Shuttering while driving.

T

trey99ek

New member
Hi all. Last week my 4runner was vibrating bad on the highway. I thought nothing of it and took it in to get the tired balanced and an alingment. The shop said all four tires need rebalanced however the alignment was fine. Today I was out driving my 4Runner and the exact same thing happened on my way to the store. However on my way home it was perfectly. Can you guys think of anything I should look into. I'm going to take it back to the shop that have them double-check it but I'm curious if there could be something else more serious wrong. Judst a little background it has BF Goodrich ko2s with only 12,000 miles on them. The shop said the vibration could be because they are known to cup. But I find it odd that it randomly occurs. Last year I replace the entire suspension with an OME kit and I recently replaced all brake rotors and pads. I took a short video of the shuttering but I got to figure out how to upload it. Any help would be appreciated.

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trey99ek said:
Hi all. Last week my 4runner was vibrating bad on the highway. I thought nothing of it and took it in to get the tired balanced and an alingment. The shop said all four tires need rebalanced however the alignment was fine. Today I was out driving my 4Runner and the exact same thing happened on my way to the store. However on my way home it was perfectly. Can you guys think of anything I should look into. I'm going to take it back to the shop that have them double-check it but I'm curious if there could be something else more serious wrong. Judst a little background it has BF Goodrich ko2s with only 12,000 miles on them. The shop said the vibration could be because they are known to cup. But I find it odd that it randomly occurs. Last year I replace the entire suspension with an OME kit and I recently replaced all brake rotors and pads. I took a short video of the shuttering but I got to figure out how to upload it. Any help would be appreciated.

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Can you feel it in the steering wheel? Does braking change the vibration rate?

Where/how is the vibration felt? Any noises with it?
 
NinjaOne said:
Can you feel it in the steering wheel? Does braking change the vibration rate?

Where/how is the vibration felt? Any noises with it?
Click to expand...
You can definitely feel it in the steering wheel. While it's doing it it shakes back and forth about a quarter of an inch. It gets worse when you break while it's doing it period when it's not doing it breaking is fine. It actually feels like the whole car is shuttering or jerking while it's doing it. There are no noises.

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trey99ek said:
You can definitely feel it in the steering wheel. While it's doing it it shakes back and forth about a quarter of an inch. It gets worse when you break while it's doing it period when it's not doing it breaking is fine. It actually feels like the whole car is shuttering or jerking while it's doing it. There are no noises.

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Warped front brake rotor(s) most likely. Mine is doing that too
 
Last edited:
Sounds like they did a hub centric tire balance

from the hole in the center of the rim instead of a lug centric balance which uses the lug holes to balance the tire.

Use this handy tool to find a shop near you that can the lug centric balance your tires..

https://www.hunter.com/gsp9700
 
NinjaOne said:
Warped front brake rotor(s) most likely. Mine is doing that too
Click to expand...
It does it while driving without breaking. Worse then breaking. It's inconsistent. The brakes (pads and rotors) only have 7 to 8k on them. I just lubes all the u joints. I won't be able to drive it until tomorrow.

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Surprised nobody has brought up the transmission "rumble strip" shudder issue. It could possibly be that.

Does the issue go away when you let off the gas?

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Pandora's box

I tell ya, you'll probably find 100 people here who've experienced the same issue with different culprits. Once vehicles start to age, it becomes harder and harder to pinpoint issues. Sometimes it might be the transmission, other times it could be steering components (inner/outer tie rods), the steering rack itself...the list goes on.

That said, like yourself, I too had a highway vibration issue that would come and go. I looked high and low and contemplated replacing things that probably didn't need to be replaced.

Curiously, like yourself, I too went back for multiple balances over the course of a couple of years. Each time they added more and more weight. I don't have the wheels any more, but at one point, a couple of them had a string of 4 long weights running inside almost a quarter of the wheel diameter. It was crazy. Long story short, I had a couple of warped wheels. They were original and after about 6 tire changes at various locations and possibly a curb here/there, they warped. The tires were nearly worn so I went ahead and bought new wheels/tires and I'll be damned, it's as smooth as silk now. Not a single vibration.

As for the randomness, I read somewhere...can't find the site right now and add the details...that at some point(s), despite the out of balance condition, they will be in harmony at certain points until you turn a corner and break the sync, bringing a return of the vibration.

Is this YOUR issue? Who knows. If you do happen to take it back for another balance, might be worth it to ask them to check the wheels.
 
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Mike07SE said:
Surprised nobody has brought up the transmission "rumble strip" shudder issue. It could possibly be that.

Does the issue go away when you let off the gas?

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I briefly read over that thread. I greased the joints but can't drive it until tomorrow. It does not seem to change on or off the gas when I noticed it. When 8 drove it this afternoon it was fine so I didn't get to try another gear. It did however do it this morning on my way to work.

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DEF4Runner said:
I tell ya, you'll probably find 100 people here who've experienced the same issue with different culprits. Once vehicles start to age, it becomes harder and harder to pinpoint issues. Sometimes it might be the transmission, other times it could be steering components (inner/outer tie rods), the steering rack itself...the list goes on.

That said, like yourself, I too had a highway vibration issue that would come and go. I looked high and low and contemplated replacing things that probably didn't need to be replaced.

Curiously, like yourself, I too went back for multiple balances over the course of a couple of years. Each time they added more and more weight. I don't have the wheels any more, but at one point, a couple of them had a string of 4 long weights running inside almost a quarter of the wheel diameter. It was crazy. Long story short, I had a couple of warped wheels. They were original and after about 6 tire changes at various locations and possibly a curb here/there, they warped. The tires were nearly worn so I went ahead and bought new wheels/tires and I'll be damned, it's as smooth as silk now. Not a single vibration.

As for the randomness, I read somewhere...can't find the site right now and add the details...that at some point(s), despite the out of balance condition, they will be in harmony at certain points until you turn a corner and break the sync, bringing a return of the vibration.

Is this YOUR issue? Who knows. If you do happen to take it back for another balance, might be worth it to ask them to check the wheels.
Click to expand...
I'm taking it back to the shop Monday. I'm hoping that is all it is. I checked from where they were balanced before since my wheels are dipped. They replaced all the weight with ones in different locations. No large weights at all. Stock wheels but 10 years old.

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I went back to the shop today. Surprisingly they re-balanced all 4 wheels and the alignment was off. The right front was toed in. Hopefully this fixes it. I didn't have to drive it. I only lived 2 miles from the shop.
 
Well it wasn't the alignment or the wheels. After having everything rechecked everything was within spec. I decided to tear the front end apart just to find out that one of my newly replaced brake calipers is stuck. Now I need to tear this thing apart and get a replacement for it however it is clamped so tight I can't get the brake pads out. Any tips would be great.

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trey99ek said:
Well it wasn't the alignment or the wheels. After having everything rechecked everything was within spec. I decided to tear the front end apart just to find out that one of my newly replaced brake calipers is stuck. Now I need to tear this thing apart and get a replacement for it however it is clamped so tight I can't get the brake pads out. Any tips would be great.

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check your wheel bearings too. im selling one from ebay if you are interested.

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trey99ek said:
Well it wasn't the alignment or the wheels. After having everything rechecked everything was within spec. I decided to tear the front end apart just to find out that one of my newly replaced brake calipers is stuck. Now I need to tear this thing apart and get a replacement for it however it is clamped so tight I can't get the brake pads out. Any tips would be great.

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Unbolt the caliper and persuade one side to shift up enough to compress the pad with a C-clamp.
 
Got them out. I'd say the one piston was seized. Shitty AutoZone remans. At least it's under warranty. If the rotor isn't warped I'm just putting on another caliper and pads. If it's warped I'm probably going g to do the 5th gen upgrade. I'd likely do it in the long run. But I don't have 400 in parts to Shell out on new rotors pads and calipers right now. Regardless I'll probably do that in the spring.
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Dollars to doughnuts says your rotors are fine. Break the glaze on the rotors with some sand paper before you re-install everything.

You may feel some shudder again but it doesn't mean your rotors are fakakta. They might have uneven pad material transfer. After a couple hundred miles of bedding in, get the truck up to 60 MPH (or higher) and stand on the brakes as hard as you can down to about 5 MPH (hopefully without stopping) and repeat until you can smell the brakes. The problem might feel worse while your doing this. Once you can smell the brakes drive around (hopefully without stopping) for 5 min or longer to let the rotors cool down. This should even out material deposition and should smooth out braking modulation. Honestly, anyone with brake judder should try this before replacing rotors. It works often enough.

... and if it doesn't fix the problem... they're warped.:ohwell:
 
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