Hey,

My dad took the 2000 4Runner into the dealer, which has NEVER seen any offroad use--just day to day and highway stuff. The problem was that the truck would shake going highway speeds and moan when a state of no acceleration was present. The problem has gotten worse as time as gone on. The dealer diagnosed the problem as bad u-joints, and said that the repairs would be $500 in parts.

When my dad told me after I got home from school, I was like WTH. If the u-joints were in bad enough condition, the truck wouldnt move at all right? Also, if they are messed up beyond repair, how the hell could this happen as the truck is ONLY used for light driving. Is it possible that the driveline simply needs to be lubed?

If this repair is necessary, then we must do it however one would think that the u-joints were a bit more stout than this.

Thanks in advance.

 

How many miles??

Tough thing is-if the driveline is even a small amount out of balance it will prematurally wear the Ujoints..it may have been since new. Have you noticed any unusuall small vibration before it got this bad?

 

I know that if you do in fact need new u-joints, you could go to a private shop and probably pay half that price. $500 seems way too high to me.

 

I very much doubt you need new u-joints.
Get under the truck and shake the driveshaft to see if there is any play.
If it is tight, then they are full of crapola.
There are zerk fittings on the shaft so you should grease it while you're under there.

My bet would be the shaking is more from the tires.
If anyone did a balance recently, check how they did it.
It requires a special adapter to do it correctly.
Also check the trucks alignment just to be sure.

 

Guys,

Thanks so much for the quick info. We recently bought new tires, however the problem seemed to be barely present before the new tires.

The truck has always driven incredibly straight so I've never had an alignment cause I didn't think it was needed.

My dad just got through telling me that they showed him the driveshaft and he said not only did it have play in it, it was down-right loose. Any thoughts there?

Thanks!

 

I had my U-Joints go bad tthree times on my 88' Runner. I was never sure why they went bad so often and never figured it out, I'm guessing the driveshaft was probably not balanced. Anyway it cost me $30 for each end at a private bearing shop. It takes 10 mins to remove the driveshaft. Take it to a place that has a press for the joints, like a bearing shop, they will charge you probably $15 dollars for the joints and not much more for labor. So places like this will also balance your shaft.

Jeff

 

if the driveshaft slops around in the joints they're definitely bad

but just because it doesn't does not mean they are good - the vibration is actually caused by TIGHT joints, because the shaft cannot spin easily

it could also be bad joints on the front axles (if you have 4WD), not just the driveshaft

Since your symptoms sound exactly like mine (on a different vehicle than I now own), and replacing the u-joints fixed it, I'm gonna suggest that course of action.

As for cost, I paid $7 each for the joints (local parts store) and did it myself with help of mechanic friend in one evening. A press is helpful but can be done by beating the crap outta em (that's how we did it).

 

yep, my 88 had a bad u-joint. it shook on the freeway the first time I drove it. Well----the u joints were so screwed up that the cups were actually expanded and i had to hammer the crap out of those things for 2 hours to get them off. by the way, the reason the joints went bad was because the previous owner ran into a rock with the driveline ( that messed up the rearend too ) I would never change one of those again by myself--definately try a driveline shop before taking it back to the dealer. would be way cheaper too...

T

 

I can't say....you need to get under the truck and see if it is actually loose or not.
It is certainly possible for the joints to go bad...have they ever been greased? Miles on truck?
If it is as loose as you say it is they do need to be replaced.

Only way bearings are too tight is if they are starting to seize up....so be careful with that.

 

I have a very similar problem and have been seeking help here, as well.

I replaced the u-joints and the problem persists. It could be a driveshaft balance problem or ???

You might want to take duff's suggestion and get some free estimate type diagnoses from some driveline shops. Good Luck!

 

That repair should be more like $50 than $500 unless they put in joints that are made of Platnum coated Moon rocks.

Tell the Dealer's Service Writer where to shove his $500 U-Joints!

Courtesy of Pirate 4x4.com...

How to change a Toyota U-Joint.

The article is for an FJ40 but its the same on newer junk like yours.

 

Make sure you have the same size and make tires on all 4 wheels and that they are properly balanced.
Then you can start looking at other things.....kills me when people look at the hard stuff first.
Best of luck with it!

 

I had a bad vibration on the front end that a good wheel balance solved. For a proper wheel balance:Find a shop that has the Hunter 9700. That problem had different symptoms and no moaning, vibration or hum (sounds fun) when decelerating.