ravencr

Hey guys,

I've got some major vibration/shimmying going on over 50 mph. I've high centered pretty bad on the transfer case recently, and I'm thinking it's tied to that, either driveshaft or transfer case related.

My question is can I remove the front driveshaft, then drive it to see if it's the problem? Does it turn all the time when not in 4wd with ADD hubs?

Also, if that doesn't work, would it be possible to drive in a straight line in 4 hi without the rear driveshaft on to see if it's the rear driveshaft?

If it's neither of the two driveshafts, does the rubber balancer thingy on the bottom of the transfer case have any mechanical or electrical function to it, because it's been smashed up against the transfer case a long time ago. I don't think it's that, but this last time I high centered, when it was resting on the transfer case rubber thingy, it would grind, and when I eased off of it, it would immediately go away.

Here's some links to the videos of this noise that I'm talking about:

http://www.toyota-4runners.com/image...MOV00764-1.MPG It begins towards the end of this one, and then during each of the following videos.

http://www.toyota-4runners.com/image...MOV00765-1.MPG

http://www.toyota-4runners.com/image...MOV00782-1.MPG

I will greatly appreciate your help on this, and look forward to your responses. Have a great day!

Chris

runnerboy97

mine shimmies and shakes alot too. My problem has always been wheel balancing, but no i just accept the fact that there are no competent shops around me to even do that right, so i jsut live with it. As for seeing if its the drive shafts, go for it, just pull one at a time and drive around, it doesnt have to be a straight line either. just make sure you mark them so you can get them lined up how they were when they came out.

ravencr

Good point on the marking. I probably wouldn't have done that. I'm going to go do it right now, and I'll post soon what I find out. I'm thinking it's mostly the tires, but we'll see what I find.

Chris

ravencr

Well, I just figured out that it can't be the front driveshaft, because it doesn't turn when in 2wd. So, I guess the question remains to see if I can remove the rear drive shaft and drive in 4hi to see if it's the rear shaft?

Chris

runnerboy97

pull it, and drive around.

keisur

This probably doesn't help but I noticed you might benefit from lockers. hehe. For some reason I thought you had front and rear lockers but the front tires don't appear to be locked in the vids.

ravencr

I just took my rear driveshaft off, and apparently it has nothing to do with the rear driveshaft, so it's got to be forward of the rear shaft. It still vibrates the same with it off. So, now I've figured out that it's not the front or rear driveshaft, so no I'm a tad confused as what to try next. Any ideas?

Chris

ravencr

Nope, just a rear locker unfortunately! Anyone have any ideas on what to check next?

Chris

ravencr

Does anyone know if when I turn the front or rear outputs of the transfer case if it should make a clicking noise while in nuetral? If I hold the rear output and turn the front shaft back and forth it sounds like a clicking noise, which I was would assume is normal, right?

Chris

ravencr

Well, I've got everything back together, and it appears that when looking out the window at my front tires while above 50 mph, they are shaking back and forth as if they are either out or round or badly in need of another balancing. What is the machine that everyone recommends using to test for roundness and balancing?

Chris

runnerboy97

when you are parked, go shake the front wheels in the directions how they turn. is there anyplay? if so it might be bad tierod ends, and ball joints letting the wheels flop around.

ravencr

I'll check that hear after a while when I go to the tire shop and it's up on the rack. I'll let everyone know!

Chris

MTL_4runner

You should also check the wheel bearings for movement when you shake the wheel.
Sounds like a mechanical component and not wheel balance is the culprit.

ravencr

Well, here's what I found out after visiting my local Sears where I got the tires. First, Sears here in Maryville, TN is awesome! I was out in the bay working with them to figure out what the heck was causing all this vibration, and here's what we found:

1) Passenger Front - Slightly out of round and out of balance, rebalanced it and put it back in the same location

2) Passenger Rear - Slightly more out of round and out of balance, rebalanced it and put it back in the same location

3) Driver Rear - Out of round and out of balance, rebalanced it and put it on the driver front

4) Driver Front - Out of round and way out of balance not to mention that the wheel was way out of round, rebalance it with 3.5 on the inner and 1.75 on the outer and put it on the driver rear instead of the front

But, here's the real kicker: The rear axles are both bent pretty bad. We raised the vehicle off the rack, put it in drive and you could easily see that the tires were wobbling. So, then just to make sure it wasn't the axles, with the tires off we did it again to find out that the axles are indeed bent. The passenger side seems to be the worst, and the driver's side slightly better. Thsi made complete sense, because since the last rotation a couple thousand miles ago it has been vibrating bad, which is the worst tire that used to be on the passenger rear. I must have taken a pretty hard hit on the passenger side at some point.

So, I've found that I need new rear axles, and that I probably ought to road force these tires for out of roundness.

In conclusion, the ride is 10 times better now, although most of the vibration is only in the rear now, which is obvious why. I think that once I change the axles, the ride will dramatically increase, and I'm just glad it wasn't anything worse that this.

Does anyone know where to get some beefed up rear axles?

Chris