Hello, I recently got a 1985 toyota pickup with a 5 speed and the 22re engine. It has a 4 inch suspension lift and 33's on it. It had been driving well for a few weeks but just this last weekend I took it for a road trip, about 225 miles each way, and on the drive which was almost all flat, it developed a very bad vibration. On the way up I noticed it was shaking and vibrating more about half way, then on the way back it was bad the entire drive.

It has Super Swampers on it which I know won't be smooth but it was doing a lot better when I first bought it. Today I went and had a reputable shop balance the wheels and they did say they needed a lot of weight. Unfortunately this didn't seem to help...

While the truck was jacked up the tech moved the front wheels around and there was play left to right and top to bottom. He said that the wheel bearings are loose and probably need to be replaced. Could this be the issue? Would bad wheel bearings cause the truck to feel like its trying to shake itself to pieces at highway speeds?

The other interesting thing its doing is the vibration is a little better when I am accelerating. If I am slowing down in gear, specifically 3rd, 4th, or 5th its vibrating badly and if I push the clutch in or put it in neutral it doesn't seem to change anything which is making me think its drivetrain related and not engine. I can feel it in the steering and the shifter but the whole cab fees like its trying to shake itself apart.

What should I look at? Like I said it was driving fine before this trip I went on. It had what I thought was an acceptable amount of vibration just from the tires but it progressively got worse over the 500 miles I drove this weekend.

Thanks for the help.

 

I would get underneath and check all the U-joints, and flanges where the driveshafts meet the differentials for any play.

When I have had vibration issues it was either U-joint, or loose pinion nut, or bad differential.

 

Have an update. I found the issue pretty much as soon as I climbed underneath it. The drive shaft bolts that mount it to the rear end were loose and two were gone so it was about ready to fall off.