I took the 4Runner to Boston this weekend with my girlfriend and I came to the realization that I really have to fix some of my mods.

1) I never got around to pinpointing the source of the highway vibrations that appeared after the lift install. Soft drink shook like a leaf in the cupholder to visually remind me the whole ride home yesterday. I've read several posts on this forum and the Yotatech forum about similiar non-tire balance induced vibrations and they all are left unresolved. Tried living with the shakes, but they seem to be getting worse. Pretty soon my G/F is going to be getting off from them and I'll have to draw the line there. Either the U-joints are all getting replaced, the front diff is getting dropped, or the lift is coming off. Hopefully I won't result to the latter.

2) Magnaflow is increasingly getting on my nerves. I love the sound at idle and during hard acceleration, but it is too loud inside the truck at cruising RPMs. I may upgrade to the longer Magnaflow muffler or maybe even Dynomax.

3) Need a horn upgrade. Almost got tossed into the wall on the highway by a new Ford Exploder change lanes. This one was CLOSE!! I jumped on the brakes hard enough to activate ABS and just barely missed getting hit. My horn played no role in preventing this near miss. Even I could hardly hear it.

Sorry for the rambling/venting, but a long trip with those annoyances(#'s 1&2 above) that I brought upon myself, can wear on the mind.

 

What year truck, and how much lift do you have? Did you separate the front/back of the driveshafts(pull the splines apart)? If so, did you put it back together in phase?

I installed "freeway blaster" horns from NAPA on my rig (130 db). When I got hit though, I never saw it coming so didn't even hit the horn. (they were passing me and lost control and sideswiped me)

I hate the sound of magnaflow mufflers

 

Sorry, I just updated my sig, 97 SR5.

I only have about 1 1/2 " of lift from Performance Products Springs.
I didn't install them so it is very possible that the hacker garage I went to screwed it up. Are there any markings on the driveshafts to tell if they are matched up properly?

Too bad you got sideswiped. Hope they had insurance.

 

Did you get the front end aligned and wheels balanced after the lift???


If not get it done soon.

 

Yep. Got an alignment twice just to be sure. And I had the tires rebalanced even though they were perfect before the lift. I'm convinced it's somewhere in the driveline. I just need to do a process of elimination somehow. Someone suggested removing the rear driveshaft once. I would do that but fear I will be opening a new can of worms. I was hoping someone else with the same symptoms had found the source to save me from tearing everthing apart.

 

I'll leave the lift and muffler stuff to the experienced...

I also installed Highway Blasters (Fiam) from one of the local shops (Autozone, I think) for about $26. The install was almost plug-and-play. I only had to cut the old connectors off and crimp on the new. The Hi and Lo tones I picked are much louder than stock, but still a bit of a high note to them. I'm looking to replace the Hi note with one from an old Caddy or such.

Best bet: go to a junk yard and pick up 2 used, domestic, LOUD horns. Or opt for the airhorns.

 

vibration at highway speeds- have your tires "loadforced" or "road force balanced" if that fails to resolve the problem, look into having the driveshafts re-balanced or even pinion angles might be off from the lift, but if its only 1.5" i doubt it... good luck

 

Tstango:

Don't know what to say about the vibration but I believe the other guys have addressed some possible solutions.

Horns: go to a junkyard and get some caddy horns. To me they are the best. i have the Hella supertones...they are loud (good point) but sound like a BWM (not-so-good point). My crowing accomplishment was waking up a lady who was busy talking on her mobile phone w/ a coffee cup in the same hand and slowly merging into my lane. It appeared that she was so startled that she got some coffee on her blouse. Take that!

Your shaking cupholder: I have the one and only perfect solution:

http://www.4runners.org/articles/cupholder

Worth every penny. Trust me on this!

Bob

 

Hey TStango,

I don't have any helpful advise for you, sorry. I just wanted to welcome you to the forum and say "HI" from a fellow CT resident.

 

WOW,

THanks for all the responses!

I'm going to investigate the tires one more time and if that doesn't work, then I'll look at drive shaft/ujoint possibilites.
I will be so much more happy with this truck if I can just smooth things out.

THe horn suggestions sound really good. I know someone with an old Buick junker that would be a good organ donor.

AS for the Magnaflow, (Sorry Corey I tried), I'm giviing up on it. This is one of those "If it ain't broke don't fix it" situations.

Bob_98SR5, I really like that cupholder upgrade. Nice job on the write up too. Looks like a future weekend project once I straighten out everything else.

Thanks for the warm welcome!
-Tim

 

Hey TStango,
I have the 24inch long Magnaflows. I've heard them all and mine sounds just as nice as the rest. However when traveling at freeway speeds, my exhaust doesn't get any louder.
I hear a low distant hum but thats about it.
Something to consider.

Mike

 

It is possible that the driveline is out of series if they removed it, but I wouldn't think for such a short lift that it would be necessary to. You can pretty well eyeball it to see. Check to see that the yoke on the pinion of the rear differential and the slipyoke and stub at the transfercase line up. The caps of the U-joints should line up with each other is such a fashion that they can both pivot in the same relation. You should be able to take a string and go from the center point of the rear joint directly to the center point of the front one in a straight line following the driveshaft? Does that make sense?
Do you feel the vibration through the driveline (holding the shifter), or in the steering wheel? If you feel it in the steering wheel, you might try just crawling under the truck and looking for loose components or damage to the idler arms. I can certainly vouch for shops doing the job wrong. When I had my current '85 4Runner lifted, they didn't release the bolts to the sway bar. Truck felt a little funny and when I finally looked the sway bar was out of line and the bolts were twisted backwards to the point of breaking. I wound up making new ones out of grade 8 all thread and stainless steel pipe.
Good luck! I hope, and kinda bet, it turns out to be something simple
I forgot to add, I had a 79 Ford (sorry, I realize the boards will have to be washed, rinsed and sanitized now LOL!) 4x4 that had been lifted and had big tires on it, not to mention a 428 Cobra motor. What the hell was I thinking when I bought it?! Anyway, I had an odd vibration in it. It finally got so bad one day that I had to ease off the road and slow down easy to get under control. Once I searched around, I discovered that the steering box had come loose and was just hanging off the frame! Luckily, I was carrying some wrenches :eek:

 

Didn't notice if this was asked or not. Does your truck shake all of the time or just when giving it gas?

 

Hey Tim,

I still have my stock exhaust (CA dual cat) if you don't want to deal with the Magnaflow anymore. I'm sure we can work something out for the <ahem>video<ahem>... LOL, ok I'll stop!

email me off-list so we can set up a time for a test drive

 

The vibration is also present when I'm off the gas as well, (not as bad though) but it is not felt through the steering wheel. I definitely can feel it in the transfer case shifter. Anyone else experience this? I know some movement of the shifters is normal but the transfer case shifter is transmitting the vibes, not the auto shifter. That gives me another idea Phong! :eek:...well nevermind.
It has to be something with the driveshaft/u-joints.

 

Fahrenheit 451, Ill try that. That's some good info. Thanks

 

From what little research I've done, here's what I know about exhaust:

1) The larger the diameter tubing the more resonating that occurs at all speeds. This is the major cause for the loud noise within the cabin of our vehicles. So, the smaller the diameter, the less resonating and noise heard in the cabin.

2) The longer the muffler, the less sound in the cabin, and vice versa.

Hope this helps!

Chris

 

Sounds like a plan. I'm not sure if I should go for the longer Magnaflow or switch to a Dynomax. I don't have my OE muffler anymore but it was too big and heavy anyways. I just need a mellow free flowing muffler.

Anyone have the longer Magnaflow installed on a 3.4L?

 

Have you tried Borla's universal mufflers! They are mostly for performance with limited noise from my experience.

Chris

 

I crawled under the truck tonight and inspected the driveline again. The bolt heads on rear end yoke flange, or whatever it is called, show no evidence of being removed. This eliminates the out of phase theory I guess. I think I'm going to replace the U-joints near the transfer case. The increased driveshaft angle, as little as it is, might be enough to wobble that joint if there is even a little bit of slop in it. I can't think of anything else.