2017 TRD OR - odd vibration after lift

I know you said it was coming from the front, but when you did the AAL, did you reinstall the shim correctly? it is actually a wedge and needs to go in correctly. your symptoms sound like the needle bearing but you replaced it with the ECGS so figured i would ask about the rear axle shim.

 

@MildWild

there was a shim? lol, wish i was joking. when we did the AAL, a few thin like aluminum plates fell out between the leafs and i didnt think much of them, surely thats not what you mean?

 

Is the existing vibration and noise as prevalent as it was, before ECGS, or is it more subtle? I noticed, with my truck, post ECGS, if I'm light on the throttle, it will lug in the gears resulting in a vibration from the transmission. These trucks likes to be driven more aggressively, don't be afraid to use the tall skinny peddle to keep the revs up. It will be a smoother driving experience.

Also, for kicks, try driving with the ECT button on. This adjusts your shift points, keeping your revs higher.

Hope this helps.

 

+1 to this. Couldn’t figure out what it was then I found a YouTube vid explaining rear axle shims were the culprits. Ensure the axles are the correct orientation = fat end towards the rear. Goodluck!

https://youtu.be/U05C9nlBkpM

 

i only had one, it was between the overload spring and the axle perch. it didnt look like any of the other things that fell out. before i finished the install i watched the video below, made sure i had it all in correctly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U05C9nlBkpM&t=778s

 

This is less for the OP and more for anyone else coming across this thread. Lots of folks saying you couldn’t have vibes from the needle bearing right away. Wrong. It happened to me (2” lift). Literally had the vibes immediately after install, just as OP described. Had the bearing replaced with the ECGS bushing. Vibes gone. It’s not a long term wear problem, it’s that the needle bearing handles side loading poorly.

 

thanks for the tips everyone. I drive a manual, so no ECT button, but it very well could be something to do with axle shims.

I'll look into these videos tonight or this weekend.

i suspect its totally unrelated, but its worth bringing up, my driveway has a slight drop coming out of it. since my lift/wheels/tires, i noticed if i pull out quick with the wheels locked to the right, it almost sounds as if the driver side tire bottoms out/rubs on something? but whats weird is I cant get the same thing to happen in the same circumstance but locked left. sitting flat, truck at full lock, there appears to be plenty of room in the wheel area, but i could be wrong. i guess my question is: is it common for just driver side tires to rub after a lift on these trucks?

anyways, sorry if that makes this any more confusing for diagnosing what going on here, but ive been just kinda worried that i did (or didnt) do something during the install of all this crap which i did myself. I am the very definition of being just mechanically inclined enough to be dangerous (since i dont know enough to diagnose problems that result afterwards, lol)

 

4 degree shim for rear axle solved my vibrations. My needle bearings are stock.

Good luck.

 

4 degree axle shim my friend.

 

Thanks to those that suggested axle shims. Just crawled under to take a look and turns out, i currently have zero



So I plan to order some and install in the upcoming weeks. I assume not a huge deal to be driving without them for a bit till I can get around to it? Also, is 4 degrees the recommended amount for 5100s + 3 leaf AAL (no overload)?

 

Reviving this thread once more. So while the suggestions so far have been great and definitely improved things, theres still some weird small pedal vibrations. Nothing in the steering wheel, and it actually seems better instead of worse at higher speeds.

At this point I have no idea if its just something to be expected with SCS wheels and slightly bigger tires or if it can be fixed (its really not serious enough for me to be super concerned, ive been daily driving it). Since I'm new to doing this type of mechanical work, here are some pictures of my ECGS bearing install and my alignment sheet after the tech got thru with it. Just hoping someone can pop a look at them and see if they past the eye test.

I have already been thru the 'driveline angles' thread and while I didnt drive around with a pocket full of washers, my angles all seemed to be reasonable and I'm not convinced thats the issue. My main concern is hoping that I didnt mess something up in the bearing install.

I have read a few times that having the wheels/tires road force balanced was helpful, could that be something to try next?

 

Similar problems here, mine starts to howl and vibrate at a higher speed, most noise is between 55-65mph, not much noise or problems at low speeds or above 70, 4x4 does not seem to alter anything. Thinking mine is related to wheel bearing, needle... Will just bring it in and hope for the best. Hope you get an answer soon!!!!