Shaking like a puppy tryna pass a peach pit

Update:

It’s been a minute and sometimes life gets busy! I found the issue to be a three fold combo.

1. Tires were never properly balanced

2. Whoever installed the tires, did not reinstall the wheels properly on he non-hub centric wheel spacers. I purchased new hub centric spacers and this helped immensely

3. The carrier bearing was worn to the point of chasing a vibration. Now that it’s been replaced, it is butter smooth.

Lastly, I will replace the steering rack and replace the shot bushings with energy suspension.

Thanks all for the help!!

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I've got a high speed vibration problem. I've searched the old threads and will begin to trouble shoot and update this thread as I hopefully find and fix the issue.

My 1st gen with 210K has '05 wheels and 1.5" spacers to deal with the difference in second gen offset. There's always been a little vibration between 60-65 that clears up after speeds increase. I've lived with it.

Last month I replaced shot tires with Mastercraft 265/70R17. My buddy's son works at a tire distributer and I landed a good deal (they don't install). The shop that did install them did late in the day and after install, the steering wheel shook at 45 or above. I don't think they even balanced them.

Figuring it was time with 200K+ to change ball joints / tie rod ends, I ordered a kit, took it to a new shop and had the parts installed AND requested a tire balance. I also replaced the front rotors for the third time of ownership and they warp after about 30-40K.

It's marginally better. At speeds less than 50, the almost no vibration is noticeable except when slowing to a stop if feels like the rear wheels are oval shaped. Overall steering is tighter with the new front end components. But at highway speeds, there is some vibration in the wheel, mostly concentrated within the cab of the truck.

Yesterday I put my truck up on a lift to take a look. Wheel bearings have no play, with the exception of the rear drivers side. There was the very slightest hint of movement. I removed the wheel, spacer, and drum to inspect. Nothing visible and after re-install, the play seemed to be removed... The driveshaft does have about 3/4 of an inch of play within the carrier bearing. I can physically push up the driveshaft The rear transmission mount seems solid.

Plan is to replace carrier bearing, transmission mount (at least I'll remove the clunk when I put the truck into gear), and get another tire balance (another buddy works at a BMW dealership and has access to a nice machine).

Updates to follow.

 

Check the steering rack bushings, looked under the truck while someone turns the wheel see if there is excessive play in rack movement

 

I’ll check it out thank you. Wondering if a rack could cause this. I know it needs to be replaced as it leaks and causes the power steering pump to whine in cold temps. I’ve replaced two pumps already

 

Well if the bushings are shot it'll act similar to tie rods being shot.

 

Since you had minor vibes before, your carrier bearing is a good place to start.

I'm not familiar with those specific tires, but I know there are tires out there that people have reported to be near impossible to get balanced properly or require a TON of weights to balance. This is what happens with discount/cheap tires.

Seeing as how you are considering taking it in for a THIRD balance, that's either not the problem, our your town is filled with idiots who can't balance tires. I'm honestly not sure taking your truck tires to a BMW shop is going to get better results. You don't need a fancy expensive balancing machine to properly balance big tires. Skill and experience with truck tires is what you need. You really should take it to an off-road/truck specialist.

Also, your BJs and TREs likely doing have anything to do with your vibes, but what kit did you order for the balljoints and tie rods? The "kits" I've seen are usually the Ebay/Chinese junk where you get a kit with tie rods, ball joints, etc... for like $50. Read up on balljoint failures with the 1st gens and that should convince you not to cheap out on those parts. OEM is best, but also pricey. The minimum quality I would consider for ball joints would be Moogs. I've run Moogs and they're fine, currently I have 555 and are almost half the cost of OEM (555 is also an OEM manufacturer for Toyota).

 

I installed falken at3s and had hell getting them to balance. 2 of the wheels had heavy spots and it never would ride correctly. Falken replaced them under warranty and I put the stock tires back on. May want to check all your tires.

 

Liked for the title! I've heard peach pit and shitting razor blades, either one gets the point across. Good luck with the fix!

 

My truck (02 with around 280K miles) was shaking pretty badly between 65-70 mph before I converted from Prerunner to 4x.

Part of my swap was carrier bearing and trans mount... they were both worn out. It's smooth as butter at all speeds now.

My money is on the Carrier Bearing and Trans mount.

 

Tires, no jueno

 

Title made me think of a similar saying. Shaking like a dog shittin razor blades.

 

How do you describe the "vibration"? Is it a rumble strip type of vibration? Is it more of a shimmy of the steering wheel side to side? Is it an up and down type of oscillation of the tires? Is there an accompanying squeak or clunk/ clang from the drive shaft U-joints or vibration of the rear view mirror? That may have explained the original vibration. The new tires seem to have made the problem worse, so balance, out of round/defective tires, bent on install rim(s), are all possibilities. As has been said , there have been many instances recently of bad brand new tires and poor balancing. I may have missed it in your post, but you did have it aligned after all that front end work? Are the spacers you are using the correct type for this truck? Some spacers are lug centered and some are hub centered?

 

Before much more else I would try swapping front tires and wheels to back and the backs to the front. And then drive and see if vibes stay or move with the tires/wheels. Could help further diagnosing

 

I’m sorry, the TRE/BJs do or do not have anything to do with it? The steering is much much tighter and yes, it was an Amazon kit. However they did send the 2wd upper BJs I had to buy the pre runner specifics are they’re different

 

I still haven’t taken it in for a third balance

 

I’m about to order them and swap early next week

 

Yes, I did have an alignment after the front end install. I actually took it back to the shop as the steering wheel was 30 degrees off. It’s better but not perfect.

At 55 the vibration starts. Not so much as a back and forth in the wheel but you can feel it there. At greater speeds, the whole cab of the truck shakes, feels like truck it coming apart. You know, I haven’t paid attention to the rearview mirror but I’ll look when I drive to work on Monday.

Every once and a while on very smooth highway and going around curves at highway speeds, the vibration smooths out but returns when going straight.

 

The balljoints likely don't have much, if anything to do with the vibes (sorry for the typo in my previous post), since you had the vibes before and after you had them installed. It's more likely related to your tires, IMO. I would think that even with cheap TREs and BJs they would at least get rid of the vibes (if that were the issue). There are also your inner tie rods that can, and do, wear out, so not sure if those were part of that "kit" you got.

To be able to know for sure if it's your tires, I'm willing to bet there's there a TW member nearby that'd be willing to swap wheels/tires for a few minutes. If they don't have vibes, and it goes away after the swap, you know it's your tires. It might only cost you a 6 pack to find that out.

Other things to consider are control arm bushings, steering rack bushings, wheel bearings, carrier bearing, trans mount. Those don't typically manifest in the type of vibes you seem to be describing, but they can contribute to it, and at your mileage, it doesn't hurt to toss new ones in anyway. Basically, anything rubber should be replaced. And if you get your bushings replaced at a shop, DON'T let them tell you they need to replace the entire control arm. That's them being lazy and not wanting to press in new bushings (new arms come with pre-installed bushings).

But those cheap Amazon ball joints aren't going to help you in the long run either. Like I said in my previous post, I would read up on ball joint failures in 1st gen Tacomas and spend the extra few bucks for nicer lower BJs (moog minimum, OEM is "best"). I run 555's for lower balljoints which are actually an OEM manufacterer anyway, and seem to be a good compromise between the high price of the OEM and are still indistinguishable quality-wise.

By the way, the pre-runner and 4x4s have identical suspension, so in the future look for 4x4 (or 6 lug) stuff. The 2wd thing gets confusing because some retailers don't properly separate the pre-runners (a 2wd) from the 5 lug 2wds.

 

Gosh, that seems like a significant balance problem. What has enough mass to shake the whole cab to that extent? Probably wheels/ tires or possibly the driveshaft. I wonder if you could swap the spare tire in on each side in the front ( and maybe the rear too if needed), drive it, and see if it makes a difference? It could be a bad tire or bent rim. I would think the alignment shop would find a suspension part/ parts worn enough to cause this.

Edit. You seem like a case for Hunter Road Force Balance equipment before throwing parts at the problem.

 

Spark plugs helped mine a lot.

 

Updated og post. Thanks for all of the help!!!