Heavy wheel shake on deceleration - stranded. Advice needed. (1 Viewer)

[RuffinIt]

2001 LX470 160k miles.
We are on a trip from LA to SF and back and stuck half way home right now. Here's the skinny:
Started as a mild random jerk to the drivers side front wheel on the way up (not me, the steering wheel). I stopped about 3 hours in because it kept getting worse. The next day, it was fine so we continued.
No noise associated with it. No grinding. No clicking. No thuds, whacks, or demonic wailing. Turning/braking does not improve it or make it worse.
I jacked up the truck to wiggle the front wheel. No top to bottom slop. No side to side slop. I think that rules out ball joints and rod ends.
Rotating the wheel revealed some driveline slop and a mild clunk. I'm guessing it is normal, but not sure.
It really only presents when coasting. Acceleration seems to at least suppress it. Very light throttle can give a light wobble. But taking my foot totally off the gas makes it jump to the drivers side and shake heavily through the steering wheel.
It almost feels like the lug nuts are really loose. It seems to be much better at the start of trips. It drove with no symptoms for almost two hours. Then it started getting bad enough we stopped for the night. Now it is going to be Sunday. I'm not sure we are going to be able to find a mechanic tomorrow and we are about 3 hours from home.
I'm guessing a CV is giving away, but I'd expect a click on turns with that. A friend is guessing a the wheel bearing, but there has been no noise and the rim wasn't hot to the touch after hours of driving.
Any ideas?
Thanks in advance!

 

[nissanh]

How is the steering rack bushing?
I guess the rack is tight with forward motion with the steering rack placed in front of the wheel. At deceleration, the weight goes back (towards the rear end of the truck) and the steering rack starts wobbling. If it is not this, how is the condition of rotors?

Jackup the front wheel and hold 6 and 12 O clock position on the alloy wheel (not under the tire, you don't want the wheel crushing your hand) and move in and out to feel a loose bearing. You can tight the wheel bearing on these trucks if you remove the flange.

 

[billygoats]

Your symptoms do sound like loose lugnuts, but I am sure you checked them.

Try removing the hubs and pulling your front driveshaft. Should take less than a half hour. This will rule out driveline. What would be left is just wheel bearing and brakes.

2001 LX470 160k miles.
We are on a trip from LA to SF and back and stuck half way home right now. Here's the skinny:
Started as a mild random jerk to the drivers side front wheel on the way up (not me, the steering wheel). I stopped about 3 hours in because it kept getting worse. The next day, it was fine so we continued.
No noise associated with it. No grinding. No clicking. No thuds, whacks, or demonic wailing. Turning/braking does not improve it or make it worse.
I jacked up the truck to wiggle the front wheel. No top to bottom slop. No side to side slop. I think that rules out ball joints and rod ends.
Rotating the wheel revealed some driveline slop and a mild clunk. I'm guessing it is normal, but not sure.
It really only presents when coasting. Acceleration seems to at least suppress it. Very light throttle can give a light wobble. But taking my foot totally off the gas makes it jump to the drivers side and shake heavily through the steering wheel.
It almost feels like the lug nuts are really loose. It seems to be much better at the start of trips. It drove with no symptoms for almost two hours. Then it started getting bad enough we stopped for the night. Now it is going to be Sunday. I'm not sure we are going to be able to find a mechanic tomorrow and we are about 3 hours from home.
I'm guessing a CV is giving away, but I'd expect a click on turns with that. A friend is guessing a the wheel bearing, but there has been no noise and the rim wasn't hot to the touch after hours of driving.
Any ideas?
Thanks in advance!

 

[Sandroad]

Hmmmm........maybe try switching LF with RF tire to rule out tire failure (broken belt)? Any evidence of CV boot grease leaks? Could a failing ABS sensor cause the symptoms?

 

[RuffinIt]

Great suggestions all. Thank you! I jacked it up this morning. I couldn't notice any play in the wheel bearing when trying to pull the whole tire out/push it in. I did hear a little bit of a light clunk when holding at 9 and 3 and attempting to rock it horizontally. I don't know if that is normal or not.
Like an idiot, I decided this was the first car trip in years I didn't need to bring my tool box. So I am off to the Depot to buy a bunch of stuff I already own so I can get to the steering racket check it and/or pull the half shaft.
If anyone has any more ideas/tips/etc, please keep them coming!
Thank you everyone.

 

[PLROD]

sounds to me like worn cv axle on your DS; inject some grease/lube in the boot and see if it gets better.

 

[RuffinIt]

I didn't even think of injecting grease into the CV boot. I'll definitely do that.
Thank you!

sounds to me like worn cv axle on your DS; inject some grease/lube in the boot and see if it gets better.

 

[ponytl]

if it's the rack .... with someone else in the drivers seat engine running and in PARK you can look down through the engine bay at the rack and have them turn right to left... the rack should not move at all... if the bushings are toast the rack will move left to right as much as 1/4" have no idea if this is your problem but easy to spot... and it won't hurt to drive with bad bushings for a couple hours

 

[iRMX]

I had a similar experience and continued driving while trying to figure out the root cause - only to end up in a tire blow out. The tires, bearings and everything looked fine. How old are your tires? inspect your tires closely and drive safe.

 

[RuffinIt]

Tires are BFG ATs with about 6-7k miles on them. Those should be ok - hopefully.

 

[PLROD]

it seams plausible that a worn cv joint would not vibrate as much or at all under torque but then under no torque/when you let off the gas, the balls become loose in the joint space and vibrate - that's why i suspect the cv joint, probably the outer, hence the wheel shake. inject lots of hi temp grease and good luck getting home safe.

 

[RuffinIt]

Whoa! Thank you so much for this tip! The rack moved about half an inch! I'm guessing that is it.

if it's the rack .... with someone else in the drivers seat engine running and in PARK you can look down through the engine bay at the rack and have them turn right to left... the rack should not move at all... if the bushings are toast the rack will move left to right as much as 1/4" have no idea if this is your problem but easy to spot... and it won't hurt to drive with bad bushings for a couple hours

 

[ponytl]

damn that is a LOT of movement... I bet my 1998 would have moved that much I never drove it before I replaced the bushings (while I had the engine out... but there was nothing left of them except a few grains of rubber... I got the blue ones off ebay (poly) I guess It is said this is the one cheapest repair you can do on a 15yo 200k 100 series to improve ride quality....

 

[DirtDawg]

Definitely need to replace your steering rack bushings. Many on this forum use poly bushings but after I installed mine I wasn't the biggest fan. Rocar USA just released a rubber bushing kit that I will be installing soon.

ROCAR-USA

 

[JayM]

Sounds like these should be preventative every 120k. I'm adding it to the routine check list every service.

 

[RuffinIt]

We got home safe and sound thanks to you all. Thank you.
Found a mechanic in Bakersfield. He was able to tighten the rack down enough to minimize the effect. Not enough to get rid of it totally, but enough to let me drive safely.
I'm ordering the bushings this week and will probably tackle the install next weekend.

You are all awesome. Thank you for helping keep my family safe.

 

[Otis1971]

We got home safe and sound thanks to you all. Thank you.
Found a mechanic in Bakersfield. He was able to tighten the rack down enough to minimize the effect. Not enough to get rid of it totally, but enough to let me drive safely.
I'm ordering the bushings this week and will probably tackle the install next weekend.

You are all awesome. Thank you for helping keep my family safe.

 

[Otis1971]

Ruffinit, what did you do to ultimately solve the problem? I experienced the same issue last week. Any help and advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[RuffinIt]

Ruffinit, what did you do to ultimately solve the problem? I experienced the same issue last week. Any help and advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

I believe so. I haven't felt it since. However, it only seemed to present after the truck was driven for a a couple hours at a stretch - which hasn't been done since the repair.
While I was under the truck, I noticed the CV boot was completely torn on one the the half shafts. I'm going to replace them both just to be safe.

 

[TeCKis300]

The way you describe it, it sounds much more like a CV issue.

Did you at any point get a flashing stability control light?