Anyone know of a way to fix a front end vibration?

from 30-60 mph my whole truck shakes. Steering wheel takes the worst of it. Just had front end aligned and I've had the tires rebalanced 3 times. Going 55 mph I've put it in neutral and it still vibrates.While turning into a corner it appears to go away. It also has no lift just bigger tires. Any suggestions?

 

Unless this truck was hit it sounds like upper strut bushing I would want to visually inspect the suspension before making a diagnosis. I would take it back to the alignment shop and take them for a test drive. If they are worth anything they should know in minutes whats causing this., especially if they just did the alignment.

 

Sounds annoying. Wish you luck!

 

I have a similar problem with mine except my vibration is between 60 and 75 mph. Some days it's there and other days it isn't and the speed where it is the worst changes as well. It's there some days and not there on others. Have had the tires balanced 3 times and just got an alignment. It's got fairly new Michelin MS/2's on it. The shop can't find anything loose and neither can I. Replaced the rack bushings today since they had some play and the vibration is still there. Since this truck still has the original shocks and suspension on it I'm thinking that may be the problem. I'm planning on replacing all the springs and suspension front and rear. I'll see if that resolves the issue. I suppose it could be a control arm bushing or something as well.

 

With an 06' there are a multitude of things that start wearing out but a wheel bearing is the most common.

1. Jack the front end up off the ground and grab your wheel at 6 and 12 and try to shake it, if there is any free play at all your wheel bearing is toast.

2. Tie rod ends or steering rack bushings worn out, same thing jack the truck up but grab the wheel at 3 and 9 and try to shake it. There will be some movement because the wheel will turn but there should be no free play felt.

 

Try having the wheels/tires road forced balanced.

 

Mine is a 2004. Do they have the same problems as a 2006?

 

I live in a somewhat rural area but I will look around. It's pretty much an "Oil field" area and they have everything for big trucks and stuff but I haven't looked around for the more up to date smaller stuff. We do have a Toyota dealer nearby. I'll call them and see if they have a road force machine. I've heard that machine mentioned numerous times on this forum. I'm thinking there is most probably a tire balance problem myself and the shop I've been going to just doesn't have the equipment/skill to do the job right. A perfect example is that they torque ALL lugnuts to 100 ft. lbs. which is almost 20 ft. lbs. more than the spec for a 2004 Taco 4X4. I had to ask them this last time to only torque the lug nuts to 80 ft. ft.lbs. That alone could have warped a rotor. I'd care more had I not torqued them too tight myself before I ever took it to this shop to begin with.

Thanks for your reply.

 

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I checked all that when I first got the truck over a year ago and again a few months ago. I will check it again though. This vibration did get noticeably worse after I just had the front end aligned, tires balanced and rotated. It has always been there though. My dad, who I bought it from told me about the vibration at 65mph when I bought it. It just gets worse or lessens from time to time. Right now it's pretty bad right around 65-70 mph and smooths out above 75 mph. It's good we have an 80 mph speed limit here but I prefer to drive a little slower than that. The shop I've taken it to did say that one of the tie rod ends has a slight amount of play but he can't possibly see that the minuscule amount of play it has could cause a vibration. I don't know? Maybe that IS the problem.

The rack bushings did have some play and I replaced those today with Energy Suspension Poly's. It didn't fix the problem. It's still the same. If another balance with a Road Force doesn't fix the problem I'll be looking real close at the tie rod ends and the control arm bushings. I don't think it's either one of those though because the vibration changes as far as speed is concerned from time to time.

 

Don't like diagnosing w/o physically inspecting entire suspension.But 8 out of the 10 trucks that I have serviced w this problem usually a warped or out of round wheel or tire. Try rotating them and see if there is a difference with the vibration. Not sure if your year was using weights on the shafts. But that could cause your symptom.

 

Thanks. I have thought about a warped tire or wheel as well but I figured that if there was a problem there the shop I have taken it to twice would have found that problem. I've rotated the tires three times since I got the truck and it seems to make no difference. I can look around to see if there are any weights on the shafts and will be able to tell if one fell off. It's also possible that the shop I have taken it to isn't paying close attention to things or that their balance machine isn't accurate.

 

Well, today after just having the tires balanced a fourth time a week ago I noticed that there was no outside weight on the left front which is where the vibration seemed to be coming from this time. I was out running errands and noticed a Wal-Mart with the shop open on Sunday. Strange for where I live. I went in there and had them re-balance my tires which were all off. Now my vibration is gone. I can't believe that my dad had the tires balanced numerous times and couldn't get rid of the vibration and then I had them balanced numerous times and couldn't get rid of the vibration over a period of a couple of years and in different states and a trip to Wal-Mart on a whim fixed it. What is with all these shops? Don't they calibrate anything?

 

Yep previous owner put the hood on.

 

Took it to 4 wheel parts and had them road force balance it. Helped alittle but it still vibrates.

 

are you 4wd? I was thinking that one or both or the CV joints are shot. I remember when my CV's went out on my old 4Runner it vibed like crazy

 

Yeah it's 4wd. Cv joints are brand new.