BulletBarry
New member
A couple of months ago, I had a driveline vibration in my 2001 SR5 Sport 2WD Automatic 3.4L. It was a lower frequency vibration that only happened during acceleration. The vibration did not vary with speed of the vehicle or engine, or with which gear I was in. This turned out to be a U-joint, so I replaced them both.
Not too long after having the U-joints replaced, another more subtle vibration became obvious. It started at about 60 mph and faster, and was not dependant on whether the truck was accelerating, decelerating, or maintaining speed. Upon inspection, there was oil seeping out of the driver side rear axle seal and rumbling was apparent when turning the tire. It seemed obvious that this rear axle bearing needed to be replaced, and so it was. Symptoms got better, but were still there. I suspected the passenger side axle bearing.
I took the 4Runner back to the tire place and asked them to carefully balance the tires and then after a drive, rotate the tires front-to-rear. The symptom remains. So I went back to the place that replaced the U-joints and driver side axle bearing. Upon thoroughly diagnosing, including running at highway speeds while on the rack and listening with a stethoscope, no conclusive cause was found. They do not believe that it is passenger side axle bearing and said the tires were fine.
Since the vibration is not severe, now occurs between 60 and 70 mph and again above 80, I took the truck on a 2000 mile trip. The mechanics did not believe a failure was imminent and the trip went fine. It was suggested that a differential bearing might be the culprit, but we could not tell for sure without taking the differential apart (an expensive proposition). This was in mid December. Nothing has changed since then, but I would like to get this issue resolved as it is annoying and, I believe, will eventually get worse. Does anyone have any ideas as to a possible cause and/or a shop in the Orlando area that might be adept at diagnosing such a problem?
Thank you in advance for any input.
Not too long after having the U-joints replaced, another more subtle vibration became obvious. It started at about 60 mph and faster, and was not dependant on whether the truck was accelerating, decelerating, or maintaining speed. Upon inspection, there was oil seeping out of the driver side rear axle seal and rumbling was apparent when turning the tire. It seemed obvious that this rear axle bearing needed to be replaced, and so it was. Symptoms got better, but were still there. I suspected the passenger side axle bearing.
I took the 4Runner back to the tire place and asked them to carefully balance the tires and then after a drive, rotate the tires front-to-rear. The symptom remains. So I went back to the place that replaced the U-joints and driver side axle bearing. Upon thoroughly diagnosing, including running at highway speeds while on the rack and listening with a stethoscope, no conclusive cause was found. They do not believe that it is passenger side axle bearing and said the tires were fine.
Since the vibration is not severe, now occurs between 60 and 70 mph and again above 80, I took the truck on a 2000 mile trip. The mechanics did not believe a failure was imminent and the trip went fine. It was suggested that a differential bearing might be the culprit, but we could not tell for sure without taking the differential apart (an expensive proposition). This was in mid December. Nothing has changed since then, but I would like to get this issue resolved as it is annoying and, I believe, will eventually get worse. Does anyone have any ideas as to a possible cause and/or a shop in the Orlando area that might be adept at diagnosing such a problem?
Thank you in advance for any input.
