Help! Vibration in the steering wheel/floor-board

This is a call for help from the savvy and knowledgeable people on TW:

Situtaiton:
I have a very noticeable shake in my steering wheel and vibration in the floorboards of my truck at freeway speeds (anywhere between 55 and 70). It's driving me insane.

Background:
- My truck is a 2000 4x4 TRD V6 with 163k miles. I have Bilstein 5100s set to 2.5" on the stock coils and a Toytec AAL and Bilstein 5100s in the rear. I have Light Racing UCAs. My wheels are Eagle Alloy Series 100s, 15x8, with 31x10.5 BFG TA KOs.

- I'm pretty sure it's not from wheel balance. I've been in to Discount Tire 3 times in the past month to get my wheels/tires rebalanced to try to cure this, but still no luck. The last time I was in, I spoke with the manager, telling him all this, and when I came back he said they balanced up as close to perfectly as is possible. I think it's safe to rule that out. EDIT: Or maybe not? The only use the stick-on weights in the middle of the wheel, not the inside/outside weights because of the aftermarket wheels.

- I just today had my rear driveline inspected and balanced (got a new carrier bearing and slip yoke + u-joint that had gone bad), so my rear vibrations are gone now, but the steering wheel shake remains.

- Alignment was done a few weeks ago with the numbers as follows:
Toe (L/R): .04/.05
Camber (L/R) 0/0
Caster (L/R) 2.8/2.75

Other notes:
- The vibration comes and goes, even at the same speed. Really strange...
- If I engage 4x4, the vibration seems to get worse
- I feel slight vibrations in the steering wheel even at lower speeds, but it doesn't actually shake back and forth like when I'm going freeway speeds

Questions:
- Where do I start? Front diff? CV axles? Front driveline?

Any help/suggestions/hints would be awesome! Thanks, guys!

 

I have the same problem, however I'm now waiting to see your answers. But I hope you know not to engage the 4X4 on dry pavement....because that's not going to help :O

 

yeah, i just engaged it for about 1/8 mile on a straight stretch of freeway just to see. i remember seeing something on here about if it goes away in 4 wheel drive, that's a big problem. can't remember if that's for second gen's only or what, but i thought i'd check just in case.

anyways, hope we get some insight into this.

 

Are the wheels road forced balanced? Do you have the weights just lined up in the middle of the rim or SIS they line up right behind and stoked as well as the inside rim lip?

 

have the same problem but at 20 mph and between 30-40. Mine does not go away or get worse in 4x4 tho and i'm getting my driveline looked at next week so hopefully thats it.

 

they are road force balanced, but they just have the stick-on weights in the middle of the rim. The wheels are Eagle Alloy series 100s, 15x8, with 31x10.5 BFG TA KOs.

 

Hmm have them try a dynamic balance instead of static and have them use weights on the inside of the rim, right behind the spokes as well as on the "in" side of the rim. That might be easiest thing to try first

 

i was under the impression that they could only use stick-on weights with these rims, but i'll have to go in and see what they can do. that very well may be the issue here...

 

Ya stick on weights on the inside of the rim except in 2 different locations

 

update: took my truck back to discount tire and talked with the manager again. this time they did end up remounting one of the tires at 180 degrees from its original position on the wheel and it seems to have cleared up 80% of the issue. i think i may take it back tomorrow to see about some hub rings or different style lugs to eliminate the rest.

thanks, 08pretaco, for pointing me in the right direction. i had all but ruled tire balance out.

 

Ya its a weird thing that tires have heavy spots, I had the same issues with my old set. You should look into the long tapered style nuts before the rings. Discount tried selling me those for over 100 for the set, I was like hell no. I tried the lugs and that helped out a bit!

 

I have a 98 Taco with 151K on the clock and recently the same thing started.

So, I removed my front wheels and checked the bearings. Believe it or not, they were no longer tight!!

I removed the dust cap, took out the cotter pin and castle cap, and low and behold, the castle nut was no where near as tight as it should have been!

I tightened it back up, replaced the cap and pin and the problem went away completely.

Problem solved!! Maybe this might be the same issue you were having as well. Somewhere down the road I will replace the bearings and races all together but for now they are working perfectly.

 

i'm having my truck looked at on monday. I've had the steady vibe between 30-40 for a few months now and it gets better when its warmer out but its always there. But i found when i drove on the highway the other day, i had a terrible vibe like the one between 30 and 40 but about 200% worse. It was literally making my hand numb, not from it shaking back and forth but just a constant violent vibe. I have had my tires road forced about 7 times now and i have hub rings along with the long lug nuts and every place that road forces them tells me that they are fine and have done the rotating of the tires. I was pretty sure the low speed vibes are driveshaft related since their a steady thump thump thump type but this was extreme and def felt more serious....its really become exhausting

 

if you have access to a jack and jack stands, you can really easily see if it's in the driveshaft by jacking up the rear and securing it on the stands, taking off the rear tires (leave two lugs on to keep the drums from spinning off) and then taking the rear driveshaft out and running the truck up to speed. if it's smooth, then the problem is in the driveshaft.

 

I have an 09 trd dbl cab, Vibration 15-30 mph all the time. Also a wobble type vibration on acceleration. I am trying new tires tomarrow, they are the stock ones with 30000k on them. Looking for suggestions.

 

So I went through a similar issue recently. BFG A/T KO's on the truck. Mounted at Discount Tire. Been noticing sporadic vibration at around 55-60 mph. I could tap on the brake and the vibration would almost always stop. So I'm thinking the steering pump is weak or steering shaft issue.
Went into the dealer for an oil change. While there I noted there was some vibration. They send a tech for a check ride. He gets out on the road and apparently he's even more sensitive than I cause he notes it at lower speeds. Then he turns the wheel very slightly to one side or the other and gets vibration at speeds around 30 mph. He tells me the tires have not been balanced properly. He says, with the stock wheels the truck should have weights on both the inside as well as outside, or taped to the middle. We look and sure enough, I only have weights on the inside. Take the truck back to Discount and explain the tech's information. Discount rebalanced the tires using weights on both sides of the wheel. At least in my case the truck is now riding smoothly with no further vibration.

 

yeah, when i had the stock wheels and the same tires as now (bfg a/t ko's) i had no problems, probably because they were dynamically balanced with the weights on the inside and outside of the rim. but i bought some aftermarket rims and they're only using the stick-on weights in the middle. i'm pretty sure that's the problem.

i did end up taking it back to them last friday and explaining the situation. so they rebalanced and apparently remounted one of the tire/wheels at 180 degrees so they could use less weight. that cleared up i would say about 75% of it.

i'm thinking i might take it back to get some hub rings or different style lug nuts to completely eliminate it.

 

Old thread I know but by chance did you get your issue resolved