Front end wobble not vibrate!!

Hello and I need help. 2008 4x4 dclb. I have a wobble not vibrate in the front. When cruising in 5th gear at around 20-30mph the front with wobble or bounce bad.

new parts i put on this year 2020:
UPC rebuilt (new bushings etc)
LCA rebuilt (new bushing etc)
L and R ball joints
Rebuilt fox 2.5 coil overs
650lb springs (new)
Alignment done last month with rotate and balance of tires (no issues)
Tire pressure 35psi - BFG Ko2
Transmission mount

it’s driving me nuts not being able to find out what it is. Any thoughts from the good people of the Tacoma world?!

 

i find it hard to see why you would be in 5th gear at 20-30mph? sounds like your engine might be lugging.

Where did you have the installs/rebuilds done? Or did you do it yourself? Best bet IMO would be to take it back there or to another trusted shop to have them look it over.

 

How old are the tires? Possible bent wheel? Separated belts on a front tire or tires?

 

It’s just the cruising around town in the lower gear. Normal stuff. Easy on the throttle.

I did all the work at my shop. Been working on suspension and stuff for a long time and never had issues. Had a friend from a local 4x4 shop double check my work ad it was solid.

Tires have 20k on them and rotated them religiously. Had them balanced twice this year and rotated to make sure it was not the tires.

 

hm strange. best guesses then would be a bent wheel, or a tire with poor wear. but either of those should have and likely would have been caught at your alignments, or would be noticeably different upon rotation.

Do you have aftermarket wheels? idk if it's a common thing for tacomas, but when I had my WRX, a lot of aftermarket wheels needed hub-centric rings to fill out the space between the wheel's centerbore and the hub dimensions. If not, forget this question lol. possible the wheel bearing or rod ends need replacement, but I would think that would be a constant issue, not just at certain speeds.

Does it wobble in other gears at the same speed? or only 5th?

 

Insufficient caster causing instability, maybe?

 

I have aftermarket rims. Replaced the tie rods and rack this year as well.

forgot to mention this has just started happening maybe 4-5 months ago. Have not off-roaded in that time and just commute.

if it was a wheel bearing I would think I’d feel a wobble in the steering wheel. It’s like the whole front of the truck wobbles.

I know the ko2 bfg tires are not the best when they get down on the tread but I have maybe 30% left on them. Was going to hit the Black Friday deals and get new tires soon.

 

I would try getting them road force balanced . I have had a ot of vibs or wobble on my 1st and 2nd gen Tacomas . I have tried a ton of different wheels ,tires and have had tons of alignments . When I finally got them road force balanced is when it went away . Just my 2 cents . Hope this helps .

 

Are your aftermarket wheels hub centric? Is there a spacer ring that may have gone missing?

 

I will take a look and see if that’s it. Will get back to you

 

Yes you definitely what to make sure you have hub centric wheels first ! My bad . I should have mentioned that !

 

yup the rims are good! Checked them out today. This just boggles me on what is causing the issue

 

I have heard that the BFGs are prone to having this issue . I would definitely try to see about getting them road force balanced . I have had Michalin tires on stock wheels do the same thing as what you are having . Tacomas are very sensitive when it comes to wheel balancing .

 

yeah I have heard the same thing so I got new tires ordered and will throw them on next week. Did a lot of research and found out that the Goodyear duratrac is a great tire. So given them a shot and will let you know if that changes anything

 

Have you tried rotating the tires front to back to isolate a single tire as the issue?

 

I may have missed it, but does it only do it in 5th at low speed? Or does it also do it other gears at low speed?

 

only when I’m cruising in the lower gears and partial throttle between 20-30mph

 

yes I have done that multiple times and see what if it’s a single tire. Still the same issue :/

 

5th gear at such a low speed is probably the issue. You are lugging your engine, so the shake/rattle/roll you are feeling is probably your engine shaking in its mounts. Change gear for an easy fix.

 

That’s what I have been doing but i believe is should not have to be that way. Would you think the engine mounts need to be replaced if the engine is lugging and making it bounce?