1998 Toyota Tacoma vibration issues

I'll update tomorrow after I do a swap. Thanks for the help!

 

I had a pretty bad vibration that would come and go over a distance of 1 to 4 miles. Happened at speeds over 50 mph. It turned out to be the rear brakes. After one of those runs, I checked the rear rims with my hands. One was cool and the other was too hot to touch. Backed off the adjustment and the problem went away. But... problems that go away by themselves usually come back by themselves. Wish me luck!

 

Wheel bearings shouldn't be bad but you never know. But those would be noisy all the time. Thing about lifted pickups. You about rebuild the whole damn thing chasing down vibrations. Ask me. I know how that goes.

 

UPDATE: I took the truck to a tire service place in town that uses lug centric balancing methods. The problem seemed to have gone away at higher speeds 65-75 MPH but was still very prominent at lower speeds 35-65 MPH. I lifted the rear end of the truck with a forklift and ran the vehicle into low 2nd gear (25 MPH) and found that the vibration was still prominent even though the tires weren't even on the ground. I then took the driver's side wheel/drum off and found that there is oil in the drum. After further examination, I found that the wheel bearing had a very small amount of play in it and that the seal was shot. I cannot seem to get the race or the bearing off. I will be taking it to a machine shop to have it pressed off in the morning. I know that this may have caused a lot of the vibration, but I'm not sure if this is the source of all of it. I'm also going to crack open the rear diff tomorrow and will post and update with pictures.

 

how old are the wheel bearings? I assumed they were only a few months old at most

 

They are about 3-4 months old. I'm going to check the diff to see if there is anything causing abnormal wear

 

Doesn't matter if it was the source of the vibration. A rear wheel bearing that has noticeable play and/or a seal that leaks should be replaced.

Check the wheel cylinder by pulling the rubber back. If it is damp inside, replace the cylinder, and on both sides too.

And after you replace the cylinders and the brake shoes, verify that the emergency brake cables and cranks do not bind and are correctly adjusted.

 

Yes, I know that I need to replace the wheel bearing and seal if it's bad. Trust me, not the first time. I replaced the wheel bearing on the driver side today and was unable to check the diff due to the weather. The vibration (since that is what this thread was created for) has almost gone completely away. I am going to crack open the passenger side in the morning and see if it needs to be replaced again as well.

 

Just what make bearings failed after just a short time??

Something done wrong during the installation??

 

Does the vibe change frequency as you change speeds? Or is the vibe constant or intermittent?

The wheel bearings may not be THE cause of the vibe, but could certainly contribute to it.

If your wheel bearings are only lasting 3-4 months as you said, they were likely installed incorrectly. Maybe have a shop do it this time... at least then if something goes wrong again, you can make them do all the work again.

 

UPDATE: So I opened up the passenger side drum and found that the bearing was perfectly fine. I do believe that the driver side bearing went out due to a defective bearing seal, accompanied by a bad inner seal, that seemed to have a crack in it. I decided to remove the driveshaft from the transfer case to the rear differential completely. I changed the carrier bearing (for the 4th or 5th time) and set the driveshaft aside. I locked the truck into 4 wheel drive and drove it down the road only using the front wheel driveline and it had no vibration whatsoever. I put the driveshaft back on with the new carrier bearing and checked the pinion angles and the vibration returned. I am officially done with this driveshaft and carrier bearing so I ordered a new one today from Wholesaleimportparts.com (http://www.wholesaleimportparts.com/Toyota_Tacoma_Driveshaft_1998.php). This I found to be just a few bucks more than what most places around here would charge to redo the infamous double cardan joint. Also, considering the nearest place that could balance them is almost 50 miles away; I decided to bite the bullet and purchase a whole new one.

 

Well I wish you the best of luck with finally finding the fix. with your bit of lift I would still look at spacing the center down a bit to relieve some of the angle.

 

UPDATE: So my driveshaft came in and I have already installed it in the truck. The vibration is COMPLETELY gone! I also installed a 1" drop on the carrier bearing just to relieve that harsh angle. Another thing I wanted to note was the quality of the carrier bearing I received with my new driveshaft. It is a solid chunk of rubber with the bearing inside of it but the ones from part houses were hollow with the bearing suspended in the center. I feel this may have had a large effect on the vibration. I also rebuilt the rear drum brake system, changing the typical parts that you would change (wheel cylinders, hardware, shoes). Very happy to have it working properly and thanks for all the advice guys! Pictures of the new one are posted below.

 

That's great you fixed it. I have the same year, 5 speed V6 4x4. Previous owner also had for brains. How much lift do you have on your pickup? I don't have any vibes but the only thing I haven't put on there is a drop on the driveshaft carrier bearing. Rebuilt rear driveline did fix a lot of my vibe issues as well.

 

I don't know exactly what the lift is but I think it has either a 2" or 3" in the front and a 3" in the back.

 

Steering wheel movement/feeling should be a tire/balance issue,,, drive train issue should be able to to be felt in the seat of your pants/floor board while driving.
Have the tires, well crap, can't remember the name now,,,, "road forced balance"? I don't think that's the proper name.
If that's your tires you have on your truck now that are in the pic, they look like Goodyear wranglers. That's what i had on mine that had plenty of tread,,, junk,, shake you out of your seat, switched to Michliens,, smooth as silk.

 

is it while driving or when you try to brake? my 95 was doing that when I braked at high speeds an it was the brakes and rotors causing it

 

I'm inclined to think it's a moving mass. Is this truck new to you ? I was going to suggest the wrong lug nuts are causing the wheel to be put on slightly off center. But if it just started doing it we can rule that out. Have you tried coasting with engine off ? This will eliminate broken motor mounts etc. I don't think it's body mounts. Did someone put tire goop sealer in one of the tires and its now a glob, and off center ? The other thing you may try is to have the tire shop spin the tire bead on the rim to a different spot. Even though the tire balances out, it may be off center at the same exact spot the rim is off center.