2003 Access Cab 2wd Revived from sitting since 2019 Build Thread

Got a quick question that I need to start looking into. The rear bearing issue on the driver's side hasn't gotten any worse, just the cyclical metal on metal noise that speeds up as you accelerate. But last night I was following my daughter home after her dentist appointment and I noticed a slight wobble left to right of that tire. I have driven it and ridden in the truck and I don't feel anything out of the ordinary. No vibration or shimmy at all. Can a wheel bearing on the rear axle cause it to wobble like that? I check all of the lug nuts and they are all tight. Looked over the tires and they don't seem to have a belt slip or anything to them. And all of these issues usually come with something that you can feel while driving it.

I was planning on swapping in one of the axle shafts out of the axle I swapped out as long as there is no difference in shafts between LSD and non-LSD shafts to fix the wheel bearing anyway. Could it be that the donor axle's shaft could be bent? Again, wouldn't this be felt? I searched for tire wobble but all of them that i found had serious vibrations at certain speeds.

 

https://youtube.com/shorts/DPbi6XgjjCU?si=yZSWMuwbYo9jECWR

Here is a quick video of the wobble I saw. And yes, I was very careful while taking it. We just left from a complete stop at a stoplight. Not going to risk rear-ending my own truck.

 

Either improper lug torque, or more likely a bent rear axle. That's just my wild ass guess. I'd expect to feel an associated wobble or shimmy with that much movement. Most likely in the seat, not the steering wheel.

 

I’d find a flat surface to park the truck on and investigate the wobble further before you buy anything.

-chock the front tires.
-jack up the rear end and put jack stands under the rear axle housing.
-put the truck into drive and see if you can see if it the tire or the wheel that’s wobbly.
-rotate the left side tire/wheel with the right side and see if it’s still wobbly.

LSD axle shafts are exactly the same as the non LSD axle shafts.

 

I am hoping it is not the last one but with my luck, it probably is. I have a dial indicator setup from my machining classes I needed for my degree. So I will see about getting it up in the air with the wheel off an check the drum surface for runout.

 

Thank you for verifying the axle shafts are interchangeable. The take offs are in an earlier post in this thread.

I did pull up along side here and it appears the rim is moving with the tire as well. I will verify it up in the air. Passenger side looks straight as can be. They were a used set of tires on the rims when I bought the set to be able to move the truck around so I do not know their history. Just trying to get as many things to look at before I can jack it up in the air later tonight hopefully.

 

One quick stupid check: It's totally possible the wheel is bent, also. Swapping left to right in rear may offer another 5min sanity check.

 

If wheel checks out then might pull drum to be sure it is flat against hub. If axle bent you would expect to get some runout at the hub

 

I was going to try putting the spare tire on that side as it is a brand new, never used off of an FJ as a sanity check as well. Unless she hit something yesterday, I don't think it is bent rim. But you never know. She did run over the curb at Walmart on Saturday, but that was on the passenger side. I saw it coming as soon as she started to turn the wheel and told her.

 

i have a bent starfish rim on my truck. Dunno where it came from, but it’s there.

 

I got rid of mine because I had to use a sledgehammer to knock the rims off of the hubs changing to the current rims and tires. Pretty sure I bent one of those for sure.

 

So I put the spare on it while it was up in the air and it is still wobbling. I checked the drum and it feels like it is all the way in. There is a little play in and out but then it stops coming off.



https://youtube.com/shorts/IYQlwcH3DS0?si=Od-uKyMPSINlo-mj

Here is my phone held against the fender while I rotate the tire. You can see against the scuff marks on the concrete that it is wobbling.

 

When I look at my e-brake mount on the back of that side. It looks like it is bent up a bit. Could this be causing some issues with it?

 

Pull the drum to see.

 

Going to call the yard I got it from today as they gave me a 30 day warranty. I'll try and get one of my shafts installed here shortly. Maybe I can get some of my money back that I paid for it to cover repairs.

 

I know I'm late to the party, but I would think that if you can see the tire moving that much, you should also be able to see the drum move that much against the backing plate with the tire off. If you haven't pulled the drum, do so and look at that first. It also looks like the backing plate in bent at the bottom on that back side pic.

 

Honestly, you could probably pretty easily work up a jig to measure runout against the axle. If the axle shows no runout, you know it's fine.

Pop the wheel off, pop the drum off, measure runout on the axle, answer is right there.

 

I just did this with my truck. Pull the wheel off and push/pull on the studs, not the drum. I had in/out movement on mine which I believe is indicating that the axle shaft is moving meaning the bearing is going out, or another issue with the axle shaft.

 

I did rotate the drum with the tire off and could barely see the wobble in it. Much smaller diameter to observe the movement but still visible. I am working out a timeframe of getting this fixed soon.

I was going to use the indicator setup I have for lathes but after checking the above, I decided that between what I observed and losing daylight, that I would just swap one of the axle shafts that I pulled out of the rusted one with this one.

 

My daughter was involved in a hit and run this morning as I posted in one of the other threads. Here are pictures of the damage after I got the bumper realigned and attached with some random bolts I had lying around. It was only held on by the two lower screws on either side. Everything else was broken loose between this accident and her tagging the garage wall a few weeks ago. I got the fender pulled out and forward a bit so the drivers door no longer hits the edge.

From earlier, the marks I saw on the tire and the rim are scuff marks from the other vehicle. I'll post the pictures I took of the front suspension in another response. I drove it home from her school and checked everything out and then drove it to drop off a dresser to a friend. Everything feels fine and no weird vibrations accept the wheel bearing that is already getting replaced soon. She is okay and agreed to drive my CR-V for a few days so I could monitor the truck to make sure there isn't anything else hiding and have the added security of blind spot monitoring. That may have helped her this morning. I'm just glad she is okay. The damage isn't bad and I might be able to get a repalcement bumper and fender from the same truck I was looking at getting a bed cover from.

 

Here are pictures of the current suspension. I will be doing the LBJ before winter along with new shocks/struts all around.

 

I hate to be that guy but, after all the posts and things that are on this forum about lower ball joints, you're letting your daughter drive the truck around with those rusty crusty units still on the truck? Please consider doing those ASAP just to avoid any issues.

It also would appear that when the dealership did the frame they did not reinstall any of the front bump stops, may want to look into getting a set if thats the case, hard to tell for sure from the pictures.

 

I totally understand your reasoning. If you look closer, not sure if you can, they aren't nearly as rusted as the upper and lower control arms. But they are the newest thing on the suspension. They were replaced at ~40k miles and I am at 128k right now. They will be replaced with the upper/lower control arms, tie rod ends and new shocks and springs to level the front and new shocks on the rear. I will look into the bump stops at that time as well.

I've been wondering about their placement of the bed on the frame as well. I tried to get a picture of how it looks to me but the pictures never do it justice. It looks like the bed is lower on the passenger side in relation to the cab.

 

Ah, well at least they were replaced at some point I suppose. Sounds like you have a good plan lined out, just gotta have the time to do it.

 

Yep, I did everything to make it road worthy and safe for her to drive back and forth to school. Which is better than me driving it back and forth to work as it is only a 10 minute drive for me and 30 minutes for her. Much better an the truck to get nice and warm from the drive for longevity.

Things left to do besides what I responded to you are:
Replace all 4 O2 sensors (on hand) and cat back exhaust.
Rebuild driver's side axle shaft
Get the rear view camera I installed working. Master Tailgater techs helped me verify that the rearview mirror screen is working properly as wired and now I have to see if the camera itself may be the issue. Trying to find an analog display small enough to use to test if I am getting a video signal from the camera.

 

Does this look okay for replacement parts? I wasn't expecting them to be so cheap for a fender and two new turn signals. My passenger side lens was already cracked so I might as well replace it as well and they are Dorman parts from RockAuto. Not sure on the fender though but it will probably be cheaper than the junk yard.

 

best bet on non-OEM body replacement parts is to at least get CAPA certified ones.

 

Thanks for reminding me about the CAPA cert and looking for it on the drop down on RockAuto.

 

Sometimes aftermarket fenders need a little body work and fitness to get the right fit. Definitely go with CAPA certified.

 

I'm definitely going to get the new turn signals for sure. Still waiting to hear on a junk yard fender nearby.