Bad shaking

wouldn't hurt to check the torque converter bolts haven't come loose or maybe a cracked flywheel

 

This is what the previous owner of my truck found when the (4) bolts come out of the lower ball joint. Installed properly they should be 59 ft. lbs + loc-tite. I'm sure there was some bump shimmy prior to this occurring.

 

I have mine torqued to 59lb. But didn't know loctite was required.

 

My truck does this and is more pronounced with 33s. Unfortunately when a tire shop puts a bunch of weight on the tires, they don't always "balance" properly at high speeds, sometimes taking a couple of minutes to smooth out. The problem you describe sounds just like my problem. However I do not have a steering wheel shake, probably because the tires in the front have more weight on them and can counter the balancing weights. In the back however, it is another story and that's where I feel most of the vibration. You could try putting beads in the tires or taking all of the weights off and testing. I need to get mine rebalanced soon so I'm gonna see how my tires ride with NO balancing weights. My friend did this and his truck rode smooth as butter at 85mph with crappy mud tires.

As a precaution, I usually tighten the lug nuts while the tire is almost completely off the ground, that way I can center them as much as possible. Basically the tire only needs to be touching the ground enough so much that it does not spin while tightening the lug nuts. Improperly tightened lug nuts on lug-centric wheels such as on the Tacoma will only make the vibration worse.

The issue you are describing is not uncommon with these trucks. I hated having my truck shake and was getting my tires rebalanced all the time. I just got used to it. Gets a little annoying on longer drives though.

 

Well I've had them balanced atleast 4 times since I got the tires and twice since the shaking occurred. I do have play in the carrier bearing, which is being done at the end of the week when I get paid. Replacing that and all 3 u-joints. Going to see if that stops it. It genuinely scared me when it first happened because it felt as though the wheel was about to come off

 

X2 on the ujoint suggestion. Same problem a few months ago. sounds like what I dealt with

 

Any particular brand to go with? Found some at O'Reilly's $20 a piece and they're greaseable

 

I got moog, so far so good.

 

Let me know if it does. I may need to do this if your problem is fixed.

 

This ^^^ Described here is front end related and should not be associated with a U-joint issue.


But if you are aiming to replace joints. x2 on Moog... Unless you decide to go back OEM Yota or Matsuba.

 

Mine shook similar to that except worse and i continued to rebalance the tires over and over again and it never fixed the problem. What it turned out to be was that the rims themselves were warped and that caused the shaking. I hope its something simple like idiots balancing the tires though which you can always try a new shop for that

 

Similar to my issue. had them balanced multiple time at big o. Nothin. Replaced carrier bearing. Nothin. Steering rack bushings changed. Nothin. I finally have up after checking other things as well like play in other steering components as well as driveshaft.. Then when it came time to buy new shoes, problem disappeared! Idk if it was the tires or what. Had to be. I didn't have it in steering wheel so much. But the whole truck..

Have you hit any good potholes or curbs or offroading OP? May have a defective tire(s) but Idk. Kinda sounds like something else. Do you have a lot of play in the steering wheel itself? Maybe it's the column or rag joint or even the yoke/ mid column joint (forgot what it's called)..

 

No offroading. Got a 2WD lol. I've hit 1 or two decent potholes though as the streets here are beyond terrible. It hasn't been doing it recently. Got another balancing 4 days ago. However I haven't done much highway driving. I'll try to do some this weekend and see if it comes back. If it does, I'll ask them to check out the wheels and tires for warping. Been wanting new rims, if that's case, then it'll be a perfect excuse

 

I also forgot to state that when I got the new tires, it was at discount tire for the first time since I got the truck. Idk if they had a higher speed balancing machine, or if it was the tires themselves, but yeah, problem was gone..

Anyways, Idk I'm no expert, but yeah seems really strange to me that it's intermittent in your case. If it were tires or rims, it'd be doing it all the time. How's your brakes and rotors and all that? Checked wheel bearings? Any other things you can check for play? Cuz that's what it sounds like. Somethings loose and causing intermittent issues under just the right conditions. That's my guess anyways.

 

Yea it's strange. It didn't shake today, however on the street I could feel slight shaking. As for brakes, I had an issue of them being soft, then normal, then only 1 inch of travel and if you just tap them, they grab like you're stomping on them. Ended up being air in the system that I had to get done at a shop. Rotors feel warped and brakes screech when gently apply brakes, but other than that they're fine. Wheel bearings, I have no clue. I'm going to try and check them out this weekend. Or maybe ask the shop I'm getting to change the carrier bearing and u joints to look at them for me.

 

tire balance is best using lug centric plate/spin bal

worn steering rack mount bushings

worn inner tie rods -
(can't be seen with boot on, but might be able to feel movement)

if either of the later two are combined/contributors...
the alignment may alter slightly when operated.

This could result in vibration and a wobbly steering feel.

I'd personally suspect these ^ first.

 

Hm. Yeah it's probly not the brakes but I've heard of strange things happening that seem to have no relation but end up being so. Just a thought. Same with wheel bearings. I'd imagine it wouldn't cause that but may be a possibility. Only other thing I can suggest, is taking it to the dealership and having them diagnose it. They diagnosed a steering wheel lockup on mine for free. I had to wait there for hours. But they found it to be the column yoke/mid joint thing that went bad. If it's a possibility, have them Keep it for a couple days and see if they can test drive it and try to reenact the issue. Not sure if they'll do it free, but even paying for a diagnostic like that might be worth it. Better than throwing money at it and having multiple shops give you different answers.

 

warped rotors will play havoc
on even a slightly worn inner tie rod end
as well loose or worn rack mount bushings.

Doesn't take much for something in the steering
to wear and cause shimmy or vibrations to occur.

Any thing loose/worn in the steering components...
will amplify odd steering behaviors...
and even wear the tires oddly... if left uncorrected.

 

Yeah just like the steering column slip joint people are going on about in another thread right now. I couldn't believe that tiny tiny bit of play could cause so much vibration in the steering wheel. although I doubt it's the cause of his issue. Idk if it was stated, but have you checked the rack bushings like mentioned above? I had a lot of play in mine until I replaced with polys. And it was also intermittent play in my case with those. You can easily check that. Just hang yer head down and turn, and watch for flexing in the rack.

 

This might sound dumb and I'm sure you would have noticed, but if my wheels get mud on like the inside to where I can't see it, as soon as I hit 65 -70 it will shake violently.