Ride quality above 60 mph

[Matsui]

I have an 09 with 260k. For a while I've noticed that the ride quality above 60-65 mph is not smooth like it used to be. Like on a highway I feel bit of vibrations on the floor which make it up to the seats and little bit on the steering wheel, so I try not to go at higher speed above 70 mph just to maintain smooth ride.

I have an Eibach lift kit since 2020 and the ride has always been smooth even above 90+. Falken Wild Peak Tires (285/70/17) were changed less than a year ago and they had been riding perfect. I got the wheels balanced yesterday from a very reputable local tire shop in my area, but there is no change in ride quality. Alignment was done last year from the same shop. The only issue I know is that last year in JulyI got the PowerStop Z36 front brake kit installed with calipers, rotors, and brakes, and also rear Brembo brake/rotors - and recently the car shakes when braking which I was going to look into. This shouldn't have happened so soon : /

What are some of the things that you can think of that may be causing the ride quality at high speeds? Could the brakes issue have anything to do with it? Any fluid changes that you can think of? I was already planning to change transmission fluid, and gear oil prior to this issue. Anything else I can have the Toyota dealer check/do?

 

[Stonefoot72]

I had never had problems with acorn lug nuts on my GX, but bought my wife one and replaced stock with new wheels and tires and picked up a vibration. Chased it for weeks. Finally decided to get road force balancing (which can solve vibration issues on chunky off-road tires that even perfectly balanced centrifugal balancing can't fix) and the tech said "you need to change your lug- nuts". I didn't believe him, but ordered the ones he recommended that have a shoulder that center the rim on the hub instead of the acorn bevel that most of us are used to. Vibration disappeared.

 

[Rednexus]

Usually a vibration is tire/wheel related. The only other things you could check would be driveshafts (possible, but unlikely the driveshaft lost a balance weight), or perhaps the front/rear wheel bearings (though, they would typically make noise and not vibrate).

 

[Matsui]

I had never had problems with acorn lug nuts on my GX, but bought my wife one and replaced stock with new wheels and tires and picked up a vibration. Chased it for weeks. Finally decided to get road force balancing (which can solve vibration issues on chunky off-road tires that even perfectly balanced centrifugal balancing can't fix) and the tech said "you need to change your lug- nuts". I didn't believe him, but ordered the ones he recommended that have a shoulder that center the rim on the hub instead of the acorn bevel that most of us are used to. Vibration disappeared.

Very good tip. But I haven't had the vibrations for 5+ years, but certainly willing to give it a shot and see if it fixes it. I have those thin/long style Gorilla brand lug nuts once I got the aftermarket wheels -

Gorilla Automotive K8TS-14150BGR Gorilla Lug Nuts | Summit Racing

Free Shipping - Gorilla Lug Nuts with qualifying orders of $125. Shop Lug Nuts and Lug Bolts at Summit Racing.

www.summitracing.com

Let me know which ones your tech recommended and I'll get a set of those to try it out.

Here is a pic of my wheels.

 

[Matsui]

Usually a vibration is tire/wheel related. The only other things you could check would be driveshafts (possible, but unlikely the driveshaft lost a balance weight), or perhaps the front/rear wheel bearings (though, they would typically make noise and not vibrate).

The driveshaft was one of the things that came to my mind as well and yeah, will certainly look into that - maybe just need to grease it. I got new aftermarket wheel bearings installed few months ago and the ride suddenly became very smooth and quiet.

 

[Rednexus]

The driveshaft was one of the things that came to my mind as well and yeah, will certainly look into that - maybe just need to grease it. I got new aftermarket wheel bearings installed few months ago and the ride suddenly became very smooth and quiet.

Both the front and rear wheel bearings will go out with age, although the fronts fail far more frequently.

FYI, some of the aftermarket bearings are pretty low-quality. If you ended up with a set of Chinese bearings, it's totally possible it is already having issues.

 

[Stonefoot72]

We hadn't had one either for a time, but any time a wheel comes off, and I seem to pull wheels off a lot for different things, the round bottom acorns are suceptible to not aligning the wheel properly. A little bit off goes a long was with heavy tires that already resist balancing. Here's what I purchased. A bunch of variables to consider with high-speed vibration as Red says, but this low-cost try worked for me. The 7mm shank on the end is what creates the added precision. Hope it helps!

 

[Jstawgn]

Driveshaft is the latest trend in GXOR. Within the last 12 months I seen many post of people losing driveshaft. Sometimes it let go so violently that it destroy transfer case or even transmission.

They wear out and the joint can seize. Might need to remove from vehicle to check it properly. It might feels tight but actually the joint start to seize. Front are more notorious because it's a bit harder to grease and get skipped a lot.

 

[Rednexus]

Driveshaft is the latest trend in GXOR. Within the last 12 months I seen many post of people losing driveshaft. Sometimes it let go so violently that it destroy transfer case or even transmission.

They wear out and the joint can seize. Might need to remove from vehicle to check it properly. It might feels tight but actually the joint start to seize. Front are more notorious because it's a bit harder to grease and get skipped a lot.

If not greased regularly, I can see them having problems. Even with frequent greasing, the slip yolk on my OEM driveshaft was causing a clunk when taking off from a stop and a metallic thunk when going into reverse. I even pulled it apart, cleaned it, and re-greased it, but the problem persisted. A rear new driveshaft was around $300 from the dealer and fixed both of those noises went away.

My front still seems fine at 202K but I grease it (and the rear) every 5K miles when I change the engine oil.

 

[Matsui]

I just remembered that couple of months ago I was regularly experiencing a shudder as if driving on a rumble strip between 40-55mph which only went away when I let go of gas. Even though I haven't had that recently, I'm thinking that issue in combination of what I'm experiencing now with slight vibrations in drivetrain above 60 mph - maybe I should consider (1) Replacing the driveshaft and (2) Replacing the transmission fluid - I got the flush done at 140k miles and now I'm at 260k so I think its a good time to do this anyways. (3) I was also planning to replace the gear oil which I was last done at 180k.

The transmission flush I'm thinking of getting done at the same Toyota dealer I've been going to just to avoid anything from going wrong. If it is the same prices, is it worth going to the Lexus dealer? The ones in my area seem a little crook but if you think they will have better experience than Toyota dealer, I can go there.
The driveshaft and gear oil - I'll use my new independent mechanic who is very experienced/knowledgeable.

 

[Rednexus]

I would be rather surprised if your transmission and gear oil would cause anything regarding a shutter/vibration (but, it's certainly good to change them anyway). The only transmission-related vibration I could think of would be torque converter shudder (when the converter locks up), but that would only be during engagement of the lockup converter in 4th and 5th gear (this takes less than a second) and would be accompanied by a drop in engine RPMs. If you had issues beyond that the transmission would probably throw a code.