That makes me feel great. Now I've got a set of Michelins that will probably last 60k-70k miles and I'll have to put up with the vibration for another couple of years. Great!!!

Matt

 

do they have a warranty?

 

Just because I think the problem is the tires, doesn't mean I'm right.

 

have you checked to make sure the rims are true/ straight??

 

have you swapped wheels/tires with that tire guy for a drive yet... ???

i'm still coming back to either a wheel or a bent axle shaft and here's why:

you always had a problem, but it wasn't this bad. you had PASSENGER P265/70-16 tires with soft sidewalls. now, you have LIGHT TRUCK LT265/75-16 tires with much stiffer sidewalls. i think it's the stiff sidewalls that don't "give" as much that are in turn making you feel the same vibrations that have always been there. i've personally checked the steering rack and bushings, the rod ends, the ball joints, etc. i don't think it's a "wear issue" in the front end somewhere.

another thing it could be is a bent rear axle shaft. if it were bent, it would cause vibes and now that you have stiffer tires, it would be more pronounced. the way you check it is to jack up one rear tire at a time, put it in N, and spin the tire. if you see any runout or wobble at all, then it's most definitely a bent rear axle since the wheels and tires supposedly check out fine. however, before i'd go to the expense of replacing a rear axle shaft, i'd still do the tire swap w/ someone w/ a 4runner or Taco to see if the vibration goes away completely.

good luck matt...

 

How about running it up to 75mph on something like a dyno drum, that you know is smooth. Then at least you should know if it’s coming from the front or the rear.

 

Andy,
I never did the swap. The day that I was going to do it, the guy's wife had to take the 4Runner to move furniture. As far as the new tires go, the Michelin Cross Terrains are passenger rated. The Revos were LT. I don't think that's the problem. I'll jack it up and check the wheels like you mentioned, but wouldn't an out of round wheel have been found during the NUMEROUS balances on the Hunter machine? On another note, I guess it could be the rear axle but I've never off roaded and never ran over a freakin deer or something big in the road, so I don't know how in the world it could be bent. It may be, at this point I have no idea.

Matt

 

4Runr,
I don't know if there are any dyno machines in B'ham but that is a great idea. I'll have to start checking around. Andy, do you have any idea if there is?

Matt

 

Or simply raise the rear end or front end off the ground and let it spin. Jack it by the axles, then by the body. Take wheels off, etc… narrowing it down.

 

*raising hand* Same problem here..........maybe this is an 01 issue? Im just as mad as you are matt..........I started to think it could be my wheels............ mine never had vabration issues for few months with my BFG ATs but....this problem started to surface bout a year ago. i dunno I really think it's my wheels.....they could have been bent while I was on a trail or something

 

Hey LSUMatt1514 it sounds like i am having the exact same problem you are- moved up to the bigger tires and for about 20,000 mi the vibrations weren't too bad but then they got worse and worse. I had the bushings replaced and it didn't help so you can probably rule that out. BTW im in hoover and i think speed south in pelham might have a dyno machine.

 

Matt C,
Thanks. I'll give them a call on Monday. If any of ya'll experiencing this come up with a solution, PLEASE let me know and I'll do likewise. It's pretty damn pathetic if you ask me.

Matt

 

I agree. I think it's ridiculous that this is such an issue and i've talked to several people that this is happening to so it's not just an isolated situation...we're not that special! I'll keep you informed on what i figure out

 

do you guys think that this could be part of the 01-02 recall issue with the defective ball joint?

 

See if you can find someone that has the machine that spin ballances the wheel and tire on the truck.It has two rollers that spin it up on the truck.

 

2001MillRunner,
What recall on 01-02 ball joints? I've heard nothing about it nor have I gotten anything from Toyota about it.

Matt

 

yeah, i just looked it up on michelin's webpage. they cross terrains are ALL passenger rated. news to me...

well, i don't think there's anything wrong w/ the front suspension componenets. i had it up on jackstands and pulled and pushed on about everything in the front suspension and also had matt do it w/ me under the rig and everything was solid.

maybe you should jack up the rear or put it on a lift and put it in drive and check the rear for runout via a bent axle shaft...

weird that it's all w/ the 01/02's. maybe it's the wheels? those are different from the 99-00's. maybe they don't hold up as well and bend easily. a bent rim won't necessarily show in runout observations, you also have to look at the bead from both sides to check for impact damage.

man, i don't know what to tell you... you need to check the rear axles and then swap wheels w/ someone. either a taco, tundra, or 4runner w/ 16" wheels would do.

 

Been battleing the same problem on my '88 4Runner.

So far, the balljoints, ujoints and balancing have been beaten into the ground it's ridiculous.

I am thinking it might be an output bearing in my transfer, input into the rear diff or maybe an out of balance driveshaft. I noticed a ding in the shaft about 4 inches in front of the differential joint last week.

Another thing I am going to try to figure out is maybe it's a bad caliper. I noticed my vibration got a lot worse AFTER I did a brake job on the front end. Maybe knocking a lot of the rust scalle out of the cooling slots had something to do with it.

 

Well, I decided to give Toyota a piece of my mind tonight and sent them an extremely detailed email explaining my problem with vibration at highway speeds. I made sure to put in there several times that the dealer has balanced the tires multiple times and checked out the truck twice and are yet to find a solution. All be it a bluff, I even put a statement in there that if something wasn't done my next SUV would be a Nissan. I'm curious to see what their response is going to be. I even put the link in the email to Gadget's page about the vibration problem with the 3rd gen. We'll see what happens.

Matt

 

get someones wheels and swap. if the vibration is still there, then you know that it's the truck and not the wheels/tires. from there, check the rear axles for warpage. if they aren't warped, then we can start to look at other stuff.

those attempts shoud be approached first...