Here's the video. Please expand the description for specific info.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eUhNQsuOaI

 

Doubt it's the tires. They are the quietest mud tires I've heard in my life. This feeling is like a back and forth motion of the entire vehicle, and less like a vibration. I'm sure it is a vibration made worse by the sheer torque of taking off from a dead stop. And this problem was definitely there before the new tires and especially before the gears.

 

I had the same problem you are having on a 98 tacoma. I changed everything ! shocks,brakes front and rear,rotors and drums, clutch kit, carrier bearing, rear axle bearings, new set of tires. 31/10.5/15's /rear springs.... the whole deal and never got rid of it. I lucked out though..... Mine was under the frame recall and toyota bought it back. I have always wondered if it was frame related..... Sorry it's not much help, but, I never figured it out either.

 

Clutch kit replaced everything including clutch, pressure plate, flywheel, pilot and throwout bearings?

Ever replace or do any work on the driveline besides the carrier bearing?

 

The tires I had were Firestone Destination AT's..... so they were not heavy duty mud tires. So I dont think it's your tires. I thought maybe one of them busted a belt. I took it to Firestone and they told me they were fine.

 

Oh Yeah.... all new universals...... I didn't change the drive shaft though. I think you said that you did. Mine still had the little weight on it. I thought maybe that had rusted off and was out of balance.

 

Def try a different set of wheels an tires....factory rim preferably. How about removing the rear drive shaft and running just the front in 4wd. Maybe it will help pin point if its clutch/trans... or rear driveshaft or rear end

 

Guys, I've been through 3 different sets of wheels and 4 different sets of tires in the last 8k miles on this truck. The first set of wheels were stock with 31x10.5, and a far more aggressive mud tread than I have now. I even have a buddy that has the EXACT same wheels and tires on his 97 4-runner. I have seen a million different tacoma's with the DC-2 wheel, and it's one of the main reasons I bought them.

Just for ˟˟˟˟s and giggles, I pulled the rear wheels and tires off, and did the same experiment as on the second video. No change. Same sound. It's not the wheels or tires.

I do plan on doing the front driveline only as soon as I replace the u-joints in it. They are definitely bad. That will give me a good indicator of the problem.

 

I get the same thing in the mornings with the clutch shudder but only in the mornings. For me I'm 100% confident it's in the clutch somewhere so I'll replace it when it starts to slip. I did have another high speed vibration before and it was due to too much angle on the front CV's which I rectified by taking out the top out spacer and all was well! On a side note, I hope you got jack-stands under your rig when you play around with it in the air like that and not that it's just sitting on the jack.

BTW, I gotta get me one of those Cameras!!!

 

After many months of procrastination, and because it's winter time, I have finally decided to rip open the truck and see what's wrong. I'm doing a long list of items that needs to be done. New passenger CV axle, new front springs, new clutch, new flywheel.

After dropping the tranny last night and getting the clutch parts out, I checked the following:

-Input shaft is solid, splines are perfect and not damaged. Bearing feels smooth
-Old clutch plate is worn right to the rivets, but not damaged
-Pressure plate in good shape, some hot spots, no damage
-Flywheel looks good, it's got hot spots, but nothing crazy
-Pilot bearing is completely shot. Still intact, but destroyed internally and does not spin smoothly
-Throw out bearing in good shape

I'm really hoping the new clutch setup fixes the issue. More to come!

 

At first I thought of tires, but after watching the second video I have come to the conclusion it is neither wheels or tires.

By the way, thank you for the interesting videos. You rarely ever get to watch the live working of the undercarriage of a vehicle.

Anyways, after noticing that strange rattling, almost like marbles sound, i would check the rear end. My clutch on my '96 chatters as well and I know that it needs changing but it doesn't have this vibration you speak of. This is a vibration sounds like a rear end movement. I also heard a clunking noise when you gave it gas which may have something to do with u-joints but you said they are fine so i would check rear again.

Lay under your truck directly under drive shaft and grasp with both hands and push up and pull down, what does it feel like? Next push in and out, what do you feel?

If fixing the clutch did the trick then never mind, rofl

 

The gears were just redone, and this problem existed through the gear swap. Rear end is extremely solid.

My friend who is working on this in his garage, just broke his shoulder, so it's going to be a slow process getting the truck back together. Hopefully it should be done within the next week or so, then we'll see if the problem still exists.

 

Finally got the truck all back together after not having a lot of time to work on it. Clutch feels great. Grabs very nice, but the problem still exists. There is still a noticeable vibration. I have to replace both of the U-joints in the front driveline, then I will pull the rear driveline and see if I have the same issues. If they disappear, then I know it's something back there and I can have my secondary driveline rebuilt by a driveline shop.

Anyone got any other ideas wtf this issue might be?

 

okay so did you replace all of your gears?? It could be a spider or side gear that is damaged. I understand you replaced the ring and pinion. I would say it's a gear issue. That is what it sounds like to me.. Who setup your gears? What did your stock gears look like when you took them out? With the tires in the air, is there any play if you move the tire up and down?? Could be a bad wheel bearing or somethin.

Good luck!

 

I had it done at Addicted Offroad (ScottyC on here). I'm not sure exactly what work was done, but it's definitely something that has been noticeable since the gear swap.

I also notice there is a whirring sound from the rear end, but it's been there since the gear swap. I thought it was just due to the newer gears, but it has never subsided.

 

Sounds like the backlash wasn't set properly when the gears were installed. Whirring noise equals gear contact.

 

Ricky, is the rear driveshaft a CV shaft(double cardan joint) or just a standard two joint shaft?

Bring the truck up to the shop when you get a chance so I can drive it. I do not think the low speed shudder and high speed vibe are related. The high speed vibe is likely driveshaft vibration from needing a CV shaft back there now. That is why it got worse after the lift. If its operating at any angle over around 11-13* its the shaft. And I bet it gets worse when you let off the gas slightly.

Call me. 970-420-4198

 

Double cardan joint back there.

Will you be around in the afternoon tomorrow? I might have time to take a drive up there.

 

Letting off the gas doesn't necessarily make it worse... Deceleration is not nearly as bad as acceleration, but it's noticeable. But in 4th between 30 and 40mph in both directions, it's terrible.

But again, I can drive a mile in reverse, and it doesn't do it at all. Reverse is very smooth like I expect, even when backing up a hill, compared to forward motion in any gear at any speed.

 

Just got done swapping out the u-joints on the front driveline, and so I put it back in and took the rear driveline out. Just went for a little test drive, and it's almost as if I have a completely brand spanking new FWD Tacoma. No vibration, no shaking, no shuddering. Although I didn't take it on the freeway yet, I plan to do that next.