TRICKY VIBRATION

Ok ya'll, this is giving me a run for my money.

2010 4.6L 4x4 Tundra Double Cab, 108,000 miles. Daily driver. No check engine lights or DTC's.

Has a slight vibration/hesitation/stumble feeling that you can feel thru the seat, nothing from the steering wheel.

Happens at 1,200 - 2,100 RPM's around 55-65MPH, while cruising. Under heavy acceleration nothing abnormal. Under slight easy acceleration it is apparent. Does not happen while coasting (with foot off gas).

I first thought it was just worn out shocks and changed out the originals for the Bilstein 5100's I had in the garage. Wasn't it. Thought maybe the U-joints may have been going out as they were looking kinda beat up and slinging grease (or what was left of it) so I changed them. No go again.

Swapped in a new air filter wondering it was starved for air, another loss. Checked rear wheel bearings by lifting truck off ground and trying to wiggle wheel assembly, seems firmly seated, no noises or leaks. Checked rear diff for signs of fluid leakage, all clean.

Anyone have any ideas?

 

Carrier Bearing?

 

I looked at it while I had the drive shaft out yesterday doing the u-joints. I did not detect any noises while spinning it, although it flexed about 3/4" to 1".

 

It does not appear to be the carrier bearing. I jacked up the truck on all 4 corners, and put it in drive and gassed it. Put my phone under the truck to take a video. It stays nice and centered. Still felt the stumble/ hesitation.

Checked the transmission mount and it's good. No check engine lights or codes. What else?

 

How do your u-joints look?

 

Brand new, just replaced them Tuesday evening.

 

Doh! Missed that. Sorry.

 

Hmm. The only discrepancy, is your test was without load.

 

Last weekend I towed a 2000 Malibu across the state. Felt it then too.

 

Could be your pinion angle...

 

Doubt it, the truck and suspension is stock, leafs are securely in place. Nothing has been changed or modified to induce this.

 

But you said you dropped the shaft down right? If anything moved without you 1st measuring the pinion angle before you unbolted it then its more than likely off by a little after re-assembly. Just a thought...

 

what I was saying is the test up on the jackstands was done with no load on the drivetrain. I’m curious what thecarrier bearing looks like under load. I suspect the carrier bearing is the issue. You said it moved about 3/4 to an 1”

 

I had a similar issue for a while where I felt some random hesitation and it ended up being my fuel pump cutting out. Only found it by taking it to the dealer and having them plug into it and watch it while driving around.

 

It did not appear to move on the video, but while bolted up in place I could move it about 3/4" - 1". I'll see if I can locate a carrier bearing locally and try that. At this point the carrier bearing theory is the only one that makes any sense.

 

Still original spark plugs? Light throttle misfiring is a classic symptom of worn plugs. You’ll feel it before it ever thows a fault code too, in my experiences.

 

Plugs were changed last year.

 

This was felt before I pulled down the driveshaft. Driveshaft was reinstalled in the same position and the carrier bearing in the same position. Pinion angle would be unaffected.

 

My 07 had similar issues at 55 mph and would go away at 75-80, did the carrier bearing and it did nothing. Checked the wheels bearings for wiggle and they had none but it did end up being my front right wheel bearing. Replaced it and everything was good.

 

Changed out the carrier bearing out this morning, quick test drive feels good. I'll be able to tell for sure after driving to work tomorrow morning as I'll have the drive time and plenty of speed variations.

 

Outside chance but check your parking brake for hang up issues. The mechanism under the drivers side passenger seat hung up on mine and did not fully disengage the parking brake. at 45-50mph the truck would shake at times and dealer could not figure it out (extended warranty). I felt the rear wheels and the drivers rear was hot. I cleaned and lubed the parking brake linkage and the problem went away. It came back after the first winter (after fixing) and cleaned and lubed the mechanism again and problem gone. I now coat it good with fluid film along with the underside of the truck prior to each winter and have not had any issues. The shaking felt like a bad wheel or driveshaft but could not feel through brakes or steering. Took a while to figure out but found a post somewhere on the parking brake sticking and the hot wheels. That led me to check it out and sure enough that was the issue.

 

Good call rebmo, notice how your post stopped this discussion .
Just freed up my rusted equalizer e brake linkage with penetrating oil and an air chisel and coated it with formula 3000 undercoating. E brake no longer sticks...mystery vibration gone !!

 

Old thread, but I had this happen once. The parking break cable had some moisture in it that froze up one winter. The vehicle would shake pretty severely after releasing the parking brake and driving down the road. Would give an occasional shimmy until I had it looked at and it turned out to be the cable not releasing correctly. Several years later, I had the same thing happen on a different vehicle and I instantly recognized it. Now, I use my parking brake whenever I park on any sort of incline as well as whenever I've got a trailer hitched up whether or not it's parked on a grade. Keeps the cable from seizing up.

 

Yup,when you have a manual tranny the e brake becomes part of shutting off the vehicle. With an automatic it's not as important unless your on a grade so you never use it as much and it gets seized.
Then once fixed you say to yourself ok I'm gonna start to use it faithfully, and that's what you start to do...until you drive for twenty miles on the highway one day before you realize (because you see the red e brake on indicator lit up ) you forgot to shut your e brake off...
At least that's what I go through...lol