Alperovich

Just to make sure you guys have the full story...

the truck is a 90 t4r v6 5spd 4x4

I finally got around to changing all my fluids, engine, trans, front diff, transfer case (rear diff was done in november), greased ball joints, and drive shafts. noticed that the idler arm was loose.

next week, replaced idler arm + alternator. checked front pads, they were getting low.

same day, i started having a vibration which happened after 50mph. It was mostly in the steering wheel, some what in the body. and when i hit the brakes it got a lot worse and the whole truck shook.

checked ball joints, bearing, steering components. Noticed pass side tierod was a little loose. ball joints seamed ok. bearing were a little loose, and grease looked shot.

2 weeks later, i finally got pads, rotors, and bearing seals, and bearings just in case, just happened that the pads were almost done, infact one pad was completely gone. I replaced the rotors, pads (after fighting with the calipers for ever and having to replace the slidepins which were stuck in the calipers pretty bad. Check the bearing, they looked not to be worn. I cleaned and repacked them.

no change in vibration.

fast forward to yesterday, replaced outer tie rod (thinking that it may have been the cause). aligned the front end, its perfect now (the alignment), and rotated the tires.

vibration still there but now, instead of a violent shaking the steering wheel (but it will does shake), the whole truck is shaking, bad. over 50mph and when i hit the brakes.

also if i drive on the highway for a little bit, like 10miles, the vibration dampens. and only comes back after pressing the brakes. and usually if i driver under 45mph, it wont vibrate at all unless i have gone past 50mph and/or it started to vibrate, then it vibrates at all speeds, after it has started doing it.

also when i press the brake, the pedal pulsates but only after the truck has started vibrating.

my thoughts, bearing. its possible i guess that my torque wrench isn't working properly and was under torquing when i set the bearing, or i didn't seat them properly.

its been happening for over 1000miles, and has been at least 300miles since i did the bearing. its getting really annoying. not only because of the shaking but also because i can't find the cause.

I'm going to try to over tighten the bearing a little bit, but i don't have a 2 &1/8 socket here at home (we do at school), so i'm just going to try and use plier's to just tighten the bearings to see if it will go away, then when i get back school next week, re tighten using a socket, just to do it right.

any ideas guys? please help

ps. sry for the chapter book...

TNRabbit

This reads like a warped rotor. How are your pads wearing now? Violent shaking on brake application is almost always a warped rotor.

Get the front end up on jack stands & have a pal hold the steering wheel. Grab the wheel at 12 & 6 o'clock, and try to get it to move in & out. Also try it at 9 & 3 o'clock. Nine times out of ten, this will tell you if you have some type of play in the steering that migh tbe responsible for your shake.

Elvota

"also when i press the brake, the pedal pulsates but only after the truck has started vibrating. "

Does your truck have ABS? Could it be acting incorrectly? Strange that your problems seem to be speed related. There is a sensor on top of the rear diff that helps the ABS work. Maybe that or another part of the system.

Just brainstorming here.

Alperovich

/\ brand new rotors. same problem as old rotors.

i've checked for play in the steering.

also after i did the tie rod, we drove it, no change, then i rotated the tires just to rule those out, but i'm gonna have my friend at sears check the balance, our balancer at school can't do lug centric wheels.

yea it has rear abs. doesn't seam to be coming from the back, i've tried to isolate the problem by using the parking brake to slow down. its very smooth when it does it.

Alperovich

damn it i was outside for 2min, took the wheel over and was loosin those nuts on the bearing cover and busted my finger open. lol... shait happens. back to trying to tighten the bearing in hopes of solving the problem...

THANX FOR THE HELP GUYS. keep them ideas coming, the more ppl thinking about this the better

honestly, i'm kinda stumped. I have a good automotive background. I'm getting ready to take ASE tests...

TNRabbit

You talked about tightening the bearings...are they loose enough you have play in the hub?

FYI: you can tighten the 2 1/8" nut with a hammer & screwdriver/punch....

Alperovich

no they are not loose enough to feel play. before i repacked them they were though. I just wanted to make sure, i didn't under torque them and cause it to be loose under load.

thats my problem. I can't find play in the suspenion/steering. rotors/pads are new. bearing are greased.

caliper issue? but what? i checked the pistons they didn't seam to be frozen.

I don't have a dial indicator to check the rotors to make sure they are true, same for the hub. I'll have to check that next week at school.

leebee

what do you have your wheel lugs torqued to? the place i bought my runner from had them way too tight and i had some wicked vibrations. told them they warped the rotors by overtightening the lugs, they got me a new set of rotors. i loosened all the lugs, retightened them to 85 ft lbs and end of vibrations.

just my .02.

lee

CJM

Its the steering rack..replace everything..

kt19

Where did you get your rotors. I have bought rotors from Checker and advanced before to save a buck and you never know what you are going to get. Twice from checker and once from advanced one of the two rotors bought was already warped out of the box. Checker turned one and by the time they got it straight it was below the min thickness. so maybe you ended up with a warped one. Just a thought.

Alperovich

hmm interesting. I always torque my nuts to 100lbs. haven't heard for too tight causing problems. I had mine torqued to 80lbs in the back once and the lugs came loose. also i don't have the factory wheels, not factory lug nuts, not sure how much difference that makes.

whats wrong with it? its a pretty general statement huh. I'm not about to throw $1000s of parts at my truck. Not saying i'm cheap but I like to make sure things are actually not in spec and actually need to be replaced b4 replacing parts. What kind of tests can u recommend for testing the steering rack (which technically we don't have a "rack")?

i got them from best bet auto parts. I have a friend who works there. They are a whole sale distributor of parts, not an actually parts store but he can get parts.

I haven't been able to check the rotors for run out yet, i don't have a dial indicator. I should get one.

My plan is to recheck the bearing this weekend. Check the balance of the tires, and on monday check for run out of the rotor and hub.

Thanx for the help guys, keep those idea's coming.

CJM

If you do a search you wind up with the following causes: wheels are out of round, rotors warped (I would buy a set of brembo blanks over anything) or the steering components are worn out. I dont recall what the guy replaced who said he tried everything else first, but 700 bucks later he said no more problems as he had his mechanic replace most of the front steering parts.

You check the idler arms, the torsion bars, etc. Just throwing out suggestions.

Alperovich

I'll search around. however, as i said in my original post. I've checked over the steering components a few times, ball joints. I'll looked over it again this weekend.

I'm a big fan of actually checking things for problems instead of throwing parts at it.

chrishf12

Are you shure its not coming from the rear? because the e brake usually works with a cable and abs is electrical. I have also seen vehicle that use a diff set of shoes for the e brake and the regular running brakes. My .02 is to check the rear again and make sure thats not where its coming from before throwin un-needed parts on it!

Alperovich

i'm pretty sure our truck use the same set, however, i should check it out.

The reason i'm thinking its coming from the front, is because when i do use the parking brake to stop, its very very smooth, and when i use the regular brake and it start to shake the truck, it moving the steering wheel along with the other vibrations. Its added to my list of things to check.

As pointed out before, I'm not buying ANY parts before i know that its the cause. everything i've replaced so far NEEDED to be replaced.

This truck is my winter truck while my main car is down, i'm really not trying to invest more then i have to into her at the moment, since i'm going broke trying rebuild my legend.

as i said before, thanx for all the help, keep the ideal flowing,

ps. i didn't mean to sound like a dick earlier, which i may have, just kinda frustrated with this POS (jk, its not a pos, i actually really like the truck)

slosurfer

I had a problem like this once on my Mazda truck, it ended up being a bad tire. I had vibration at about 50mph and once I got up to 65 it smoothed out and came back again with a vengeance under brakeing. Definately have your tires checked.

chrishf12

The park brake thing jumped into my head and I just went with it forgeting about the stearing issues.

I agree with slosurfer check and make sure your tires are balanced correctly. That will definatly make the stearing vibrate.

Alperovich

yea, i'm gonna have my friend at sears check it on saturday but i rotated my tires and nothing changed, i can't see all the tires being out of balance,

HOWEVER, i was told that our trucks wheels are lug centric. so the center bore isn't perfect, even on the aftermarket wheels i have.

now, at school, i threw the rims on our balancer which doesn't have the attachment for lug centric wheels and the wheel were horribly out of balance but our staff asured me that it was normal for lug centric wheels. PLEASE CORRECT ME IF THIS INFO IS WRONG! it could solve my problem. I guess we'll know for sure when i get them checked at sear with the proper attachment.

TNRabbit

I have NEVER heard that...

Alperovich

hmm ic thanx. anyone else heard of that?