kaizady

Hi guys:
I have done a lot of search on the issue of steering wheel vibrations at higher speeds, spees > 60 mph. But I need your help here. This my issue, I have 99 4runner 2wd, Auto, 144k miles. About a year ago I had discount tires put in 4 new Yokohoma Geolanders to replace the old Geolanders. the steering wheel vibrated at speeds > 60 mph. They balanced it a couple times with no fix. they then chnaged the Yokohomas to Michelins, same problem. Redcently, I had the whole front redone, i.e lower and upeer ball joint, tie rods, new rotors and pad. Had discount balance the tires and still vibrates. Last week took it in again and the tech tells me i have a bent wheel and get 4 new wheels and the old michelin balanced. The thing still vibrates. What to do to fix this shimmy?
Thanks.

badattitude

I know what you are talking about. The steering is very sensitive on these trucks. Many times the vibration is feedback from the road. I've decided to live with my vibrating steering wheel. It is so bad that it shakes my wrist-watch. I'll watch this thread to see what others have to say.

roland750

check your steering rack. had to replace the bushing in mine at 112k.

kaizady

O.k. So i went to discount again and this time they changed 3 tires out for me. Same problem. I think I will check into the steering rack. What exactly am I looking for? Also, some where i read that may be look at the torque for the needle bearing nut. does this make any sense. any help will be appreciated.
thanks

badattitude

here is a link to the steering bushing
http://www.importautoparts.com/feed/.../4runner/1999/

Energy Suspension also makes urethane bushings

kaizady

Would a leaky front strut cause any movement in the steering wheel?
thanks

LiquidSky

my guess would be bad U-joint.

LiquidSky

oh, when you are doing speeds above 60 and you let off the gas, does it stop vibrating?

BajaRunner

Ugh. Sorry to hear you've spent all that money.

Sounds like your steering rack mounting bushings are toast. Buy some replacements from wheelersoffroad.com or something similar. They are like $25 and you can do it at home if you have some decent hand tools. Or Id imagine a shop would install for not too much.

Surprised they did not see this though. They usually will test the bushings first.

desertcamper67

By new rims do you mean after market rims or new Toyota OEM rims identicle to the ones you had?
My roommate has the same truck. His shakes too. He was considering selling it for this reason. I believe a hub centric adaptor mounting the OEM wheel to the computer balancer is the ticket.
A bent rim is sometimes hard to see too. Put it on the balancer and send it spinning and you can easily see if its runs true or not. Put something stationary next to it (like the measuring device built into the balancer) and the irregularity shows very obviously.

kaizady

My runner is a 2wd, could it have a bad u-joint? Yes, i feel the vibration when i take my foot of the gas pedal. I bought 4 new after market wheels. I did notice yesterday that there was a lot a grease and dirt accumalated on my front right strut. I am planning to replace that as i believe it is leaking.

wjwerdna

Yeah, either they are terrible at balancing Hub-centric wheels or

steering rack bushings could be bad, but should have shown up
assuming all your front-end is good (rack, outer AND inner rod ends, ball joints, shocks, etc)... maybe swap out your front rotors, it is usually very unlikely, but one could be bad

Your 2WD 4runner does not have any U-Joints in front, and even if it was 4WD, it would have CV joints.

I am assuming it was re-aligned after all the work? And not just toe-in/out, but everything, don't let a shop screw you by only adjusting part of everything. Also, don't let a shop screw you because they suck at balancing tires.

kaizady

yes, the alignment was done. I forgot to mention, but when i had the front end done I also put in new rotor and pads. As for Discount Tire, they have been great as far as cutomer service goes, they have balanced these wheels atelast 10-15 times and have also changed tires to new ones. For now I plan to change the front leaky strut and see if this fixes the problem.
thanks

desertcamper67

A blown strut can allow that wheel to go bouncing down the road. Like a dribbling basketball. At just the right speed, it can get especially noticable. You may have seen it on another vehicle in the past.