Violent shaking when braking

nathanroyse

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Recently my 00’ 4Runner SR5 4wd has started to violently shake 90% of the time when braking. It happens at any speed. Just replaced front and rear drums/shoes pads/rotors hoping that it would fix my problem. Nope. i’m running 285/75/16 Ko2s. I have no idea what would cause this because everyone says it’s warped rotors but clearly it is not. I don’t feel any pulsating in the brake petal, the whole dashboard/car shake violently even when slowing down from ~30mph... Any suggestions?


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Recently my 00’ 4Runner SR5 4wd has started to violently shake 90% of the time when braking. It happens at any speed. Just replaced front and rear drums/shoes pads/rotors hoping that it would fix my problem. Nope. i’m running 285/75/16 Ko2s. I have no idea what would cause this because everyone says it’s warped rotors but clearly it is not. I don’t feel any pulsating in the brake petal, the whole dashboard/car shake violently even when slowing down from ~30mph... Any suggestions?


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You can rule out the rotors and drums by checking them with a dial indicator. Excessive runout on rotors and out of round drums will show up pretty easily. If they check out true, I'd be looking for loose / worn suspension components - especially up front. Loose tie rods, ball joints or suspension bushings can cause excessive shaking. I'd also check the wheel bearings and the steering rack.
 
Your wheels are rubbing, I'm willing to bet. Especially since you replaced the pads the calipers will push off the rotors more ever so slightly. Spray them with some paint, go for a drive a check if any rubbed off
 
Last edited:
Your wheels are rubbing, I'm willing to bet. Especially since you replaced the pads the calipers will push off the rotors more ever so slightly. Spray them with some paint, go for a drive a check if any rubbed off

I'm not seeing how doing front disk brake work changes the location of the wheels / tires relative to the hubs and fenders.
 
You can rule out the rotors and drums by checking them with a dial indicator. Excessive runout on rotors and out of round drums will show up pretty easily. If they check out true, I'd be looking for loose / worn suspension components - especially up front. Loose tie rods, ball joints or suspension bushings can cause excessive shaking. I'd also check the wheel bearings and the steering rack.


I’m gonna go ahead and rule out the braking system because they were all replaced very recently... under 500 miles ago. i replaced LBJs, inner/outer tie rods, steering rack bushings too. bushings all look okay they’re not falling apart or anything. my steering rack did recently start leaking


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No vibration issues during accelerating and cruising at any speed?


today it started to shake when decelerating and accelerating slowly. when i accelerated quickly it wouldn’t shake at all. which led me to believe it was a seized caliper... i but the bullet and did the tundra brake upgrade and it still does the shaking.... i guess i’ll replace the LCA bushings next.


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today it started to shake when decelerating and accelerating slowly. when i accelerated quickly it wouldn’t shake at all. which led me to believe it was a seized caliper... i but the bullet and did the tundra brake upgrade and it still does the shaking.... i guess i’ll replace the LCA bushings next.


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What you're doing is the very definition of "throwing parts at a problem." I never recommend that. I would get the truck up on a lift and do some serious poking and prodding underneath before you waste any more money. For instance, you said your steering rack was starting to leak. I'd take a close look at both the rack and the mounting bushings.
 
today it started to shake when decelerating and accelerating slowly. when i accelerated quickly it wouldn’t shake at all. which led me to believe it was a seized caliper... i but the bullet and did the tundra brake upgrade and it still does the shaking.... i guess i’ll replace the LCA bushings next.


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Any growling sounds from the hubs? First time I had a wheel bearing going out I had some shaking that got worse has it got worse.
 
Make sure your front brake caliper isn't loose.
Make sure your brake shoes aren't loose.
Make sure the rear trailing arms are tight.
Remove your driveshaft and check the u-joints.
Your vibrations could be due to a change of pinion angle while braking and accelerating.
If u-joints check out, check next in line which are trans mounts and motor mounts.
 
I’m gonna go ahead and rule out the braking system because they were all replaced very recently... under 500 miles ago. i replaced LBJs, inner/outer tie rods, steering rack bushings too. bushings all look okay they’re not falling apart or anything. my steering rack did recently start leaking


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What brand parts did you use? Have you pulled your rear drums off again to check for gear oil on them?

I replaced my front rotors with OEM toyota, and I had to resurface the rotors on the vehicle in order to get rid of all my vibration. Just because you put new parts on does not mean you put quality parts on. I won't use parts store drums because they all end up getting hot spots and/or warping on me within a year on any of my vehicles.

Leaking rear axle seals can causing vibration while braking as well.
 
When was the last time you greased the u-joints on the rear drive shaft? You can get drive line vibrations during acceleration and deceleration due to bad/worn u-joints. You can also remove the rear drive shaft, and drive in 4-High to see if the vibrations go away.

Mike
 
When was the last time you greased the u-joints on the rear drive shaft? You can get drive line vibrations during acceleration and deceleration due to bad/worn u-joints. You can also remove the rear drive shaft, and drive in 4-High to see if the vibrations go away.
Mike
If you do this and the vibrations don't go away or get worse, it could be your front drive shaft ujoints.
 
If you do this and the vibrations don't go away or get worse, it could be your front drive shaft ujoints.

That's a different issue all together. The front drive shaft isn't rotating in 2wd since it's rear wheel drive.

Mike
 
If he removes his rear drive shaft and drives it with 4wd selected then for sure the front drive shaft will be in use.

very true.
I dont think it is front drive shaft related.....what about wheel bearings ? If the shaking is that bad, wouldnt you be able to feel it in the ujoints without taking off the drive shaft...just grabbing hold of it at the ujoints and moving...or try to move....that always worked for me. I always manually rock/move/shake u joints when I am greesing a rig. Maybe that double joint is harder to tell.
In the 6 years I have had 4runners I only have had one really worn ujoint and that was the one right at the rear axel. Of course a lot depends on age, upkeep, and how hard it is played.
just thinking out loud...and dont really know...if the rear pinion bearing is going out, could that cause the vibration ?
 
If he removes his rear drive shaft and drives it with 4wd selected then for sure the front drive shaft will be in use.

You're missing the point.

He's having vibrations right now in 2wd. That means the front drive shaft isn't moving since it's rear wheel drive, and it isn't the issue since it's stationary. Putting it in 4wd would potentially make it an issue since the front drive shaft would then be spinning. Your trying to eliminate a 2wd vibration issue...not a 4wd vibration issue.

very true.
I dont think it is front drive shaft related.....what about wheel bearings ? If the shaking is that bad, wouldnt you be able to feel it in the ujoints without taking off the drive shaft...just grabbing hold of it at the ujoints and moving...or try to move....that always worked for me. I always manually rock/move/shake u joints when I am greesing a rig. Maybe that double joint is harder to tell.
In the 6 years I have had 4runners I only have had one really worn ujoint and that was the one right at the rear axel. Of course a lot depends on age, upkeep, and how hard it is played.
just thinking out loud...and dont really know...if the rear pinion bearing is going out, could that cause the vibration ?

Front wheel bearing going out will have a whine or low howl to them, and rears you'll see diff fluid on the wheels. Front might not cause much vibration, and the rears you'll feel in the seat. You can jack up the front and give the wheels a spin. If they're bad you'll it, but shouldn't make the vehicle shake violently. It could also be a CV that's bone dry, and about to break. I've had that happen to me, and it was pretty violent on the highway.

Mike
 
What you're doing is the very definition of "throwing parts at a problem." I never recommend that. I would get the truck up on a lift and do some serious poking and prodding underneath before you waste any more money. For instance, you said your steering rack was starting to leak. I'd take a close look at both the rack and the mounting bushings.


Yes and normally i wouldn’t do this but all the things that i am replacing would have to be replaced in the near future anyways. those brake calipers had almost 200k on them so it was probably a good thing to change anyways. I replaced my steering rack bushings when i bought the car 7 months ago.


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Last time this happen to me one of my tires was bad.


that’s a good point. i recently installed the camber/caster eliminating kit. i have kind of bad wear on my front tires. i’ll try rotating front to back and see if that makes a difference


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