Strange Vibrations/Shaking

Looking for some assistance in chasing down some shaking felt through the seat from 60-75mph. I've been noticing it for the last ~40ish thousand miles. Vibration did not change with rotating the tires and there is no shaking when accelerating from a stop. Initially I blamed the tires/wheels and repeated poor balancing, but last week I installed new Method 701's and a fresh set of Toyos and am still seeing the same issue with no changes.

Some quick bullet points

• 158k miles
• Bilstein 5160/6112 setup at top setting
• 2" spacer block in rear
• Rough Country carrier bearing drop (I believe 3/4", should I get a longer spacer?)
• Carrier bearing feels solid- some play, but does not appear excessive
• Brand new Method 701's and Toyo AT3
• No change in shaking/vibration when switching to neutral at these speeds
• New rotors/pads
• Suspension shop did a once over on suspension components and alignment, said everything looked great
• CV boots are blown out but this seems like an unlikely cause?

 

Ever thought to check the steering rack?

 

I have not. The steering wheel doesn't shake, its the seats (front and back). Could it be on the list of potential culprits?

 

Did you put new rotors and pads in all four corners or just the front? I've had new rear rotors and pads fix your exact symptoms in the past

 

All 4 3,000 miles ago with no change. I was hoping that was going to fix it

 

Dang. Maybe an out of balance drive shaft? Seems pretty unlikely but you never know.

 

Were new tires balanced by same morons that did the last set? Though i'd expect tire balance to feel in the steering making it wobble at certain speeds.

 

I haven't done any 'extreme' offroading, but I've done some trails and such on hunting trips. I wouldn't think they would've thrown a weight but anything is possible.

I had the other set balanced by 3 different Discount Tires for a total of 4 times before giving up and buying the new set expecting that the tires I had were just a bad set (at the recommendation of the suspension shop). One rotation performed between the balancing attempts and it didn't change much (maybe slightly if anything). One of those DT is the one that did the new tires.

 

Try removing carrier bearing drop. Easy test that only costs your time.
If feeling changes but doesnt go away, you can put the drop back but add a couple washers to lower it more. You might have too much spacer or not enough for the driveshaft angles to be happy.
Lift shackles alter angle of the dif but blocks dont so maybe shaft angle due to block is causing it.

 

That’s an easy thing to test. I know without the spacers it shook at acceleration from a stop but don’t recall if it was shaking at hwy speeds. It’s been a few years since then. I’ll give it a shot and see if it makes a difference.

 

Are tires balanced by DiscountTires with weight or sand?

I’ve noticed tires balanced with sand causes a lot of steering vibration before centrifugal force causes the sand to balance out inside the tires and fill any voids.

Although the CB drop can also be an issue, but I’ve only seen extreme angles when it comes to 6” lifts or even higher. Most don’t even recommend you do a CB drop to “correct” drive shaft angles.

 

They use the sticky weights.

I dropped the CB because it was having a pretty good shudder at acceleration and it fixed that.

 

Did your suspension tech check the rears?

 

As far as I know.

Visually the rear shocks look fine. No leaks, everything is tight, etc.

 

Following up.

I had some washers laying around so I did a little trouble shooting

• Confirmed my shims are .25" each, for a total of .75"" when stacked
• Added .75"" worth of washers for a total of 1.5"- no change in vibrations
• Removed the washers and tried total .5" - no change in vibrations
• Tried total .25" - Shudder came back when accelerating from a stop, no change to vibration
• Duct taped my phone to the rear axle and video'd it. No noticeable sounds or obvious weirdness going on that I could tell.

 

I'm stumped then.

 

U joints greased. No noticeable changes.

 

Update-

Took the truck back in today and had the cv axles replaced. The mechanic that did the work said he put it on a lift and again everything else looked great (wheel bearings, suspension, driveshaft, etc).

Then he said he could visibly see both back tires were out of round when running them on the lift. Wheels were running true but the tires were visibly not round.

These tires are like 2 weeks old. What are the actual odds of going from one bad set of Nittos to a bad set of Toyos?

Took it straight to Discount (different location than the one that did the install) and told them what the mechanic said and showed them his notes on the receipt.

They did another balance and found that one tire was off by 2.75oz and the other was off by 1.5oz.

Drove it home and it’s still shaking.

I guess next step is have Discount check to see if they are out of round since they didn’t do it this time for whatever reason. I’m tired of spending money, sitting in waiting areas, and chasing my tail here.


Edit to add link to video of it but not sure how well it shows- https://youtube.com/shorts/c5vF7OqB8NM?si=YjqcmaB50qg63KK9

 

Following up -

Pulled the driveshaft and had a mechanic replace the ujoints and carrier bearing. Figured at 160k miles it would be worth doing. When I got it back i noticed he didn't install the two halves properly (one was upside down) so I mentioned I was worried about it being unbalanced and was told they are balanced separately. Told him I disagreed and he said install it and if it shakes he'll take it to get it balanced. Shook like hell at 25mph+ after reinstall, something definitely wrong. Took it in to have it rebalanced, was sent a video of it on the balancer and was told it was bent beyond balancing. Thanks local mechanic.

The shop that did the balancing builds custom driveshafts, so I opted for them to build a driveshaft for me for $750 instead of paying $2,100 for one from Toyota.

Got it back on, took it for a test drive, and I'm right back at square one. Rides smooth to 60 then starts shaking in the back seat. Completely lost on what else could be causing it, but evidently it wasn't the driveshaft.

 

Final follow up-

Took it back to Discount and had a long discussion with the tech about what was going on.

He ran a road force on it and found the rear passenger tire was within spec but slightly more out of round than the other 3. He flipped it over and like magic, we’re good. Only took like 8 trips to Discount, 1 new set of tires, 1 new set of wheels, and a new driveshaft to get them to get it balanced right.

Glad to have it lined out though.

 

Damn that sucks. I know big tires are often out of round and vibrate but i always thought toyos were higher quality.

Doesnt help most tire and alignment shops dont know shit.

 

I was also surprised. Especially with how many trips to Discount it took to get it right. I was running out of rotating parts to check.

Glad to finally have it sorted out because I was 1 minor inconvenience away from trading it in for a 2020 and having to deal with a monthly payment.

 

skeeter 12, here's my story:

Beenexperiencing a vibration at 60 to 70 mph inmy 06 4x4. It has 225k miles on it. Did someof the obvious. Replaced the Ranchos with Monroes, bushings were splitting. HadAmericas Tire rotate and balanced Michelins. Vibration still there. 2nd balance and still there. Took a trip to Carson City. Discount Tire Road Force balanced again. Better but still there. Took it to my local dealer. $200 and two days later, "this is a tough one." Report said, excessive play indriveline, replace driveshaft, given the age and miles, replace front axles, ball jointsand control arms, rack seeping, replace rack. 8k to do the work. Don't think so. Replaced the center support, vibration still there. America'sTire replaced two rear tires, still there. I rotated the two new tires to the front, still there but not as bad. Tomorrow America's Tire is replacing remaining two tires. Good thing they are prorating them. At my wits end. Starting to hate driving it. Help.

Today 10/10/24 America's Tire just put two more Michelin LTX's on the rear and rebalance all four again. Taking a trip in the next couple days to see if that cured my shake. Pretty sceptical at this point. My suspension is stock. Hoping for a good outcome.

 

I've been dealing with the same exact thing. 2012 tundra 4wd extended cab. 2.5lift blocks and 3.5 in front. Owned for 2yrs.
Long ramble here...
All new front suspension, CV axles, had driveshaft rebuilt and balance by drive line(very reputable shop), also tried an aftermarket shaft, same dang seat vibrations at 70+. New rear axle bearings and 1 new axle, diff set of 35s 12.50 no name tires from Walmart. Multiple alignments and balance. Rotors etc. (Badlands). Just got home from Toyota after they replaced the front rack that blew out after 12months and 18days. 18days past warranty. Ugh. Another alignment,
Front end is fine, just the shake at high speeds. My leafs are worn out. Prev owner must have towed ALOT and heavy. Replaced the 6month old RC rear shocks 2weeks ago when I found them dead as heck. I installed Bilstein 5100s. Rough country did send me new ones that I'll keep for extras. No help with rear. At a loss with the shake beside replacing leafs. Changed all fluids, all lol. Had big chief do another alignment on the 8th which was way out but I only had a tad bit of pull. Odd. Rack blew out on the 15th.
Noticed today after dealership did another alignment that the rear thrust was at 16degress. Never paid attention to it. Makes since though cause I always thought the drive shaft angled from the bearing to the rear diff was way off. A sideways angle, not a drop. Tried the bearing drop too with no help. Coworker followed on interstat and says all looks good.
Basically have done and went through everything Skeeter12 has lol.