Please help, Vibration over 50mph

I have a 2000 Tundra TRD with 3" lift. I get a vibration in the seat, pedals and steering wheel at, or around 50 mph and it doesn't stop at any speed I have driven it (about 75mph). If there is a vibration below that speed, I don't feel it. The truck does not have a diff drop....but one was recommended.

I have spent a fair amount of money chasing this. Wheels, tires, struts, brakes, rotors are all new. The mechanic states an alignment was done as well but it doesn't feel like alignment anyway. I'm looking for some suggestions of what may be causing it rather than asking the mechanic to continue to try and diagnose it at a large cost.

If it helps, and I haven't driven it over 55mph..... in 4HI, it is a more pronounced vibration. To be clear, I just bought the truck and wanted to ensure 4HI worked on a city street.

 

Could be anything. I would definitely look into the diff drop as well as carrier bearing drop. I know the carrier bearing will vibe during acceleration from a stop. I dont know about at speeds though.

 

I read about both and have my mechanic ready to install both............. However, I read others that said not to install and most of their issues was from stop. I don't have that issue or it's so small of a vibration that I don't feel it.

I am just trying to narrow it down before my mechanic makes everything brand new and I don't like being in the dark with suggestions. It's acting somewhat like alignment/balance but I have eliminated those.

 

Keep in mind that both of those will correct the driveline angles as well as eliminate vibrations in those 2 areas. They are both inexpensive so I would definitely install them.

 

Do the following issues create my symptoms on a Gen1?

1. Needle Bearing
2. Carrier Bearing
3. Differential Service/Bad Differential

 

You mentioned that you just bought it. Was the vibration there during your test drive or did it just happen? How many miles are on the truck? With 3 inches of lift I'm guessing that you are running oversized tires. When was the last time the engine was tuned up/serviced?

You have checked/changed quite a bit of the rotating/suspension parts but have you eliminated the possibility of the engine or transmission causing a vibration at that speed.

 

I didn't test drive on the freeway but it has done it since I bought it. The mechanic looked it over before I bought it and it has been back 3 times since. No indications of engine issues in any of those visits and the transmission was serviced in one of those visits. Mechanic is saying vibration signals driveline.

The truck is running BFGs so, yes; running over-sized.

 

If you feel the vibration in your steering wheel and under the seat, might want to look at your U-joints. Had it happen on my truck

 

U-joints have usually been the culprit anytime I've had vibration issues.

And you cannot properly check them on the vehicle as they do not always fail 'loose' but will sometimes fail bound which you can't tell unless you can move them freely.

 

I once had a Nissan Pathfinder with this kind of vibration. I wound up replacing the struts, axle shafts, U joints on the front and rear shafts, and even a few trips to the drive shaft balance shop...all without result. Tried new tires, wheels, and Road Force balancing. I spent thousands of dollars on this quest! Finally in disgust I traded it in for a 4Runner, and have had zero problems in the last ~ 4 years.

The ultimate cause of the vibration turned out to be the transfer case bearing on the front drive side. During this process I learned a lot about drive line vibration. Drop the front drive shaft and drive around to see if the vibration goes away (probably not). Drop the rear shaft, replace the U joints (it's a good idea to replace them after 20 years anyway), and check the shaft balance. If this doesn't fix it, try running the truck while up on jack stands to see if the vibration is present. Remove the wheels and check again. Find a competent "off road" shop where they do lifts like this every day...someone there may have the answer. In your case I suspect the 3" lift has changed the alignment of the transfer case/drive shaft/differential.

 

We are trying the CB and diff drop to see what that does. I don't recall if he has already replaced the CV joints or U joints but he did that too. Pretty sure it was CV. Sounds like I am following w666's path. It's been thousands on this and other repairs.

The need to find a good off road place has to be next because my mechanic is guessing.

 

Many mechanics are parts swappers. Part off. New part on.

A local 4 wheel place lives and breathes suspensions. Its an art. Reason why I had a suspension place rebuild my front end vs. a ‘mechanic’. Not knocking mechanics, but you need to stop wasting time/money and get a proper second opinion.

 

Updating this post: After a ridiculous amount of mechanics (4x4 and others)/parts to try and find the vibration unsuccessfully................ Sorry for the length but hoping this helps someone.

On a visit to the 4x4 mechanic about a year ago, they noted my upper and lower ball joints were bad and I had them replaced. The vibration hit different levels of scary over the course of mechanic suggestions but it was about the point that I had given up and was going to accept it or sell it. There was a metallic scraping sound that I wanted to get looked at so I took it to our regular mechanic. He said he couldn't hear the noise but that my upper ball joints were bad. I told him to replace them but realized they were done not too long ago and I trust this place. When I picked it up, he said it was going to keep eating ball joints at the angle it was at. Out of annoyance and some desperation, I told him to put the truck height back to stock and remove the lift/level. The estimated cost to replace the ball joints every few years was substantially higher than just removing the lift/level. When pulling it off, he also found that the CV axle was bad on the driver's side front and replaced that too.

Truck drives fine now. No more vibration and the suspension feels better too. It used to make an awful banging sound over certain bumps in the road and it doesn't anymore.

I bought the truck with the level already on it so I have to assume, it was just a cheap one that didn't have the right components to fix the angles/geometry on the front end.

 

Not sure how I missed this earlier.

"bang over bumps" is typical complaint we hear on here, if you go over 2" lift and don't install extended swaybar links. It's also something we hear with cheap lifts, and/or when you lift too high. Or when some dumbass mixed spacers with a lift, which is precarious in most situations.

At 3", you would've needed new upper control arms and extended links. And really, that's at that height where you'll also need bigger CV boots to avoid tearing, and if you're on a non-double cab truck, you're likely going to max out. This is a great example: https://www.tundras.com/threads/ome-3-1-kit-goes-full-extension-with-a-bang-too-fast-why.109151/

I realize I'm coming way late to the party on this one. Glad you got it sorted. Thanks for posting the updated solution. At the same time, if you did want to level again, the right way, folks can help you here. Likewise, you may want to check the old parts, someone may be interested in buying them if it's decent stuff. But you'd need more replies to post in the Marketplace.

 

Thanks Shifty (for both posts). What I am slightly ticked off about it, through all the visits to shops......... no one suggested just removing it or upgrading the lift. I even asked about the lift at some point.

Everyone wanted to balance the tires even though I said they were already balanced multiple times with no change. Most of the components on the front end are new at this point so I guess that is good. I may, at some point, revisit the lift again but I think I am going to just let the credit card cool off for a minute. Not to mention the wiper fix from the other thread.

 

I remember I had a vibration for over two years and it took me showing the Toyota tech how to road force balance the tire down to 20 lbs of runout instead of the default 40 lbs for passenger truck runout. One of the rear tires had to be broken down and corrected as a result which fixed my shimmy.