Shuddering

I drove our daughter's 2000 Tundra yesterday to check a shuddering issue she had reported. It is definitely there. Seems to be in the front, but that could be a result of being in a closed cab. The shuddering is consistent and worst at ~50 MPH. Its also somewhat worse under load. Interesting in thoughts and experience?

 

Tires out of balance most likely. Also i would check lug nuts and rotors

 

Thanks. I thought about the balance and the rotors, but its not a problem under braking. I have free balancing, so I'll start there.

 

May have tossed a weight.

Hope it is something as simple like that for ya

 

If it’s under load, that almost sounds like a driveline imbalance or u-joint. I had an old 76 R20 that did the same thing and was shuddering at highway speeds. It ended up being the u-joint. I finally figured it out when my driveline fell off, lol.

 

I had the same thought on balancing weights on the tires.

To me, it sounds and feels like a u-joint. The fact that its got progressively worse points to that as the likely culprit, as well. I had the same driveline failure that you described. The sound still sticks in my mind.

 

Yeah I have a slight shudder now in my 17’ but I know it’s the tire/wheels balance. I knocked a few weights off.

 

Had a shudder in my 2010 (I know different Gen) and it was the parking brake mechanism sticking which kept the parking brake slightly on. Shudder happened 40-50mph only. Cleaned and lubed the parking mechanism that's under the rear seat driver's side and shudder gone. Came back once but lubed again and it went away. Now I coat the bottom each year with fluid film and hit the parking brake mechanism and no problem for the last 3 years. Just a thought and simple thing to check.

 

Update, for those interested:

Took out the old center bearing, which clearly needed replaced. However, after replacement, I still have the same shudder. I also have a new noise when I first let off the gas. I marked everything for alignment when I put everything back together.

A buddy thinks maybe a motor or transmission mount, but I can't see where anything is broken.

Got the tires rotated and re-balanced today to officially eliminate that as a potential cause.

I am officially punting to a shop that I trust. At 20 years and 228k miles, it may be on life support.

I'll post what I find out from the shop - its 10 days out to get it in.

 

228K is young for these trucks.

It sounds exactly like mine when it had a bad U-joint. I ended up replacing the CV axles, and center bearing before I figured out it was actually as simple as the rear-most U joint, which was very obviously bad when I checked it PROPERLY.

To check U joints properly you have to remove the drive shaft, , OR jack up a wheel in neutral so you can freely turn the driveshaft. A U joint can be very bad but feel solid under the truck because they will catch and bind and you can't tell until you turn the driveshaft and release the pressure.

Its worth finding because a U joint is a half hour job and about $30 in parts so you could save a lot of money.

It was a night and day difference with my truck after I finally fixed the real issue.

 

Thanks on the u-joint. I had a similar thought. Considering that you still need a press, from the videos I've seen, I might as well let the shop do it. I would love to have my own press, but for some reason, my wife doesn't see that as a critical tool for my shop...

 

Well, you can get a 20 ton press for about $150.

But...you don't need one. Just a hammer and large vise, anvil, etc. I do have a press but I ended up using a hammer just because it was easier to hammer it out in my driveway than carry the shaft up to my shop. (my driveway is at the bottom of a hill, my shop is at the top, long story)

Anyway, make sure to update us with whatever it turns out to be.

 

One more thing, if you are able to find a bad U-joint, its usually pretty cheap to remove the shaft yourself and take it to a driveline shop and have the joint or joints done. Mechanics have so much overhead they will charge an arm and a leg for the simplest things.

 

Those that diagnosed a bad universal joint win the prize (which is my gratitude - sorry).

Just got a call from the shop. Bad rear universal joint. A little under $200 with labor.

I still couldn't talk my wife into that machine press...