Help! Extreme Truck Vibration
 

Ok, I have been doing much searching and I am still not sure what is wrong with the rig. Over the last week I have had some major vibration issues in the whole truck. The problem is, it doesn't do it all the time. It usually starts on the way to or from work after I have driven it for about 15 minutes or so. I first thought it was up front, but now I am not sure where it is coming from. The steering wheel and the whole front of the truck shook so bad that I literally thought the front wheel was loose and was coming off. I pulled over the first time this happened and checked everything and I couldn't find anything loose. Got back in and started driving and everything seemed ok until I got home. I rotated the tires the next day to see if this would help. Next day it seemed smooth for awhile then after about 15 to 20 minutes into trip it start vibrating slowly then just keeps building to where it is almost un-drivable. It keeps vibrating when I let off the gas and slow up and when applying the breaks. And I am talking serious vibration I have never seen in a vehicle before. I don't think it is a warped rim or anything to do with the tires, but I could be wrong. It seems worse than the usual tire out of balance. I just don't understand how it could come and go this quickly. Could this be UJoint or Front Shock? One last thing. Two weeks ago, I did use a pressure washer to blow rust off the frame. I don't know if this could of done any damage or if it is coincidental. Sorry for the long post, I just wanted to give all the details. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

:help:

Just a thought but maybe you could get a someone to follow you and when it starts get them to look at either side of the vehicle when it starts doing what it's doing. Maybe then you can at least figue out what side it's on and if it is wheel-tire related at all.. Just a thought..

That is a good idea. That may help. I will have someone else drive my truck and I will do the looking. Thanks.

Check your u-joints. Lube your drive-line.

It doesn't sound brake related from your post, so I'm thinking either drive line or front suspension, but i'm leaning more towards front suspension. I've had tire balance problems that seemed intermittent after I knocked a weight off a tire. A combination of balance and a bad shock could explain an imbalance taking off exponentially. When you DO figure this one out, let us know.

I will check my U-joints and lube the drive-line tonight. Also, if I did have a bad shock, how could I tell, other than the issue I am having? Would the front bounce allot, because it doens't do that. Just curious. I will post a solutions once I figure this out. Thanks for input thus far.

I had an 03 S10 That vibrated horribly like that, It was the driveshaft....Hope not, and doesnt sound much like it, but check it out. and does the vibration seem to follow speed at all? Or just random?

The vibration does seem to start around 50 mph or so but when I slow up it doesn't let up when I slow down at all until I stop. It does seem also that it starts like I said after about 15 minutes or when everything is good and heated up which is odd. It feels like all 4 tires are coming off.

The shocks aren't leaking right?

I have a friend with a pos jeep that does something like this.
He gets a wheel hop that is usually induced by a bump in the road(but not always).
The truck shackes so violently that you don't have much control of steering or braking.
It was the shocks on his truck and they weren't even leaking.
Doesn't sound exactly like your problem but I would look into the shocks for sure.

Chris,

Actually, that does sound like what happens to my truck like you just described with your friends "pos" jeep :-). I wonder if it is hitting a bump that is getting the shock all out wack at random and causing the wheel hop. I will check them. thanks.

I had a bad vibration issue with my 1996 V6 Ext cab when I was running old BFG AT's 25% tread and the shop said it was a bad belt on the tire. Had them rotate the tires and the problem got better but sill vibrated a bit . So I had it alligned and bought new tires and the problem is gone.

I had a problem with my older truck "87"that sounds pretty close.Upon inspection I couldn't find anything wrong with the driveline.But looking closer it turned out to be the third member going out.Just wiggling the drive shaft didn't do it.But after actually physically turning the driveline back and forth you could tell something was wrong.There was a ton of play in it.

That's called tire separation. Probably not his problem cause that shows all the time.

I just wanted to update everyone who helped with my problem. I think I may have found the issue which may be two problems. First off, I do think my front struts are going bad. I ordered 4 new Rancho RS5000's. Secondly, I think it was my front brakes that were causing the issue. They are only 8 months old, brand new calipers, pads and Brembo rotors so I didn't think they were the issue. I think what was happening was that the pads were getting stuck on the 2 rails that hold them in place that they should float on. I did put allot of brake grease on these rails, but I live in Ohio in the rust belt so they are corrided pretty good already. I think that after they heated up so much and expanded they would start to stick and then with the combination of bad shocks/struts the wheel would start to hop very badly. I sprayed them last night pretty good with some Deep Creep (Great Stuff) and today I didn't have any issues with vibration the whole way to work. I got some brake grease and I am going to lube them all up again. Hopefully this was the issue, I will find out for sure on the way home. Once I get my new shocks and I install them, I should be in good shape. Thanks everyone for the great input and I will post back in a week or so to give a final update.

Hey bud. Did you ever put those shocks in ?? I have he same problem with my 01 4 Runner. When driving at higher speeds, say 60 mph or so if I hit a bigger bump in the road, the steering wheel will shake and he whole truck bounces more than I think it should. In fact, the "aftershock" that you feel after hitting a bump in any vehicle seems to last a lot longer than it should

I think I had a combination of two problems. 1. the brakes and 2. the shocks. I had an issue with my right front caliper locking up. You might wan't to check your calipers first. My pads weren't floating like they should and I think they were heating up and locking then if I hit a bump they would cause the front wheel to start bouncing and the whole truck whould shake out of control becuase of the shocks going bad. I fixed the breaks first before my shocks came in and that solved the problem, however the new shocks were a great improvement to the ride. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask.