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Steering wheel shake....

Discussion in '2nd Gen. Tacomas (2005-2015)' started by bwood_usmc, Jun 27, 2011.

  1. Jun 27, 2011 at 6:10 PM
    #1
    bwood_usmc

    bwood_usmc [OP] Wiskey Tango Foxtrot....

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    Ben
    Clayton Ga / Clemson SC
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    06 Tacoma TRD Off Road package
    3" Trux Lift, 285-75-R16 BFG All Terrains, K&N Cold Air Intake
    This is going to be a two part question for my fellow Tacoma Worlders!

    So I have a pretty bad vibration/shake in my truck. At first I just thought that it was a bad balancing job but after having two different sets of tires on my truck in the last 6 months, I'm almost certain that that is not the issue. I had a set of terra grapplers put on my truck this morning and the shake still exists. I had the shop check the balance on the tires twice this morning and they ensured me that was not the problem. So the question is... Whats the next thing that I should check??

    A little background knowledge of the issue...
    1. Only shows up around 50-60 mph
    2. Sometimes when I'm just cruising the shake goes away
    3. Nearly every time I go around a curve the shake disappears and returns when the truck straightens out.
    4. I have noticed a slight, very faint squeal or whine coming from the front. ( its so quiet i cant locate exactly where it is coming from)
    5. My truck is in severe need of an alignment (getting one next weekend) i dont know if this could be the underlying cause...


    Alright for the second part of this question....
    I put a POS spacer lift on my truck about 3 years ago (lesson learned). I'm ready to tackle the job of ripping that joker out of there and getting the truck back to stock. My question is... With the lift off the truck am i going to be able to use the same hardware that is on the truck... such as nuts and bolts??? Am I going to have to order some new hardware??

    Thanks in advance fellas!!
     
  2. Jun 27, 2011 at 6:16 PM
    #2
    bama trd

    bama trd Well-Known Member

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    Painted Grill with painted Land Cruiser emblem,Tinted Windows, BF Goodrich AT 275/70/17's on 4 Runner SR5 Rims, Bilstein 5100 front and Rear, debadged, fog light on anytime mod,
    You will have to get the front end aligned after you take the spacers out , and yes the 3 nuts that hold the spacers on can be put back to your stock studs on the top of the struts ,GL
     
  3. Jun 27, 2011 at 6:19 PM
    #3
    bwood_usmc

    bwood_usmc [OP] Wiskey Tango Foxtrot....

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    3" Trux Lift, 285-75-R16 BFG All Terrains, K&N Cold Air Intake
    That what I thought... but what about the U-bolts in the back? Are they going to be good??
     
  4. Jun 27, 2011 at 6:26 PM
    #4
    bama trd

    bama trd Well-Known Member

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    Painted Grill with painted Land Cruiser emblem,Tinted Windows, BF Goodrich AT 275/70/17's on 4 Runner SR5 Rims, Bilstein 5100 front and Rear, debadged, fog light on anytime mod,
    Did you go with Blocks on the rear? If so, you will probably have to get the shorter U-Bolts , they will be longer than the stock and the thread won't go far enough to tighten back down to the stock level.Any one else with more experience will comment shortly.
     
  5. Jun 27, 2011 at 6:28 PM
    #5
    bwood_usmc

    bwood_usmc [OP] Wiskey Tango Foxtrot....

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    3" Trux Lift, 285-75-R16 BFG All Terrains, K&N Cold Air Intake

    Yeah its blocks in the rear and this was the exact issue that I was afraid of.
     
  6. Jun 27, 2011 at 6:32 PM
    #6
    spares

    spares Canadian Bacon

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    u-bolts are cheap i wouldnt let that deter you.
     
  7. Jun 27, 2011 at 6:34 PM
    #7
    bwood_usmc

    bwood_usmc [OP] Wiskey Tango Foxtrot....

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    3" Trux Lift, 285-75-R16 BFG All Terrains, K&N Cold Air Intake
    Yeah I hear ya... I just want to be fully prepared before I tackle this task. I hate making trips to the auto parts store in the middle of a project...
     
  8. Jun 27, 2011 at 6:42 PM
    #8
    nvdeserted

    nvdeserted Well-Known Member

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    Electric Dynolock tailgate, TrailGear Slides, , 285/75-16 Yoko Geolanders on Wheelers Type B, SAW 2.0 front and back, Camburg b/j UCA, 1.5" AAL, Ubolt flip, ARB bump.
    Go get that alignment first, ask the tech to diagnose any issues in the front: worn ball-joints, etc. Then let us know what he says. A bad alignment alone shouldn't really cause the steeringwheel to shake (it can) but will make the truck wander, pull to one side, wear your tires weird etc.

    The steering wheel shake can be caused by many things: unbalanced tires, bent wheel, ball-joints, tie-rod, driveline vibe, broken motor or trans mount, worn/broken leafspring bushngs, loose u-bolts, and so on. Try to narrow it down at the next alignment... before your new tires get wobble-worn/cupped.
     
  9. Jun 27, 2011 at 6:55 PM
    #9
    NelsonTacoma

    NelsonTacoma This is my derpawayinator!!!!!

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    My truck had the stupid front end steering wheel shake. It would only show up between 55-65mph and it would come and go for no specific reasons at all. This all went away after I installed new tires and road force balanced them (myself). I would have to say that tires are usually the cause of steering wheel shake.
     
  10. Jun 28, 2011 at 5:57 AM
    #10
    skytower

    skytower Well-Known Member

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    Hitch and wiring, aux back-up light, rear strobe lights, radio and underseat sub.
    Check the wheel bearings too.
     
  11. Jun 28, 2011 at 3:55 PM
    #11
    bwood_usmc

    bwood_usmc [OP] Wiskey Tango Foxtrot....

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    3" Trux Lift, 285-75-R16 BFG All Terrains, K&N Cold Air Intake

    Thanks for the replies guys.... how exactly do I check the bearings??
     
  12. Jun 28, 2011 at 5:32 PM
    #12
    skytower

    skytower Well-Known Member

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    Hitch and wiring, aux back-up light, rear strobe lights, radio and underseat sub.
    Jack the truck, move the tire in all directions possible. If you feel movement in the tire that is not transferred to the ball joints or tie rod, it's slop in the bearing. I'm talking about a subtle shaking of the tire, not a heavy jerk.
    When you're sure the bearing is good or bad, jerk the tire and look for slop in the tie rod.
     
  13. Aug 23, 2011 at 7:00 PM
    #13
    rzimm001

    rzimm001 Tearmytaco

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    Just thought I'd comment on this. I had a narly wheel shake myself up until today. It was intermittent and could be mild to pretty bad. I tried everything with the alignment and the problem only returned a week later. Then I had the tires balance. They were off by quite a bit, and although the shake was less severe, it still came back. Today I thought maybe I'll rebuild my shocks (have icons up front and resi shocks in the rear). I've logged a number of offroad trips on them. After the rebuild the shake has now gone away and the taco rides like a wet dream. I would never have guessed that shocks could contribute to a wheel shimmy but it seems so in my case.
     
  14. Dec 19, 2012 at 4:39 PM
    #14
    TacoXtreme

    TacoXtreme North Georgia Member

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    Hey Ben, my 2011 TX has the same problem. It may be due to the spacers because mine started it when i installed the spacers. same speed and everything but its not a violent shake.
     
  15. Dec 19, 2012 at 4:39 PM
    #15
    TacoXtreme

    TacoXtreme North Georgia Member

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    had fun last weekend on the trails btw!
     
  16. Dec 19, 2012 at 5:12 PM
    #16
    bwood_usmc

    bwood_usmc [OP] Wiskey Tango Foxtrot....

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    3" Trux Lift, 285-75-R16 BFG All Terrains, K&N Cold Air Intake
    Hell yeah man that was a good time... We will have to get together and do it again sometime preferably when its not raining
     
  17. Dec 19, 2012 at 5:32 PM
    #17
    TacoXtreme

    TacoXtreme North Georgia Member

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    Well I'm gonna try to go Saturday or Sunday
     
  18. Feb 2, 2013 at 9:03 AM
    #18
    robjobu74

    robjobu74 Member

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    After hours of researching this issue seems a lot of you are experiencing this and there dosent seem to be a real fix. Well here it is.
    Tacoma's are called hub centric. That means they balance at the hub and not the lug. Now the easy fix to some of your issues are to have your tires balanced. If that dosent work or the problem comes back then the issue is at the hub.
    If you have spacers as I do then they need to be hub centric meaning they need to have a small lip on the spacer that the rim will balance on. If you have after market rims then the bore size of the rim might be larger then the factory hub, which is 106. So if the aftermarket rim is larger it will wobble and your steering wheel will shake. You need to get centric rings to make the rim fit tightly to the hub.
     

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