LSUMatt1514

Alright guys, most of you are aware of the battle I've had over the past 5-6 months with new tires for my truck. I'm still fighting that dreadful vibration once I get above 60 mph. Just as a refresher, I started with Dueler Revo A/Ts and now have Michelin Cross Terrains and I still have the vibration. I've paid for roughly four or five road force balances out of my pocket and I'm still getting vibration. All have used the Hunter machine and Haweka adapter. I find it impossible to believe that I had a bad set of Revos and now a bad set of Cross Terrains. Is there any possible mechanical causes to this vibration such as wheel bearings, shocks/struts, etc? I have no idea, but I know I'm sick of plunking out money on balances that do no good. The last one was the week before last and Hoover Toyota told me that "it was in the tires" and that "I needed to get them swapped out." I think this is total bull. I don't think they, nor any other dealer can find the real root cause. Someone please help. I'm at my wits end!!! BTW, I have not written Toyota yet but I am getting very, very close to doing so. Thanks guys.

PS It makes me wonder if putting 265/75/16 tires on the truck (Revos and the Cross Terrains are this size) is the cause. The stock size is of course 265/70/16 but I know there are a ton of folks on here that went with 75s and have no problems.

Matt

Bigblock

You Got Stock Wheels?

LSUMatt1514

Yes, they are stock. I've wondered if one of them was out of round, but everyone I've talked to has told me that the Hunter machine would find an out of round wheel and so far, no such luck. I think the wheels are fine.

Matt

rimpainter.com

A few questions...

1. Does it vibrate while coasting at 60MPH (out of gear, downhill)

2. Have you pulled both rear drums and had a look?

3. Is the vibration in the seat or the steering wheel?

LSUMatt1514

Christian,

1. I'm not sure. I'll have to check on this one in the morning.

2. Not that I am aware of. What rear drums and what relevance would they have?

3. Vibration is in the seat and the steering wheel. Really, it's the entire truck. I can look up and see my driver's side visor fluttering up and down, feel the steering wheel vibrating, or look to my right and see the passenger seat fluttering.

MTL_4runner

I would think by this time you have pretty much elimiated the wheels (rims and tires) as a cause.

1) Have you been able to pinpoint at all where the vibration is coming from front or rear?
2) Is it felt through the steering wheel?
3) Are either of the front wheels loose or do they wobble?

You may need to use a software like this to pinpoint your problem:
http://www.vibratesoftware.com/

This will be some good reading for you:
http://www.vibratesoftware.com/html_...ion_School.htm

rimpainter.com

You know, I am wondering if it has anything to do with the drive shaft. As far as the drums go, if you had a leaky axle seal it could build up a bunch of crap in one spot on the drum, causing vibration. Probably not that though. Just an idea.

MTL_4runner

A driveshaft is certainly a possibility in a case like this (the drum not very likely).
I assume the vibration also does not change when the brakes are applied.

Tiger Paw

Your shaft may be out of round or your ujoints could be going bad. Really bad ujoints will vibrate at any speed, though, not just 60+.

BTW, MTL 4Runner, that's some really cool software!

LSUMatt1514

I've had the drive shaft U bolts checked by one of the local dealers and they said that they were fine. As far as the drive shaft goes, it seems that if it were a problem that I would feel a very pronounced vibration at all speeds, not just highway speeds. I don't know guys. Like I said, I'm at wits end at this point. It sucks knowing that when you get on the interstate and set your cruise at 75 mph that you are going to feel the shakes for several hours. Should I contact Toyota directly about this?

Matt

LSUMatt1514

MTL 4Runner,
That's good stuff. I breifly looked over it and there seems to be some really good ideas in there. I'll definitely dig a little deeper into that tomorrow during lunch at work. Thanks.

Matt

waskillywabbit

iTrader: (-1)

Swap rims/tires w/ someone else who has a 4Runner, take it for a spin up to speed and see if that resolves it. Then you KNOW it is your rims and/or tires. My bet is on improperly balanced tires or perhaps even just a bad tire. A bad tire will never be able to be properly balanced for any extended amount of time.

Good luck.

Tiger Paw

Just a thought, but have you ever used any of those puncture repair type products? You know the ones like Fix-a-flat? I heard that if you've ever used that stuff it would cause balancing problems because it would dry on your rims (and the insides of your tires, but you've changed tires) and throw the balance off. Also, are you balancing with the hammered on weights or the stick-on kind? The stick-ons are infamous for not being worth a crap, falling off, etc. It's a longshot, but worth thinking about. Good luck!

LSUMatt1514

No Fix a Flat and no stick ons either. I'd like to try Waskilly's idea, and I've got a friend who's got a 97 or 98 4Runner, but he's pretty anal and I don't know if he'll let me swap or not. Even if it would only be for an hour or so. I'll have to start bugging him and see.

Matt

LSUMatt1514

One other thing about swapping....I know he's not as meticulous about taking care of his truck as I am so I don't know if his are currently properly balanced or not. I guess I could take it for a spin before doing the swap.

Matt

4Crawler

iTrader: (3)

A few ideas you might try on my web page below to rule out possible rear driveline issues:

http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/CheapTri...FixingProblems

Also, put the truck up on jack stands and let the rear wheels turn with the engine. Look for wobble or radial runout as the tires spin (hold a pointer up to the tread and look for in-out or side-side of the tread face). Could be something like a bent axle shaft. I've had a few in my '85, when I had my last smog test done, you could see the driver's side rear tire wobbling and bouncing the truck up and down on the rollers.

Nic

The tire swap is a good idea. You can also have someone follow you in another vehicle and look for shaking tires. Often times you can see which particular tire may be the problem-if its a tire issue.

By the way, were the road force numbers in the acceptable range when you had your tires balanced?

LSUMatt1514

According to Hoover Toyota (the dealership that road force balanced them the week before last), the lowest they could get the road force numbers were 11, 15, 16, and 22. Because of this they said that the tires were causing the vibration. I don't buy it. When I had the Bridgestone Revos, three of the four had a road force variation under 10 and the other one was like an 11 and the truck shook then. I think there's something up with the truck. I just don't know what, nor does either dealer that's had it. A guy at work mentioned an out of round hub. Any thoughts on that?

Matt

LSUMatt1514

BTW, I checked today and the vibration is still there whether I'm pressing the gas, or when I let off the gas going 75 or so.

Matt

Nic

I would still be interested in seeing you do a tire swap with someone. When I had my vibration problem, I did everything in the world to diagnose it. I even pulled the whole rear driveshaft and drove in 4Hi. After all that, it was the dang tires. My gut still says it is the tires or wheels. If you could swap tires, that would at least give you the answer on whether it is the tires/wheels or something else.

If I were a wee bit closer, I would swap tires with you. I am running the Michelin LTX M/Ss and they are quite smooth.