Shaking while driving

Hey so I have a totally stock Toyota Tacoma. It’s an 01 so she’s pretty old but well taken care of. I ran over a screw a while back but patched it with one of those kits. It’s held up well. But it’s started to shake while on the highway. It used to only do it like at 60mph. Now it’s kinda on and off shaking for like one or two seconds shaking then not. I don’t have much money to fix much. But I can rally what I need to. That’s why I haven’t been able to get a new tire yet. What should I do? How do I diagnose and/or fix this? The check engine light is on for the throttle position sensor. I haven’t had time to fix that yet. Would that be it?

 

What kind of shake is it (front end, back end, steering shake)?
Does it shake faster when you drive faster?
A bad throttle sensor can cause a sort of sputtering feeling when accelerating, where it constantly tried to speed up and slow down. But I wouldn't describe that as shaking.

 

It is mostly a steering type of shaking. And it’s only at higher speeds above 60-ish. And yes I think it does shake faster when I go faster.

 

Might need wheels balanced. Then check ujoints and carrier bearing

 

Welcome aboard @Jasidok . . . you will have to jack it up and look. Sounds to me like a tire/alignment problem in combination with some worn suspension elements, but without a physical diagnosis that's just a guess.

First thing to check are the lower ball joints. Do you know if it's ever had them swapped?
Some terms to search for on TW:

- Lower ball joint failure (LBJ failure)
- Lower control arms bushings (LCA bushings is the common abbreviation)
- TRE (Tie Rod End) check
- Steering Rack Check (and inner TRE check)
- Coilover lower bushings

You could also look at the upper ball joints while you're at it, but they don't take as much abuse. The lower ball joints are a big deal, the weight of the entire truck rests on them and they are in continuous "pull." Sway bar can be problematic but it won't cause the symptoms you describe.