonna do the tundra front disc upgrade soon courtesy of info found here on the forum. Sounds straight forward and I shouldn't have a problem as I was able to upgrade the brakes on my e28 bmw to the v12 setup from a 750 without issue.

Cheers,

chukrad
 
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:welcome:

As you have found out already, this is the place to be for all of your 4Runner needs!! :thumb3:
 
chukrad said:
You will once I get some things done to the rig. Where do you recommend getting wheel balancing done at?
Click to expand...

My almost weekly routine is rotate and balance at Les Schwab for free since I bought the tires from them and then I bought lifetime alignment from Firestone so I take it there and have them align it. I do that about 3 times a month
 
Will you also go into more depth with your vibration issue?

If you've spent that much at schwab and they haven't found it, theres a problem...

I would take it to Firestone and get a complete car inspection for (i think) 30 bucks.
 
calling Firestone in the morning.

Vibration is noticeable @ 55+ mph. Not a constant vibration, more of a rhythmic shudder. Steering wheel follows the shudder. With clutch in vibration does not go away. Pretty sure that narrows it down to the front end. I realize I could have other issues, but would like to have the work verified by a reputable shop before I start looking at replacing other parts. Wouldn't be to happy if I replaced the whole front end chasing an issue that could have been resolved if the guy i paid $20-30 to balance the tires actually knew which end of a wrench to use. I enjoy working on cars. I would never take someones money to change their oil if I didn't know how to put the drain plug back in properly.

Bill ended up being $600 because they found parts that needed to be replaced. Tie rods and something else. I realize they are easy to do, but I've been waiting for the rain to stop long enough to replace idler arms on my old bmw and needed to have a working vehicle, so I ponied up the cash to have it done asap.

After reading all the horror stories I suspect that les schwab on Lombard may have pooched it. When I took the car in the for the appointment they didn't have any of the info I gave when I made the appointment. After first balance and alignment didn't resolve issue they said they would use their "special machine" for a road force test (why the F wouldn't they just do it right the first time), which also didn't correct the issue. That little exchange in association with stories I've read about the difference between hubcentric and lugcentric balancing leads me to believe they balanced the tires incorrectly.
 
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chukrad said:
calling Firestone in the morning.

Vibration is noticeable @ 55+ mph. Not a constant vibration, more of a rhythmic shudder. Steering wheel follows the shudder. With clutch in vibration does not go away. Pretty sure that narrows it down to the front end. I realize I could have other issues, but would like to have the work verified by a reputable shop before I start looking at replacing other parts. Wouldn't be to happy if I replaced the whole front end chasing an issue that could have been resolved if the guy i paid $20-30 to balance the tires actually knew which end of a wrench to use. I enjoy working on cars. I would never take someones money to change their oil if I didn't know how to put the drain plug back in properly.

Bill ended up being $600 because they found parts that needed to be replaced. Tie rods and something else. I realize they are easy to do, but I've been waiting for the rain to stop long enough to replace idler arms on my old bmw and needed to have a working vehicle, so I ponied up the cash to have it done asap.

After reading all the horror stories I suspect that les schwab on Lombard may have pooched it. When I took the car in the for the appointment they didn't have any of the info I gave when I made the appointment. After first balance and alignment didn't resolve issue they said they would use their "special machine" for a road force test (why the F wouldn't they just do it right the first time), which also didn't correct the issue. That little exchange in association with stories I've read about the difference between hubcentric and lugcentric balancing leads me to believe they balanced the tires incorrectly.
Click to expand...

Careful with the tie rods. That immediately threw a red flag up when you said that. Ive found that tie rods are one of the easier things to get customers on. Ive been told i need to change mine and then I take it to a friend who works for Toyota and he assures me they're fine.

Dont get the "i know somethings broken" bug. Sometimes, it just creaks and thats fine. :)
 
A10MileHusker said:
Careful with the tie rods. That immediately threw a red flag up when you said that. Ive found that tie rods are one of the easier things to get customers on. Ive been told i need to change mine and then I take it to a friend who works for Toyota and he assures me they're fine.

Dont get the "i know somethings broken" bug. Sometimes, it just creaks and thats fine. :)
Click to expand...

I've heard that before, the only reason I went ahead and gave them the green light was they claimed they would not be able to perform the alignment with the amount of play in the current rods. Which didn't sound too far fetched because I know that the PO never had them done and its sitting with about 200k on the odo.

How likely is it that warped rotors are causing this vibration at freeway speeds? If thats the case I would do the tundra brake upgrade this weekend.

update:

I drive german town everyday and noticed a slight vibration in the brakes after they got warmer than usual from having to follow Mr. McGoo all the way down to the bridge from skyline. So I went back up and heated them up good on the second trip down. Brake vibration increased and the freeway speed vibration was noticeable at lower speeds. Going forward with tundra upgrade this week. Ordered brembo blanks (ETA wednesday), gonna get remaned calipers from NAPA, and oem pads from the stealership.

One of the write ups I came across mentioned having to grind the caliper and wheels a bit for the 231mm setup to work with the 16" split 3 spokes. Anyone have any experience with this? How much grinding am I looking at?
 
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