Need Help to figure this out. please read.

First of all, Hello, my name is Eric I'm from So. central Kansas, and My truck is a 2007, 4x4, TRD Sport 4dr. I dont have any pictures at this time so my apologies. I've had this truck for over 2 yrs now without any problems till now. My 4x4 went out and I either have a bearing going out or the CV shaft is bad. Its slowly getting worse and loader. It's hard to describe the sound but i will do my best. the sound which is now turning into a vibration in the steering wheel gets fast as I speed up but is not related to engine rpm, the noise seems to go around and around or gets higher pitched then lower. it is very consistent with truck speed as i go faster so does it. It also seems to differ a little bit when I am in a gradual turn or curve on the highway. a right hand curve makes the noise get lowder and a left hand curve the noise tends to fade a little. I'm thiniking this is a CV shaft myself but I'm open to questions and opinions. Thanks in advance and any help would be greatly appreciated. BTW I love this site....

 

Welcome to TW!

I would check to see if you have a bad wheel bearing. Also, you mentioned that your 4wd 'went out'. Did you get that figured out?

 

Get an alignment, rotate & rebalance your tires. I'm about 70% sure this will fix it.

 

So 4x4 no longer engages when you rotate the selector knob? Do you get the flashing symbol in the dash?

Is there anything visually wrong (torn, leaking CV boot, leaking diff)?

Is there any play in the diff bearing when you attempt to wobble the CV shaft by hand?

 

Sounds like a left wheel bearing issue to me. Turning right loads the wheel bearing more, turning left unloads it. CV joints usually sound off at large turning angles and are more of a clackety-clack. Lift the front off the ground, you may be able to detect looseness in the bearing by wiggling the tire or after driving awhile come to a very gentle stop, the bad bearing will be hotter, carefull don't get burnt. I'd replace both wheel bearings but then again it's not my money so if things are tight do the bad one and keep an ear open.

 

I have not yet crawled under it for a visual inspection but I will tonight after i get off work. no the 4 wheel drive is on the back burner for now. it just flashes at me when I try to engage it. I followed the instructions on the visual just as it said to. thanks for any input.

 

I am inclined to believe it is either a wheel bearing, or the bearing inside the front diff where the CV shaft slides in. The fact that is changes as you do a gradual turn however is more indicative of a front wheel bearing. Noise increasing to the right and decreasing to the left usually is a left front wheel bearing.

 

With the truck jacked up a little so the wheel is off the ground, facing the wheel, place your hands at 12 o'clock and push/pull back and forth toward you and see if it's loose a bit.

 

People have had bad wheel bearings even though there was no play.

What you are describing sounds like a wheel bearing or the front diff needle bearing. There are many threads on here about replacing it with an ECGS sleeve with 100% success (pending the needle bearing was your issue).

There are also a couple members on here selling complete bearing/hub assemblies for a good price. Do a search and see if anything sounds like what you have going on.

 

Good suggestion. That is a great way to check for excessive play in the wheel bearing, and if it is as bad as the OP has said, it should show up there.

 

Wait. You mean the girl is actually RIGHT??

 

To be honest, I was waiting for someone to slam me...because I always get slammed with car stuff. But that's how I knew my bearing went out in my wheel.

 

definately do the visual check-FIRST!

 

LOL You gotta be careful, that quote has 'signature' written all over it for some people.

 

God girl you left that so open to editing...lmfao...I actually have to include that quote in my sig. If it makes you mad just tell me and I will remove it....lmfao

 

Ok here is an update. I went home and jacked up the passenger front where I suspected the the problem noise and vibration came from. at first glance the inner boot was starting to leak. not real bad looks to be a recent leak. I'm saying with about three months. I grabbed ahold of the shaft and pulled back and forth, it only seemed to want to move side to side as of like end play. I really couldn't tell if it had any play. if it did it wasnt much. next I spun the tire and there was that noise. it was very noticeable. I couldn't tell though if it was the CV Joint or the bearing but I kept spinning it and got into different postitions and could definately tell that it was coming from the tire and not the engine. so I'm thinking bearing!
Ok then I jacked up the driver side and both boots on that shaft was obviously leaking and have been leaking for quite some time. again I grabbed the shaft and pulled and pushed as before and could feel play in it. then I spun that wheel and there was very little noise. alot less thean the passenger side.
I hope this helps. I did not think about grabbing the outside of the tire at checking for play but I will do that tonight. Thank to everyone for thier input. very thankful.

 

Sounds like you are right on track for a wheel bearing issue. Babytruck's suggestion on how to check it would be best. If you can hear it by just spinning the wheel by hand, it should show up on the tire wiggle test up-and-down.

 

Ok I seem to be on the right track with ther bearings and CV shafts. Now my other issue, the 4X4. The 4wheel drive WILL NOT engauge. I tried time and time again and It still wont engage in any position. My question is: Is there a solenoid or some kinda actuator switch that goes bad or sticks that prevents the 4wheel drive from engageing? Anyone else have this problem? Is this a common problem with Tacoma's? thanks in advance.