Taco speed wobble with a load
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Taco speed wobble with a load
Howdy folks,
I'm trying to help my neighbor figure out what's gong on with his truck. It's a 2002-ish Tacoma, 4WD V6 extended cab.
At interstate speeds (75 around here) with a load in the bed (a dirt bike or two) it has a terrifying wobble whenever you hit a bump. Feels like it's got a big trailer with an unbalanced load behind it, the back end just starts wagging all over.
Now, I'd initially thought it just needed shocks - but they were just replaced a week ago, and the wobble is still there. Badly.
I say wobble, because it's a low-frequency affair, not at all like an unbalanced tire. It will ride smooth till a bump in the road (for example, expansion joints on bridges) then it bucks all over hell and back.
I've searched, but haven't found much. Any ideas?
I'm trying to help my neighbor figure out what's gong on with his truck. It's a 2002-ish Tacoma, 4WD V6 extended cab.
At interstate speeds (75 around here) with a load in the bed (a dirt bike or two) it has a terrifying wobble whenever you hit a bump. Feels like it's got a big trailer with an unbalanced load behind it, the back end just starts wagging all over.
Now, I'd initially thought it just needed shocks - but they were just replaced a week ago, and the wobble is still there. Badly.
I say wobble, because it's a low-frequency affair, not at all like an unbalanced tire. It will ride smooth till a bump in the road (for example, expansion joints on bridges) then it bucks all over hell and back.
I've searched, but haven't found much. Any ideas?
#4
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Does the truck have any type of lift on it? Did he remove the sway bar?
Does it ONLY do it when there are bumps and stuff or can you notice going around turns or anything else?
Check out the pan-hard bar and make sure it is in good order.
I am pretty sure it comes with springs rather then leafs in the rear.
Does it ONLY do it when there are bumps and stuff or can you notice going around turns or anything else?
Check out the pan-hard bar and make sure it is in good order.
I am pretty sure it comes with springs rather then leafs in the rear.
There is no panhard bar on a Tacoma and no rear sway bar either. The truck is leaf sprung.
Please people, if you don't know what the hell you're talking about, please don't make blind guesses.
Op, just cause the shocks are brand new, the valving on them probably isn't meant to handle the load of ~1000 pounds in the bed. You might just need stiffer shocks.
FYI, my Tacoma does the same thing when my bed is full of camping gear and I'm doing 80 down the freeway. Unloaded it's fine.
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Uh, leafs are springs.
There is no panhard bar on a Tacoma and no rear sway bar either. The truck is leaf sprung.
Please people, if you don't know what the hell you're talking about, please don't make blind guesses.
Op, just cause the shocks are brand new, the valving on them probably isn't meant to handle the load of ~1000 pounds in the bed. You might just need stiffer shocks.
FYI, my Tacoma does the same thing when my bed is full of camping gear and I'm doing 80 down the freeway. Unloaded it's fine.
There is no panhard bar on a Tacoma and no rear sway bar either. The truck is leaf sprung.
Please people, if you don't know what the hell you're talking about, please don't make blind guesses.
Op, just cause the shocks are brand new, the valving on them probably isn't meant to handle the load of ~1000 pounds in the bed. You might just need stiffer shocks.
FYI, my Tacoma does the same thing when my bed is full of camping gear and I'm doing 80 down the freeway. Unloaded it's fine.
X2 he might need different shocks. What shocks are on the truck now?
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Not sure, but given that he had a shop put 'em in I'd guess they're nothing special. Certainly not Bilsteins or the like.
The two bikes together are less than 600#, and I'd really think it would do better than that even with crappy shocks. Maybe they put Corolla shocks up in there...kidding of course.
FWIW - my 90 pickup has hauled more weight at the same speeds with no wobble. I just have basic DeutschTech shocks, nothing really nice, and it seems to handle it just fine.
I do agree that undervalved shocks seem like the most likely culprit.
Had a look at the front end and everything seems kosher. The sway bar is in place and the ends are good. Hell, my sway bar was entirely disconnected for years and it never did anything like this.
The two bikes together are less than 600#, and I'd really think it would do better than that even with crappy shocks. Maybe they put Corolla shocks up in there...kidding of course.
FWIW - my 90 pickup has hauled more weight at the same speeds with no wobble. I just have basic DeutschTech shocks, nothing really nice, and it seems to handle it just fine.
I do agree that undervalved shocks seem like the most likely culprit.
Had a look at the front end and everything seems kosher. The sway bar is in place and the ends are good. Hell, my sway bar was entirely disconnected for years and it never did anything like this.
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Not sure, but given that he had a shop put 'em in I'd guess they're nothing special. Certainly not Bilsteins or the like.
The two bikes together are less than 600#, and I'd really think it would do better than that even with crappy shocks. Maybe they put Corolla shocks up in there...kidding of course.
FWIW - my 90 pickup has hauled more weight at the same speeds with no wobble. I just have basic DeutschTech shocks, nothing really nice, and it seems to handle it just fine.
I do agree that undervalved shocks seem like the most likely culprit.
Had a look at the front end and everything seems kosher. The sway bar is in place and the ends are good. Hell, my sway bar was entirely disconnected for years and it never did anything like this.
The two bikes together are less than 600#, and I'd really think it would do better than that even with crappy shocks. Maybe they put Corolla shocks up in there...kidding of course.
FWIW - my 90 pickup has hauled more weight at the same speeds with no wobble. I just have basic DeutschTech shocks, nothing really nice, and it seems to handle it just fine.
I do agree that undervalved shocks seem like the most likely culprit.
Had a look at the front end and everything seems kosher. The sway bar is in place and the ends are good. Hell, my sway bar was entirely disconnected for years and it never did anything like this.
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#17
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What basic things have you checked? Have you rotated, balanced or replaced the tires?
With no load would you say it has zero wobble or just not as bad of wobble?
So far I read: You looked at the front end and sway bars. Shocks were replaced.
Anything else?
With no load would you say it has zero wobble or just not as bad of wobble?
So far I read: You looked at the front end and sway bars. Shocks were replaced.
Anything else?
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