Vibration at 65+ mph

[duke808]

Hi all,

I have a 2000 runner with 103k. I recently had all suspension replaced and U-Joints replaced. After I picked the car up and got it to 65, the car vibrates. I had the tires balanced and rotated, as well as an alignment. the problem still persists.

I'm getting annoyed because in the last 4 months I have had replaced: LBJs, U-Joints, all suspension, waterpump t-stat timing belt, 2 other belts, a whole lower control arm, trans fluid flushed, spark plugs. I think that's all.

Any ideas what could be causing this vibration? Bad alignment?? Shot tires?

 

[SpidermanGeek]

Tires can sometimes be hard to get properly balanced, especially if they are oversized. People recommend roadforce balancing.

Other than that, u-joints could still be the problem. Whoever replaced the u-joints may or may not have properly marked the diff before disassembling. Either that or the driveshaft balance was compromised during the procedure (being hit by a BFH for example).

Are you running hub spacers? After market wheels?

 

[duke808]

The wheels came off a newer 4runner 4th gen, but otherwise everything else on the car is stock. Tires are not huge, no lift, nothing.

 

[ghostmoney]

Could remove rear driveshaft if you have 4wd 4runner and put it in 4hi and go for a drive to rule out whether it is the rear driveshaft.

 

[duke808]

Could remove rear driveshaft if you have 4wd 4runner and put it in 4hi and go for a drive to rule out whether it is the rear driveshaft.

No 4wd on this one. Getting so sick of this car! I guess that's what I get for buying a 16 year old rig and thinking it'd be dependable! I suppose I can live with the vibration. I'll kick this thing if I have to put any more $ into it.. hoping it was a bad alignment.

 

[RogueYota]

Could be as simple as a weight fell off one of your wheels. I'd go in and have them roadforce balance your tires just in case. I had a vibe on my Tacoma and I had just knocked one of the wheel weights off when wheeling.

 

[Merninater]

I cannot attest to the 4th gen wheels you are running but I had a similar problem on my 02 with the stock 5 star wheels. It came down to I had to take it to the dealership and specifically tell them I need a roadforce balance of the tires using the Haweka adapter with the correct size plugs/tips on it.

If you have a small shop use the Haweka adapter make sure they have the correct plugs on it that snugly fit into your lug holes. I had a small shop use it with smaller plugs that were not snug and it essentially made the Haweka useless.

Myself and a few others on here gave up on this issue and had the dealership do the Haweka balance and that solved the problem. With that said be cautious of going this route (80-90 dollars) because you have different wheels and I do not know anything about those having balance issues.

 

[duke808]

Could be as simple as a weight fell off one of your wheels. I'd go in and have them roadforce balance your tires just in case. I had a vibe on my Tacoma and I had just knocked one of the wheel weights off when wheeling.

what concerns me is this vibration started immediately after I picked it up from the shop after the suspension and u-joints were replaced. so I can narrow it down to the work done there, or the alignment getting knocked out after replacing suspension. I would think..

 

[foo]

what concerns me is this vibration started immediately after I picked it up from the shop after the suspension and u-joints were replaced. so I can narrow it down to the work done there, or the alignment getting knocked out after replacing suspension. I would think..

Unfortunately for you, the proof is the hard part (as always).

Maybe the right-hand-side purple "vehicle service" section of this Tire Rack Vibration Analysis Flow Chart will help you prove it to the shop?

 

[RogueYota]

what concerns me is this vibration started immediately after I picked it up from the shop after the suspension and u-joints were replaced. so I can narrow it down to the work done there, or the alignment getting knocked out after replacing suspension. I would think..

That's a good point. One fairly easy way to check would be to rotate your tires front to rear and see if it still happens. An out of balance wheel on the rear won't be as noticeable as one on the front.

 

[ghostmoney]

what concerns me is this vibration started immediately after I picked it up from the shop after the suspension and u-joints were replaced. so I can narrow it down to the work done there, or the alignment getting knocked out after replacing suspension. I would think..

What did you replace after the alignment? If you had the ball joints and lower control arm replaced after alignment and never got it realigned then that could be your problem.

 

[duke808]

What did you replace after the alignment? If you had the ball joints and lower control arm replaced after alignment and never got it realigned then that could be your problem.

Here's the timeline -

bought car June 2016
LBJ July
-no vibrations still-
Suspension/U-joints done October
-vibration starts right after I pick up-
the entire LCA replaced & THEN alignment one week ago
-vibration still there-

 

[1985taylor1925]

No 4wd on this one. Getting so sick of this car! I guess that's what I get for buying a 16 year old rig and thinking it'd be dependable! I suppose I can live with the vibration. I'll kick this thing if I have to put any more $ into it.. hoping it was a bad alignment.

A high speed vibration does not mean the truck is not reliable. These trucks have their issues but they are very reliable for the most part.

That being said I have the same 65+ vibration and I absolutely understand how annoying it is. Tire vibrations typically start to calm down past 65. Once you get up to 80 they become almost non existent. If your vibration is like mine, it gets worse the faster you go, rather than better. That kind of vibration has to be a spinning part. I would say the driveshaft/u joint. I recently changed my rear u joint, and my vibration changed, and actually got slightly worse. Sounds like the same thing happened with your truck. Why don't you go back to the shop and tell them about the vibration?

 

[duke808]

A high speed vibration does not mean the truck is not reliable. These trucks have their issues but they are very reliable for the most part.

That being said I have the same 65+ vibration and I absolutely understand how annoying it is. Tire vibrations typically start to calm down past 65. Once you get up to 80 they become almost non existent. If your vibration is like mine, it gets worse the faster you go, rather than better. That kind of vibration has to be a spinning part. I would say the driveshaft/u joint. I recently changed my rear u joint, and my vibration changed, and actually got slightly worse. Sounds like the same thing happened with your truck. Why don't you go back to the shop and tell them about the vibration?

Yeah I called the dude today at the shop and he said he doesn't think it'd be the U-joint since he just replaced them (shocking -_-) but he said he would look at it next week. I told him this issue started right after he replaced those parts so I am hoping he will find whatever the issue may be....

If it was the U-joint what does he do, reinstall them? What's the fix if they're brand new?

 

[SpidermanGeek]

If it was the U-joint what does he do, reinstall them? What's the fix if they're brand new?

First and foremost, what brand did they use?
Secondly, the driveshaft may just need a rebalancing (although word is that Toyota shafts are PITA to balance properly).
Thirdly, maybe the front u-joint on the assembly needs replacement?

 

[duke808]

First and foremost, what brand did they use?
Secondly, the driveshaft may just need a rebalancing (although word is that Toyota shafts are PITA to balance properly).
Thirdly, maybe the front u-joint on the assembly needs replacement?

I have no idea what brand he used. it's a japanese auto repair shop, not that that'd help haha. All I know is it started right after he replaced suspension and ujoint.

I'm leaving my job at the end of this month and hitting the road in February for what could be 8,000+ miles, so i'd LOVE to get this car fixed once and for all. every time i take it in, something else pops up. if he can't fix it next week, then screw it, i'll live with the vibration rather than chase it down by throwing $ away. :frusty::frusty::frusty:

ill keep you all updated. :yuck:

 

[diverscale]

to all saying ''tires'': It's pretty easy to know if vibrations come from tires or driveline, even for the novice. Driveline components that could cause vibes are rotating at a much faster speed than a tire. Driveline vibration are real vibrations, often coming with a deep noise. Tire vibes are low hertz, much lower than driveline vibes.

And driveline vibrations are one of the hardest problem to pin point side by side with electrical problems. It's not so easy as rebalancing or putting on new tires 99% of times.

If it can help you, I had vibrations on mine, from 65+mph. Had two causes. First fixed the rear u-joint, which made the problem better, but did not disappear, even made it sharper at 75 mph. The second problem was the bad transfer case harmonic damper, which fixed my problem. It took a while to find, lot of driveshaft swapping, acceleration on jack stands, and multiple troubleshooting sessions. Tires are pretty much the easiest thing to rule out in this situation.

 

[duke808]

Feel for you man. Been living in Highway Vibration City ever since I trusted a shop to replace my 3 u-joints a couple months back.

Read this:
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-gen-t4rs/186667-rearmost-ujoint-writeup.html

I added to the post about my rear u-joint experience.

Also if you have highway vibe right after picked up then:

1) U-joint(s) missing c-clip or threw one?
2) Rear u-joint is POS Matsuba or similar with c-clips too thin and not indexed to cap grooves allowing excessive freeplay?
3) Driveshafts not matchmarked on disassembly and reassembled out of phase? Maybe 180 out of phase? Where are your zerks? Do they match the locations in the FSM diagrams?
4) Rear drive shaft over greased and bent on aggressive test drive?
5) Flange to yoke not matchmarked and now your stuck with some vibrations you never had before potentially forever cause someone was to lazy or ignorant to matchmark yoke to flanges?
5) Yoke and flange hardware missing or installed out of sequence like lockwashers missing or on wrong end?
6) Yokes damaged in vice?
7) Front driveshaft installed backwards?
8) Flange yokes mixed-and-matched on the bench during disassembly/reassembly? Is same part for all 3 u-joints & yokes on 4WD 3rd gen.
9) Shaft ears bent and no longer true?
10 Ear ovalling?
11) Factory shaft balance weights knocked off?
12) Drive shaft dropped while in shop? Inspect for signs of drop damage.

This adventure is Pandora's box if there ever was one.

holy sh!T!

Well since it rode smooth as butter at 85 before u joint replacement, I'd think that's the culprit. getting the shop to fix it for free may be a whole other issue.

 

[Scramble]

I'm surprised no one mentioned the double cardan joint. 9 times out of 10 that's what causes our vibrations.

 

[duke808]

Yeah, I rode smooth up to hitting the speed limiter (test purposes only) before monkeys played with my driveline. Slowly this is getting resolved but may never be the same and let's not even mention the time and money.

If they didn't put in an OEM Toyota u-joint, then chances are the c-clips thickness are not indexed to the cap grooves width and that is where some or all of your new vibrations are coming from.

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-gen-t4rs/186667-rearmost-ujoint-writeup.html#post2543914

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-gen-t4rs/227093-driveshaft-options-questions-3.html#post2504337

It doesn't help that the only thing I know how to do on a car is change the oil and brakes. DOn't even know what the hell a ujoint is. Anyways, hoping I can learn to live with it, because I feel ya. chasing noises is one thing, but vibrations actually does annoy the hell out of me. I'll learn to live with it if the shop cannot fix off the bat.

turn that music up!

edit: ill also check to see if they used OEM.