Odd grinding sensation at 20mph

F

fdbyrne

New member
I'm hoping that you can help me diagnose this weird grinding sensation that I get right at about 20mph and slightly under. I don't notice it while accelerating, probably because you blow right through 20mph pretty quick. I do notice it when decelerating or just driving through a parking lot.

I can feel it in the steering wheel and in the floorboard / pedals. I can't really hear it with either the windows up or down.

When decelerating it starts right around 20mph and continues even if I let my foot off of the brake. It does get smooth again under 10 mph.

It doesn't seem to happen any less if I'm turning in either direction.

I have no lift and my tires are not aggressive.

It feels like it's coming from the front half of the truck but I have no way to be sure.

I really don't know what it is, but I know what it isn't. Within the last few months, I've replaced my entire front end. The bearings, axles, tie rods, ball joints, control arm bushings, rotors, pads, and calipers are all brand new so I'm pretty sure that I can rule those out. The truck is also freshly aligned.
The fluid in both differentials and the transfer case were recently changed and nothing out of the ordinary was found in the fluid or on the magnets.

Any guesses on the culprit?

The strange thing is that my old 95 Tacoma 4x4 did the exact same thing.
 
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did you check to see if the axle boots are in good shape? You mentioned that you recently replaced the axles (I am assuming you mean front CV axles) however boots can tear and CV joints can wear out. If these are after market CV axles they are more likely to fail prematurely.
 
Good point.

They are aftermarket shafts, but the boots are in fine shape. Once CV axle is only 2 weeks old. The other is about a month old. The sound didn't change at all when they were replaced.

For the record, not that it matters, I replaced both of them for legitimate reasons. I wasn't just replacing my front end, piece by piece hoping the sound goes away. The boot on one of the shafts was torn when I got it. I had no way of knowing how long it had been torn, so I replaced it. The other one had different issues, but that's a long story.
 
Thanks.

Both front bearings are brand new and replacing them didn't change the problem at all.

Is there a particular part of the front differential that you think might be the problem?
 
fdbyrne said:
I'm hoping that you can help me diagnose this weird grinding sensation that I get right at about 20mph and slightly under. I don't notice it while accelerating, probably because you blow right through 20mph pretty quick. I do notice it when decelerating or just driving through a parking lot.

I can feel it in the steering wheel and in the floorboard / pedals. I can't really hear it with either the windows up or down.

When decelerating it starts right around 20mph and continues even if I let my foot off of the brake. It does get smooth again under 10 mph.

It doesn't seem to happen any less if I'm turning in either direction.

I have no lift and my tires are not aggressive.

It feels like it's coming from the front half of the truck but I have no way to be sure.

I really don't know what it is, but I know what it isn't. Within the last few months, I've replaced my entire front end. The bearings, axles, tie rods, ball joints, control arm bushings, rotors, pads, and calipers are all brand new so I'm pretty sure that I can rule those out. The truck is also freshly aligned.
The fluid in both differentials and the transfer case were recently changed and nothing out of the ordinary was found in the fluid or on the magnets.

Any guesses on the culprit?

The strange thing is that my old 95 Tacoma 4x4 did the exact same thing.
Click to expand...

You know, I recently started experiencing something very similar. I would not call it "grinding sensation" but rather light shuddering of some sort. It happens right around 20 mph only when I'm cruising down the street, mostly around playgrounds or school zones. It is definitely speed dependent since I don't notice it when I drive slower or faster. I have no idea what it can be, but it appears to started around same time as I installed Toytec Ultimate lift, or changed tires. I also have brand new brakes upfront including calipers/rotors. My axles are 1 year old (NAPA) and the boots were just checked for leaks, repacked and re-banded.
 
I'm sorry you have a problem too.

Sounds and vibrations are hard to describe. To me it feels like a grinding sensation but I couldn't also describe it as a steered wheel vibration.

One of the things that really has me puzzled is that my old Tacoma did it too. I never did find out what was causing it.
 
I'd drop the front driveshaft and see if anything is different. If not, I wonder if there is a way to stop the front diff from spinning while driving?
 
fdbyrne said:
Thanks.

Both front bearings are brand new and replacing them didn't change the problem at all.

Is there a particular part of the front differential that you think might be the problem?
Click to expand...

Sorry, missed that.

Mine started doing this right after swapping tires and it feels like wheel bearing to me. Will know more this weekend.

I'm not exactly sure how to diagnose the front diff. But I think you would want it on a lift and in 4Hi to engage the front diff and check for excess vibration or noise?

When you had the wheel bearings replaced, did you change the whole hub and bearing assembly or have the new bearing pressed in?

I might still check the front bearings to rule them out, based on your description its wheel speed related, right?
 
When I did my bearings I bought the whole assembly from NJ636, here on this forum. A lot of people have used his assemblies. He does good work.

One possibility is that I over torqued my axle nuts afterwards. They should be torqued to 173 ft. lbs. but I only had a torque wrench that would go to 150. I torqued them to 150 then gave them a quarter turn with a breaker bar. I did finally get a 250 lb wrench today and retorqued them to spec. They were definitely too tight.
 
I replaced both front wheel bearings which significantly reduced the noise and vibration.

However ther is still a fairly noticeable amount remaining around the 30mph mark. Same whether 2 Hi or 4Hi.

I'm going to swap back to other ties on the front and see if that is it.

Would be strange since I'm on cooper at3 now and my other tires are ST Maxx, but that changeover to at3 is when this became more pronounced.
 
Replaced both front wheel bearings, helped with some of the vibration through the steering wheel and braking while on highway.

Still have the growly noise at 32 and 42 mph. Sounds like it's from the rear passenger side. Going to the shop tomorrow for professional opinion.
 
Yep, that fixed t, rear wheel bearing was the culprit.

Lots of noise and vibration, 32 and 42 mph, felt mostly in the front floor and pedals.
 
Congratulations. Did you do it yourself or did you take it to the shop? I plan on doing mine soon any would appreciate any pointers.
 
I finally figured this one out. It was a combination of two things.

I had a bad tire. New tires took care of some of it.

I had way too much play where the CV shaft goes into the differential. I swapped the needle bearing that supports the CV shaft out for an ECGS bushing. Now it's smooth as glass.

I couldn't be happier.
 
Good news !! It's great when it's resolved.

Did you replace both sides or was that only on the drivers side needle beating?
 
Only the driver's side. The passenger side doesn't use a needle bearing to support the shaft. That side has a full blown ball bearing setup that rarely gives anyone trouble.
 
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