Pulsing/droning vibration at highway speeds

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marcfj60

marcfj60

15 Year
Joined
Oct 1, 2006
Threads
211
Messages
4,521
Location
Sandia Park, NM
Over that past couple months I've started to notice a strange pulsing vibration at highway speeds. I start to feel it at about 60 mph and up. It doesn't feel like a typical tire balance issue but maybe it's tire balance and worn out shock combining to give the strange behavior. It feels like it's in the chassis/driveline/frame, and not in the steering wheel because the steering wheel stays steady while the rest of the truck is vibrating.

The general behavior is at a frequency of about 4 seconds, there is a vibration that maybe is better described as a droning. It goes from no vibration, builds up to something noticeable, then goes back down to no vibration. I'm planning to have the tires balanced and rotated soon. I'm also going to lube all the U-joints and the slip yoke (which I've been doing about every 5K since I bought the truck 3 years ago.)

The truck is a '99 with about 105K on it. It doesn't get driven much since my wife is the primary driver and she stays home with the kids. It's not noticeable on surface streets because we aren't going fast enough. Mostly I'm just looking for anyone who has had a similar problem and find out what their eventual solution was while I slowly eliminate possible contributors.
 
Got the same thing. I have had it for the past few years. Seems most pronounced at 70 mph. It is not in the tires or wheels as these have been rebalanced and replaced (tires not wheels). Just learning to live with it. Nothing I have tried has made it better. I had some posts years ago about it. I almost think it is an intake resonance. I went as far as to dynamat the plastic engine cover to try to reduce the noise. I also dynamatted under the hood beneath the hood pad. If you come up with anything let me know. Thanks
 
could be drive shaft out of balance or worn bushings on suspension parts.
 
They way that the magnitude of the energy goes up and down is what's really baffling me. That's why I'm thinking it's a combination of something (driveline/U-joints/t-case/tranny) out of balance coupled with worn out shocks, bushings, etc.
 
TTO5 said:
Got the same thing. I have had it for the past few years. Seems most pronounced at 70 mph. It is not in the tires or wheels as these have been rebalanced and replaced (tires not wheels). Just learning to live with it. Nothing I have tried has made it better. I had some posts years ago about it. I almost think it is an intake resonance. I went as far as to dynamat the plastic engine cover to try to reduce the noise. I also dynamatted under the hood beneath the hood pad. If you come up with anything let me know. Thanks
Click to expand...

Mine does not make a noise, just a vibration you feel inside the truck.
 
Yeah I guess mine really isn't a noise either. It is a slight roughness drone just like u said. If I let off the gas it goes away but it gets worse as a little load is applied such as when going uphill. The uphill has to be mild enough that it doesn't downshift but just enough to have to increase throttle input. The severity also seems to change depending on outside temperature
 
I think mine may also be influenced by pulling a trailer. The only time I've driven the truck at highway speeds over the last few months is while pulling ~1,200 lbs of trailer with stuff in it. I need to see how noticeable the vibration is without this load on it.
 
Agreed. Pulling the trailer places more load hence more noticeable. Someone suggested engine mounts but I am not convinced of that. It almost gives a feeling like the engine is turning too fast for the speed. I know that it is not but the feel and sound seem like it
 
Mine does it too. 05 LX with 113k.
 
That part is a noise damper. I would put it back on if it were me. You also have a noise dampe on the back side of your muffler or at least you should. Take a look and see if you have it. There should be what looks like a cage with a roundd weight inside of the cafe. That is a vibration damper and to confuse even more there are different ones of those rated at different hz ratings to help cancel resonance and vibration. I have been through all of this and finally gave up chasing the drone resosonance. I figured I should just be happy that this cruiser at 212k miles is as awesome and dependable as it is. I would like to find a fix for this though if you have any sucess
 
I've seen the one on the back of the muffler. That one made more sense to me. I know where the one that bolts to the frame is. I just need to bolt it back on and see if it does anything useful.
 
I had the same thing at 200K. Turned out to be the drive shaft. Now I have a different drone, but that's from my KM2s. :)
 
Did you replace the driveshaft? I work at a toyota dealer and the parts manager allowed me to order a rear driveshaft to try. I put it in but it didn't make a difference. So he let me return it and I put my original back in.
 
i had the same issue. Spent a weekend re tourquing front wheel bearings and swapping back to factory size tires only to remove the rear driveshaft, lock the CDL and it went away. Now i have a new rear driveshaft and all is well....drove...me...crazy.
 
I've been chasing a similar issue for months. Only noticed it after lifting the truck and changing tires. I have changed the cv shafts, lower a arms and ball joints, steering rack and rear driveshaft/pulled front driveshaft all with little to no change in the vibration. I have had the tires balanced 3 different times on road force machines but have my doubts about the skill level of the techs/shops. All 3 times my 315's took a different amount of weight to balance. I figure that my vibration is coming from the tires but have not swapped them out. If it it is the tires I am just going to live with it at this point and hopefully be pleasantly surprised when it is time for new ones.

Weird thing about my vibration/drone is that it is not consistent. Always starts around 70 but don't always feel it when I hit 70. Someone said that it could be an issue with a tire/tires and the severity of the vibration may be due to the problem areas of the tires syncing up.

I have owned a handful of LC/LXs and this is the first time I have had this problem. This is my only real complaint with the truck so I try not to get nuts about it anymore.
 
If it's a tire/driveline issue, a new set of shocks might help dampen it better. I'm just not ready to spend that kind of money until I've addressed all the cheaper options.
 
I'm chasing the same droning / vibration problem and it's really frustrating me now. My symptoms are almost identical to marcfj60. I noticed this recently after a long 5+ hour drive on a snowboarding trip at higher diving speeds. After returning from the trip I rotated my tires and got a front end alignment; checked diff fluids, etc.; problem did not go away so I replaced the front wheel bearings, re-checked tire pressures all around, etc... Vibration / droning still happening especially @ 70mph+ speeds... Letting off the accelerator at high speeds almost makes me feel like it is a driveline issue of some sort now... I'm hoping to have time to look this more tonight... My 100 has never driven this bad and I need her back healthy asap...

If anyone has resolved similar issues please post up some suggestions... I'm have a trip to Uwharrie planned at the end of the month and I am not driving another 5 hours with it riding this way...
 
I'm noticing something similar, but mine is not motion based, its definitely based on RPM, and occurring even in park during idle. Last time I felt this, it was just before my first Coil pack went. No CELs at the moment, so I am just going to throw in Techron bottle on the next fill up, then unplug the battery to reset, see what happens.
 
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