My wife has a 02 4runner 2WD. A few months ago she noticed a vibration and took it to the shop. The shop told her the drive shaft was bad. We did not replace the drive shaft, but I did replace both front and rear universal joints. The universal joints helped out tremendously, but did not totally cure the problem. My question, the shop told my wife that the rubber between the outer and inner part of the drive shart was "bad", causing the vibration. Never heard of a drive shaft just going bad. I have heard of them getting bent or wieghts falling off. Anyway, is this normal for a Toyota driveshaft? The tires have been checked, thats not the issue. Hope someone can help me. If it is the drive shaft and its out of balance, can I have it balanced? Thanks in advance!!
Vibration....Please Help!!!
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kennyb3030
New member
been there done that, i had vibration and the machine shop said the rubber in my driveshaft was wore out so they replaced it and balanced my driveshaft. but guess what, im still vibrating a little. after new tires, new u joints, road force balance, an alighnment, and now gona have the front wheel bearings replaced since they are shot anyway.is this doesnt fix the vibe i might just have to live with it 
been there done that, i had vibration and the machine shop said the rubber in my driveshaft was wore out so they replaced it and balanced my driveshaft. but guess what, im still vibrating a little. after new tires, new u joints, road force balance, an alighnment, and now gona have the front wheel bearings replaced since they are shot anyway.is this doesnt fix the vibe i might just have to live with it
Did they replace the rubber in your old driveshaft? If so, how did they do that. or did you get a brand new drive shaft? Dont want to spend the money on a drive shaft if it is something else. Thanks!!!
kennyb3030
New member
new shaft is what i meant, sorry
4rbcool
New member
I just went through a similar issue with vibration on my steering wheel on my LC. After checking balance several time and all front end parts, switch tires that they said were out of round based on 1st Toyota dealer recommendations still the vibration was present at 65 to 72 mph. Went to another Toyota dealer as a last resort he did the road force balance the same as two other shops including the 1st toy dealer. Couldn't believe it he balanced it and said must shops don't calibrate their equipment. I can't tell you how much time was spent chasing this down. I also think some techs just don't know how to properly use their equipment. JMO
Eddie Cannon
New member
I had a similar vibration issue on an 02 2 wheel drive. The problem started with worn out u-joints. This is my daughters car and she is away at school. I had a local shop there replace the u-joints and the problem was better but still there. I then sent the truck to the local Toyota dealer and they replaced the joints again with no improvement. I had her bring the car home and gave her my 09 4 runner to drive. The truck had a substantial vibration between 60 and 70 MPH. It was a drive train vibration so I pulled the drivshaft and took it to Drive Line Service of Atlanta. They told me that Toyota shafts are known for this issue. They had to replace the joints and they used select fit clips to properly tension the joints and rebalance the shaft. They told me they do all the Toyota driveshafts for the local dealers there. This took out 90% of the vibration. I then replaced the rear trans mount I thought it felt soft. I also rebalanced the tires on a late model precision balancer a friend of mine had. This fixed the issue. I have replaced many u-joints in the past and not had any issues. The Toyota shaft is a 2 piece unit bonded together with rubber one shaft inside the other. That makes it a fairly heavy shaft and it is critical it runs on true center. The driveshaft boys knew what they were talking about and got it running smooth.
Eddie Cannon
Eddie Cannon
groober
New member
I don't know if you've ruled this out, but I'd have the rotors turned. If they become even slightly warped they "can" produce a vibration above out of balance speeds.
etc.
Member
Rotors should be replaced if they are warped. But from recent research that is a problem with these trucks.
Also, must driveline shops dont have the equipment to spin a driveshaft to the needed speed to balance the driveshaft.
A free option is to remove the driveshaft and turn it 180* and reinstall.
What do the front end parts look like?
This is something I have experienced with my Caprice...
While driving on the highway (80+ mph) and I have the windows down, I get a small shimmy.
what does spinning the drive shaft 180 degrees do? its still rotating
downpour11
New member
He's talking about separating the drive shaft and rotating the splined portion 180 degrees, my guess referring to a balancing issue. Though the splines could be messed up anyway, which I have seen and will cause a vibration. Anyway, I wonder what the solution was. Old thread.
