Vibration at 60 MPH???

My dad had the same problem and it was his u joints..

 

Maybe it's your terrible roads.

 

I have been fighting this ever since they did the TSB leaf springs. Took it in a few weeks ago and the technician said "everything" was fine...(even though he didn't actually check the carrier bearing, u-joints, pinion or even wheel bearings like I wanted) and brushed it off to be road noise from the tires. He tried to show me a little wear on one of the tires. Thats BS because I rotate every 5k miles with them and I drive 99% highway, avoiding bumps and potholes.

Mine happens at about 60mph as well, and goes away once I let off the gas. I am taking it back in and talking with the shop manager himself. I am thinking it is one (or more) things here:

1. Pinion angle incorrect
2. Bad u-joints
3. Bad carrier bearing
4. Incorrectly installed TSB leaf springs

Anything else?

 

ShaneHD: Does your noise stop when you turn slightly to the left at speed?

 

Not sure, but it goes away when I let off the gas. Frankly, I am thinking more and more that the pinion angle with the u-joints is off. When the gas is on, your pinion lifts up. If the angle is off, vibration WILL occur.

Taking it to the dealership tomorrow for sure.

 

3 degree axle shims is what someone else is recommending and my vibration doesn't go away when turning. Although its hard to feel now with the bigger mud tires on!

 

I believe we the problem is the u joint angles.

The thread is in my sig. It takes about 20 min and just a degree finder to check.

 

Mine is at the dealership now. Dropped it off on my way home from work. Service Manager actually rode with me and heard the problem as well. They sent me home in a rental (not a loaner) Highlander, but are fitting the bill on it. All in all I believe the dealership I go to regularly will fix this issue. We shall see what they have to say.

 

good luck. they told me that it was "functioning as designed" notice they didn't say correctly, just "as designed"

 

Master Technician ordered a new drive-shaft for me. Will be in and installed tomorrow. We will see if this goes away then.

 

They changed the DS, took it for a test drive and the problem was still there. This has to be in the transmission, I am positive of it. They made asked me to bring it back in this morning. It's back with them now.

 

I thought is was trannie too. I am taking it in for the first service later on this week. I know they will say it is normal again!

 

I spoke with my service rep a bit ago and they are trying the angle adjustments/shimming as suggest in another thread. I had sent that to them a few weeks ago.

I ask him if this doesn't fix it, then what? He said "we may have to pass it off to Toyota and let them come up with a fix". This is unacceptable. I am to the point of where I hate to drive my truck. I feel like something is about to just break during the vibration.

I am going to suggest again that they look at the transmission.

 

But they don't know if it something that they can attempt to repair. They don't know if there is a true and consistent fix for this vibration.

I asked them to document the findings above, I even brought all the pics from the thread above; they checked the angles, they said everything looks normal. If it gets worse, then it is documented and Toyota has to provide a general fix.

Maybe they are waiting for a recall???

 

All,

Time to bring everyone up to speed on my dealership visits the last two weeks. Now, before I go into it, my dealership is GREAT and the people I have been working with are doing everything possible to accommodate this situation. They have offered me two different rentals, but here is here what they have done so far:

1. First thing they did was order and replace the driveshaft. I am assuming this is new u-joints and carrier bearings as well, but I will need to verify. This did not resolve the issue

2. They then tried the suggested shimming/angle changing of the driveshaft that was suggested in another thread. They had to buy the tool and order the shims, but were willing to try this if it had in fact worked for a user on here. This too did not resolve the issue.

3. At this point, they wanted to point to the Bilstein 5100's that I had put on. I had set the front to 1.75", but this was only to level out the front from the rear due to the rear leaf spring TSB. I explained to them that there was no way it could be this because the noise was there before I put these on, it just wasn't that bad then. I and they suggested two things:
A. I suggested setting my front 5100's to the lowest settings and put it back to stock height. This didn't work
B. They suggested throwing on a new set of stock Bilstein's. I even told them that if this was the problem, I would gladly purchase the set from them, but I knew full well the shocks were not the problem. This didn't work either.

After all of this had been tried, I was told they would be contacting Toyota directly for the next steps. Shortly after, I received a call from the service manager who said they had just ordered a brand new transmission and would be replacing this next week. This whole time I had been suggesting to them that I thought it was the trans, due to the fact that when I reached the "speeds" that the vibration would occur in OD, I would throw it down to 4th gear and the vibration went away. When they said they were replacing the whole trans, I asked if they had even opened it up to see what the issue might actually be. They just said it would be easier to replace the whole thing. Then he told me what Toyota was going to be paying them for all the work, and it was nearly as much as I bought the truck brand new for. Now, I don't know how this is so, but at which point does Toyota admit they have an issue on these trucks and do something more than just replace, replace and replace. When does lemon-law come into affect? Now again, I am blessed that this dealership is going the extra mile to get my issues taken care of, but I also feel horrible that it is costing so much money on Toyota's end.

Now I am waiting on the new trans to come in. My question here I am wondering if the trans will actually be brand new or a refurbished. Anyone know how this all works?

Does any of these make sense to the mechanics out there?

 

I also took a large nail/screw on a tire this last weekend and have decided to purchase a new set of Firestone Destination AT's from this same dealer and will have them put on next week. It's the least I could do for all these guys have done for me.

 

ShaneHD.

I have the exact same problem you do on my '11. It started when I had the TSB leafs put in also.

I can't wait to hear what resolves it.

 

I am almost to the point where if it is the leaf springs, REMOVE THEM and put stock springs back on.

 

Thankfully, mine isn't that bad. It's really doesn't become noticeable until after a 100 miles of highway driving when everything is nice and warm and loose.

What scares me is I plan on putting 5100s on probably set at 1.75, so I'm afraid its only going to exagerate the problem.

Really I'm just worried about the long term wear. Any vibration in the drive train is bound to cause premature wear on bearings and brushing. I don't want issues to creep up after the warranty is out.

 

i just finished some other testing of drive line angles. I took out my 1.5 aal and added riderite air bags. the angles changed significantly ! (Airbags at 0psi) This would be the same as stock with the TSB.

Vibes at sixty came back after removing the aal, so i followed the angles and started working from front to rear. Totally stock they were as follows

t-case is my 0.0
first shaft 2.8
second shaft was 6.5
and the diff was 2.9 from the second shaft

solution for stock With TSB was a 3.0 degree axle shim and nothing more.

no more 60 mph vibes.

It seems as if (from reading here and my own testing ) that the 60mph vibe usually comes from the rear diff joint angle and the take off vibes are from the combination of the front and second joints. Can anyone else verify this?