Vibrating 4WD Knob - Driveline Question

[treverd]

Just picked up my 99' Limited.
134k Miles.

Around 65-70 a slight vibration occurs. Enough to make the steering wheel shimmy slightly. It is not enough to really cause major concern.

From what I have read this is typically caused by worn out U-Joints and possibly unbalanced drive shaft. I plan on taking it to a drive line shop to get the U-joints replaced as well as the drive shaft balanced.
If not complete cured I will have the tires balanced to see it that helps.

My question: is it typical to have a pretty good about of vibration coming through the 4wd knob?
It doesn't physically move a whole lot but if I put my hand on it at highway speeds there is a good about of vibration coming through it.

Thanks.

 

[nissanh]

Yes, the 4wd shift lever is right on the transmission so when engine vibrates transmission and the 4wd shift lever will also vibrate.

The vibration you state can also come from the drive shaft. With that low miles, I wonder how that happened. Did you try to grease it? Do it and feel how it drives.

Aftermarket U-joints really not going to eliminate the vibration 100%. I did it once and didn't work. Then went with an OEM good used drive shaft from another runner. All went so smooth. If you are interested I have a good used complete drive shaft for 99+ models for sale.

 

[TheDurk]

Don't rule out wheel balance, steering rack bushings, or TRE's with that symptom set. I had that issue, fixed it, and never touched my driveshaft.

What I mean to say is you should rule those out, unless you can see a real problem in the U-joints.

 

[PWD4R]

Definitely agree to check the tire balancing first. That's cheap and I would say that will be the solution over 80% of the time.

Ps. That number is just s rough number and has no statistical data to support it. Grain of salt..


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[DK327]

Agreed on the tire balance... Could even be the tire(s) itself. If your steering wheel is vibrating the front tire(s) might be the culprit. Is the vehicle pulling to the right/left when on highway? Also, my 4WD knob always vibrates, even while the vehicle is idling, I always thought this was normal since it's directly connected to the trans as stated? After I got mine, 1st thing I did was replace and balance all 5 tires then get an alignment. The amount of suspension/front end maintenance/upgrade you'll eventually do to this truck, it pays to get lifetime alignment from TiresPlus or wherever. Having tires balanced on a Hunter machine is best, so I hear...

 

[chimpy]

Cheapest option first, I say. Rotate the the tires and see if the vibration stays up front. Does this 4runner have a lift? I bought my 2001 SR5 4x4 with 150,000 miles on the clock and then put a 3" lift kit on at about 165,000 miles. The TREs were already aged and had seen quite a few miles. I now have a little over 200,000 on the 4runner and will be replacing the inner/outer TREs next week while I am on vacation. I will also be replacing the steering rack bushings, LBJs and CVs.

 

[mtbtim]

With the symptoms you have described, I'd definitely check the tire balancing first like others have recommended. It's the easiest and most affordable thing for you to check before you start getting driveshafts balanced, and bushings and parts replaced on your front end.

Your truck doesn't have a lot of miles on it so I'd be surprised if your tie rods are already shot or you need to replace steering rack bushings. A symptom of worn steering rack bushings is a less responsive steering response. I don't know if worn steering rack bushings can cause a vibration in the steering. Since the truck is new to you, you don't know what's normal for these trucks. But, if you really want to know if the steering rack bushings are toast, have somebody start the vehicle while you're looking under the rig (you'll be in between the tires looking forward at the steering rack) and then have them turn the wheel back and forth. If you see gross movement of the rack back in forth, your bushings are toast. With good bushings, you'll have a tiny bit of movement but major movement means the bushings are worn.

Our trucks are body of frame so you are going to see movement in the shifters as you're driving. My 4wd shifter vibrates too but not a noticeable amount more at a certain speed. The front end movement from out of balance tires could be transferring that vibration to the drivetrain and that's why you're feeling it the shifter.

You came to the right forum for advice. Do yourself a favor and start researching some of the things you might want to be looking at as preventative maintenance for our rigs. Start simple with some fluid changes, filter changes, and greasing u-joints. Then maybe look into other things like replacing plug and wires, cleaning the Mass Air Flow Sensor and Throttle Body, and replacing the fuel filter.

Good luck!

 

[gamefreakgc]

Don't rule out wheel balance, steering rack bushings, or TRE's with that symptom set. I had that issue, fixed it, and never touched my driveshaft.

What I mean to say is you should rule those out, unless you can see a real problem in the U-joints.

Same here. Turned out to be my tires mostly, but my tie rods were also bad. Then my steering rack went out on me too.

I've never touched the driveline beyond greasing it.