Shaky Driving at High Speeds

Hey guys,

Have got an 05 Tundra 4x4 double cab with 215k miles. And it’s got the shakes at higher speeds. If you’re in the backseat in the highway, you really feel it. It’s definitely not the most confidence-inspired handling at anything over 65.

The truck is in great shape but does need the King shocks to be serviced and a new steering rack.

I’m debating which one to tackle first. My goal is to reduce and eliminate the wobbles.

Which project do you recommend I go with first? Neither is cheap so getting them both done at once isn’t ideal.

*was also thinking that rotating/balancing tires would help

Thanks in advance here - this community has always been a huge help!

 

I would start with a rotation and balance.

 

Whats causing the shakes?

 

Have you checked your u-joints and carrier bearing? I’d start with those, check for any signs of play. Also check your steering rack bushings if you haven’t.

 

At 215k miles: If she hasn’t been rebuilt in suspension, then you’ve got a lot of work to do.

Check my build page for my journey which started with the front end rebuild when I decided to keep the truck (155k miles) instead of buying a new Turd Gen. The front was toasted and cost about $3300 to rebuild by a shop (50/50 parts and labor).

The rest of the under chassis work has been done slowly by me over 2.5 years. Still need a new Steering Rack eventually.

Suggest a full shake down inspection first and report back with pictures and info so we can help better. Get under there and start feeling the Mojo.

 

New tires? Anything new or different about the truck? Hit a major pothole or curb? Shaking in wheel or just the seat? Does it go away at even higher speeds or get worse?

 

Yeah, I'm going to start with that and see what that does.

I have not, but according to my truck shop, the whole steering rack needs a replacement. Pic attached below.

Yeah, the truck shop I go to suggested a new steering rack and rebuilding the suspension. Pic of the checklist below. Almost everything on that list has been taken care of except the steering rack and shocks.

Definitely not new tires. New tires will be needed in about a year or 10K miles. No major potholes hit from what I can tell. It's shaking in the back seat where it's worst. The wheel shakes some too. Gets worse with higher speed but also it seems to go away sometimes depending on the road.

 

Shaking in the back seat suggests a rear tire problem. Could be an out of balance tire, a worn out shock, or both. Driveshaft is a less likely culprit, but on the list. Cheapest in order is rebalance the tires, sounds like they are near end of service life. Then New rear shocks if its been more than 60k miles or so. I had a bad shake in a tire once and it was a separated belt in the tire tread. Those tires also were near end of service life.

 

Checklist attached

 

You’ve got a lot of work to do there. Shocks, ball joints and LCA bushings. Do the tire rotation and balance first though as others have suggested.

 

I've already replaced the ball joints and Lower Control arms. Nothing done to the shocks. You recommend putting the shocks ahead of the steering rack?

 

Not necessarily, but you do want the shocks and any alignment done before new tires or they may not wear correctly.

I’ve got an issue with my front shocks needing replacement and the shop I goto can’t get the camber to zero. It’s -0.5 at best on both sides causing the inside edge of my tire to wear early.

Just something to be aware of in case you run into the same issue.

 

I agree that a balance and alignment is the first step. But shouldn't the alignment be done with the new tires, not before? Agreed that the truck should not be driven much on new tires w/out an alignment.

 

I guess I’m not quite seeing the benefit for having the new tires put on before if he plans to replace them with comparable tires. In his case, I don’t think it would matter too much if it were done before or soon thereafter.

 

Alignment doesn't care about new or used tires. Changing suspension parts does.

So if doing new shocks, ball joints, rack, etc. Do that first. Then align and tires.

 

Hey guys!

Update here - ended up being that the tires were all so worn out that it was causing the shakiness. I was under the impression that the tires had another 3,000 miles, but that wasn't the case.

Went with new Toyo AT3 tires and it solved all my issues. The truck rides incredibly smooth now. Night and day difference. Still going to look into a new steering rack, shock rebuild, and possibly new rear shocks, but for now I'm pretty happy.

Thanks for all the help, guys!

 

Were your old tires worn out unevenly? If that’s the case, I’d try to figure out why that happened in the first place, usually an alignment will prevent uneven wear of the tires. Either way, glad you got it all sorted out!

 

Yeah, the shop said one of the wheels would have required 15lbs to balance it. Obviously, that's not an option. But the alignment is good now. The concern is that I won't be able to actually rotate the tires. That's because the rear wheels, when moved to the front, end up rubbing on the caliper. Very strange.

So the front wheels are on the front for good. Unless I add a little spacer on at the front. Or get new wheels. Or take off each tire and then rotate them. Which would be insanity.

 

Tires get old and the belts start to shift sometimes, the tread gets worn a little unevenly if suspension parts are worn or the alignment is off. Taking your tires to the wear bars isn't great practice. They've lost a lot of water shedding ability, likely the compound has become harder, dry rot sets in, they've taken numerous pothole strikes etc. If they weren't so expensive, we would likely replace them much sooner, but we're always trying to squeeze a few more thousand miles out of them. It's the only part of the vehicle that makes contact with the road, don't scrimp on tire safety!!

 

Lots of questions about these statements....
15lbs to balance? likely 15 oz.
Are the tires mismatched? makes no sense that some rub and some don't.

 

Guys,,, I'm sorry to have left everyone in the dark.

The answer was new tires! The truck doesn't shake at all anymore

 

15 lbs?!? You really need to properly distribute the weight of the drugs in each tire...like this guy