I have a 95 Runner and I just put used 33'' swampers on it. Whenever I hit anywhere from 45-60mph the truck will shake for a few seconds then go back to being smooth. The vibration continues on and off. My steering wheel does not go from side to side, the entire truck shakes pretty bad. I had my ujoints replaced last summer and I have an OME lift on w/ cranked torsion bars. I never felt the vibration when i had 31's on there. While puttin on the 33's i noticed there was some play on in the front right tire when i grabbed the top and bottom. Could this be a worn wheel bearing or tie rod?

 

sounds like a wheel bearing to me

 

Hey!
don't nuke this problem out! Sounds like you need to get the tires balanced. Bad balancing will cause shakes at a certain speed interval before it smooths out. If not, check the Tie-Rods, they are easy to look at and inspect. Then the bearings...
good luck

 

Even perfectly balanced, it probably won't go away. Take a look at those tires. What part of Super Swampers huge tread blocks suggests they would be smooth on the road? What is probably happening is the occasional random point where the treads harmonize.

 

How old are the shocks? If you get it rocking (jump on the bumper), how many times does it take to settle out?

Grab the tie rods, and give them a pull - you shouldn't feel any movement. Flamed4x4 wrote a great post on how to check ball joints.

Check your tire pressure.

Would also have the alignment checked and the tires balanced. If it's still there, it's gotta be the tread design.

What width 33's?

 

I just put the shocks on over thanksgiving and the tires are 33X12.50. Today I was driving about 55, the vibration occurred again, I slowed to 45 and it wasnt as violent. The faster I get the more violent the vibration. THen after about 20 seconds it went away and was smooth until i went into a curve. The truck needs an alignment but the tires came off a FJ40 and he had no problems with them. THey were balanced and were not off the truck more than 24hrs after i put them on mine. Should I still get them balanced again? I pulled on the tie rods and they were tight. What do you mean by the tread harmonizing?

 

If the "pulses" from the tread blocks happen at the resonant frequency of the suspension, they will be exaggerated instead of being damped out. That's why road tires have different sized tread blocks instead of all the same like your swampers... Did you get the wheels/tires from someone you know? Maybe they could ride with you and see if they heard it before.

 

Could always be a driveshaft too. Mine shakes above 70 and shakes worse when you stop accelerating (float period).

I'm putting a new (used) one on tomorow.


Lamm

 

Could it be the pitman arm?

 

I don't think so. That would cause steering slop, but not vibration as far as i know.

Lamm

 

Im having the same problems with the random truck vibration. Ive got 31x10.5 tire size and they were mounted and balanced not too long ago. I even had an alignment done two weeks ago to see if that helped and yet the whole truck still vibrates randomly above 50mph.

I too have had instances where the drive will be really smooth and then suddenly itll be shaky again for a few seconds, then smooth again. The ride is smooth below 50mph though. Its getting quite annoying..

 

Sounds like mine before I rebuilt the idler arm-grab the passenger tire are wiggle it back and forth-see if the idler arm moves--if it does follow these easy directions-

http://www.4x4wire.com/toyota/maintenance/idler/

I have done this once a year--for $15--it takes about an hour.

 

I took mine ack in to have the tires rebalanced because of minor vibration at highway speeds. They checked the balance, but also did a really good job of cleaning off the back of the wheel and the surface of the rotor with an air sander.

Seems to have helped.

 

I appreciate the help. It turned out the wheels just needed balancing..sixteen weights later im riden as smooth as ever.

 

Wow that's a lot of weight. Sure you don't have bent rims? I don't know where or how to find them, but I've heard about places that can balance the TIRE (unmounted) and match it to the rim to minimize the weights required. This is especially important with really big tires (like 40").