4RunnerBuddha

Hello,

Its been awhile since i last posted, but after 78,000 miles, my '99 has been relatively trouble free. HOWEVER, For the last 5-10k miles, i've been suffering a vibration in the steering wheel at highway speeds. EVERY shop i've been to says its an alignment and tire balance issue, so i get it done, it goes away for a little bit, but returns pretty quick. i've been to several places for alignments/balancing but the same problem keeps coming up.

Recently, I drove up to the mountains with the wife for a relaxing weekend. On the drive down, while taking turns and under braking, there was a SERIOUS vibration coming from the steering wheel. Fed up, i've taken it into an independent shop for service (i've been going to a local dealer).

I consulted my Haynes manual, and their troubleshooting section says that it could be:

1. Wheel bearings
2. Steering dampner
3. Suspension Bushings
4. Shocks
5. Rack and pinion tube mounts are loose.

I'm basically at my boiling points with this problem. I told my shop to check the above and get back to me. Has anyone else had problems like mine? If its the bushings, shouldn't the alignment places said something to me? Shouldn't the dealers i've taken the Runner to said something? Any help/advice is welcome and appreciated.

Thanks,

Craig

BTW, Any LA locals have a good, Toyota-oriented shop that they can recommend?

jimbo74

if it is bushings then yes they should have said something, unless the techs they had working on it dont know how to check those things or overlook them... i work at a wheel works, and we do a lot of alignments and such, but in my experience, a lot of automotive places just want the $.. most of them dont look for stuff like the bushings that although to replace would be a high dollar tag, would also tie up their mechanic and prevent him from smaller easier jobs that lead to more $..... also check the linkages on the steering components, balljoints, tierod ends, etc

also you said under braking while taking turns there is a really bad vibration... that sounds like the rotors may be warped.....

midiwall

You may have two problems. The vibration at speed could be balance/rotation, the vibration under braking can be front disc pads, warped/gouged rotors...

Flamedx4

after it went away for a while, were the same tires still up front? they may have a wear pattern that caused further wear, bringing the vibration back.

flyAddict

If you have 31" tires, one favor you can do yourself is to replace the steering stabilizer. The stock one is puny, the Old Man Emu Steering damper will set you back about $60 and if you're at all mechanically inclined you can put in yourself. A pickle fork is very helpful to get the old one out. (Check out this writeup < I know it's for a second gen but should help you out none the less) My wheel vibrated very badly while accelerating and especially while driving at highway speeds, the OME Steering Damper smoothed it all out and makes the whole thing feel better.

If it's occuring mostly while braking it's probably warped roters, however you should probably wait and deal with that next time you need new brakes. Good Luck.

4RunnerBuddha

update: Just as Midiwall and flyaddict had mentioned, my front brake rotors were SEVERELY warped, and my mechanic is waiting for a new set as we speak.

He (my mechanic) is still trying to figure out what is going on with the vibration @ highway speeds, he's convinced that its a tire balance issue.

Any other things i should have him look at?

Thanks for the help guys, its very helpful!

Craig

4RunnerBuddha

The problem occured originally at the end of my stock tire's life (around 55k). I replaced them with the bridgestones, and the problem seemingly went away, up until recently. I've had two of my current tires patched. Perhaps this is the cause of the vibrations?

Craig

ranma21

Just to let you know that the 3rd gen doesn't equipt with a steering damper or stabilizer damper. I changed my rotors at around 88k too. I think the vibration form highway speed is the balancing issue too. Good luck man!

midiwall

Cool, glad we could help. Know that Napa carries the rotors and if they're not in stock at your local store, you can usually get them the next day. $32/each.


Nah... hindsight says that I think the folks that brought up balancing are right. The only other thing I can think of is that you may have a tread separation issue, but I think the result would be much more pronounced.


DOH! Very definitely. Were they balanced after the patching? Make sure your dude knows this.

flyAddict

My mechanic told me "it's just what happens when you put big off-road tires on the car". So I replaced the steering damper, no more hiway vibes. Definity check the wheel balencing, make sure you didn't throw some weights. If that doesn't fix it, buy a new steering damper you'll be pleased you did and at the puny stock one.

*edit* Please disregard my 2nd Gen a$$, I have a steering damper, you don't appearently.

4RunnerBuddha

Thanks for all your help guys.

I'm going to go back to my tire shop and sit there while the tech does the balance and alignment. I'm going to see if they'll warranty the tires, since their patching job may be the cause of the problem.

I could swear that the haynes manual showed a steering dampner on my third gen....hmmmm

Will definitely let everyone know how things turn out...

Craig

4RunnerBuddha

UPDATE #2:

Rotors replaced, brakes feel much better. No "Shimmy" under hard braking. Mechanic balanced tires on his balancer. He says he checked the wheel bearings, and bushings as requested. Could not find anything worn or needing replacing. So, I took the truck up to highway speeds, and the vibration is still occuring. Went to Discount Tire Center (my tire place) and they said that they WILL NOT warranty the tires and give me replacements.

I'm going in for an alignment and balance tommorrow morning, since i paid for the "lifetime" policy, i pay nothing. The new Discount Tire i'm going to says he has the haweka adapter, so i'm going to sit there and WATCH them balance and align my truck.

Guys, This situation has become very unacceptable, and i'm not in favor of sending my truck in every 2,000 miles for an alignment and balance (even if i pay nothing for the service). Short of new tires, any other suggestions?

Craig

sn0w_m0nkey

bhudda i am with ya!
i had just posted re: https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f2/03-vibration-problem-7527/

and then saw yours..doh.

yup same prob, i'm frustrated and yet i love my truck. i'm on brand new wheels + brand new tires and the problem is still with me. i'm only a home hacker mechanic, but i'm thinking that the suspension related or steering(?)...i'm moving my trouble shooting to the steering rack and motor mounts now. all wheels vibrate thus they are balanced with weights. however if the suspension/steering is faulty somewhere, it must be manifesting itself through this nasty shaking of the steering wheel...
gonna get an alignment checked too, but i doubt its off.

read that post i linked, some people do not have probs at all, some do, somebody test drove rig from dealership and it vibrated...

my head is shaking from the shaking.

4RunnerBuddha

Snow,

I'm glad to see i'm not the only one! I've dealt with this problem for a little while now, and I've about had it! I too think its in my steering rack, I won't know really until i take into the dealer for its next oil change. I'm not sure i wanna spend $$$ on labor for them to tell me their ain't nothing wrong with the steering rack. I'm also going to take the service manager on a test ride with me, to show him this problem, and make sure he puts his best "boys" on it....

I've read about tires not being perfectly true, but after getting two balances and alignments (done by two different shops) within a week of each other, it has to be something on the car. Just have to wait and see....

Craig

Edit: Just got off the phone with toyota technical service, and they said: "If the dealer is unable to diagnose and fix the problem, even after consulting with Toyota's techinical hotline, there is NOTHING toyota can do..."

sn0w_m0nkey

Buddha,
please keep me informed on this one. we're in this togeter and i'm sure some others. i'll try to get something going on my trouble shooting too, will update when i come across anything.

peace

4RunnerBuddha

Hi all,

I took my truck intothe largest toyota dealership (in LA), on the advice of Bob_98SR5. After three hours and 100 bucks later, I drove onto the freeway and what do ya know, the problem is ALMOST non-existant. I can still feel a little vibration here and there, but its not nearly as bad as it was before i went through all the expense and wasted time last week. Looking at the wheels, i see that they moved some of the wheel weights around, which none of the other tire places did. This is not the "Fix" that i wanted, but at least i can drive the highways with some peace of mind....Finally, someone who knows how to balance a toyota wheel....(we'll see how long it lasts)

Later that day, I was talking to a friend who owns a '95, and when I told him what was going on, he said that the problem is probably in the steering setup, probably in the bushings. I told him i had it checked, and he said that maybe its something inside the steering assembly, and that b/c there is no dampner (as in a classic rack and pinion), perhaps the parts wear and cause the vibration. If you look at the Haynes manual, it shows the steering system to be a long tube with what looks like boot covers on the ends...(i'll scan a pic soon)

After searching yotatech, i found that some '03s were having the same problem. In fact, one person is even fighting toyota with legal action. This leads me to believe that it is perhaps the design of the steering that is the cause of the problem, not just wheels or tires. Or it could be a combination. If it is Toyota's design, why no recall to have it fixed?

Anyone care to comment?

Craig

TACOMANATOR

I had the same problem on my 2000 taco. Had the tires balanced 3 times before I found out the tires were out of round. Ask if you can watch them balance the tires or ask them to check for out of round. New tires solved my problem.

bamachem

Go back to the tire store and slap the ˟˟˟˟ing idiot to wake him up and tell him to CROSS ROTATE the tires to change the spin direction. $10 says that will cure your vibrations. If you were even slightly out of alignment and then didn't CROSS ROTATE the tires, then you WILL NOT get rid of the vibrations. To cure the vibes, have them swap the Driver Front to the Passenger Rear and the Pass Rear to the Driver Front. Do the other pair the same way.

If that doesn't help, then check the tires on a ROADFORCE balancer and they will tell you if they are out of spec on roundness or have INTERNAL NON-VISIBLE imperfections that you can't see or measure w/ just your eye.

ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS request a full cross-rotate when you have it done. Mark each tire w/ chaulk (RF, RR, LF, LR) to make sure the idiots do it correctly the FIRST time.

Good Luck.

AgRunner06

I've heard that you shouldn't cross rotate tires. How come?

bamachem

If you have uni-directional, then you SHOULDN'T. If you have omni-directional (symmetrical tread) radials, then you can and SHOULD.