95.5-2004 Tacomas & 96-2002 4Runners 4th gen pickups and 3rd gen 4Runners

2WD Prerunner Death Wobble

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Old Jun 6, 2017 | 12:53 PM
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2WD Prerunner Death Wobble

'07 Prerunner 2WD 4.0L. Wobble begins at 35MPH and gets progressively worse with speed. By 50MPH the whole trk is shaking. By 65MPH it's so violent that steering control is now questionable and it's all over the road.

Whls and tires have been balanced repeated times on different equip. A set of 4 whls and tires were swapped from a similar trk with no issues and it made no difference. Whls and tires have been ruled out.

Trk recently went in for leaf spring and spiral cable recalls. Wobble was present before these services but became much worse immediately after. Wobble lessens somewhat under moderate to hard braking. Severity of the wobble is somewhat inconsistent: Some days it's far worse than others - there seems to be an ambient temp correlation, the warmer the weather the worse it is.

HELP! (and TIA).
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Old Jun 6, 2017 | 03:59 PM
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From: N of Okechobee Florida
Warped rotors can cause this as the rotor turns the pads grab or drag in areas. Have you turned or replaced the rotors? Just a thought
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Old Jun 6, 2017 | 04:08 PM
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back the adjusters off for your rear brakes and see if that helps
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Old Jun 8, 2017 | 06:19 AM
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Lower ball joints?




Andreas
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Old Jun 8, 2017 | 12:55 PM
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From my past experience most "death wobble" issues originate with one of the following: warped drums/rotors, flat spots on tires/busted radials, bent axle, or tire balance. When I say "originate" I mean that a tire out of balance makes the shimmy start, but loose front end or suspension parts will allow it to wiggle more, and with increased speed you get increased wobble. Alignment will not cause a wobble but it can wear your tires out to the point they will wobble. when dealing with vibration it is hard to beat a highly tuned assometer (seat of your pants). do you feel the shaking more in the steering wheel or the seat? Are your brakes really hot when you drive a mile or two and check? Does it vibrate more or less when you hit the brakes or no difference? If hitting the brakes makes it wobble more try lightly pulling on your parking brake, this will only apply your rear brakes, so no wobble would mean you have an issue in the front brakes. if you get a wobble you know for sure there is an issue with rear brakes but it does not completely rule out front rotors being warped as well.
I hope some of this helps you or someone else with the shakes!
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Old Jul 10, 2017 | 03:38 PM
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Did you give up or have you figured this out?
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Old Jul 25, 2017 | 08:55 PM
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The username may be your answer, akwheeler. I can only wonder when new folks register for the free advice, but have other things to worry about and don't have the time or interest to pursue fixing it...perhaps. The pages of this site just keep growing.

I would think if the OP said the wobbling lessens with braking, then warped rotors would not be the case. It be the opposite effect. The mention of recent work on the spiral cables, which ties in with the steering system, may point to the possibility of errors with the service, so something with the steering rack/knuckles/ball joints...something probably loose or missing, worsened the situation. Might all just be from worn bushings on the steering/front suspension components to begin with, even power steering pump/belt on its way out (along with other related noises). I might suspect the rear brakes, if recent work was done.

There's more to the story that remains a mystery unfortunately. Time will tell of any update. Just my thoughts on the topic.
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