Vibration (1 Viewer)

[rongroth]

Hello,

My '93 has recently started having a vibration. I don't know if there was an event that preceded it as my son is the main driver. I did query about any possible curb slam or high-center event but he assured me there wasn't. (We'll see.)

I looked through other threads and couldn't quite match up my symptoms. I thought I'd share so I don't go on too wild of a goose chase.

• frequency of vibration increases with speed
• more pronounced under acceleration
• decreases when coasting
• when coasting, if shift to neutral, vibration remains the same (not associated with transmission?)
• vibration remains the same when shifting to 2nd or low (not associated with engine RPM)
• the knuckle seals have been leaking for a while

I was going to first check the parking brake as it was making a rattling noise like my '95 when it had parts floating around. The rattling has stopped and so maybe something has gotten jammed? This is the only difference that I have noticed coincided with the vibration. I did notice some folks mentioned their parking brakes being a possible culprit.

It seems that the motor mounts may not be implicated because it is associated with speed rather than rpm. Is that a valid assumption?

Another possibility seems to be UV joints.

Any validation of what I am thinking or other suggestions is greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Ron

 

[RFB]

did you look under knuckles and check the 4 nuts on each side? its easy with a "son" driving.

 

[BILT4ME]

Most likely U-Joints.

Or a bent driveshaft in the event of an up and over slide........

Any idea of mileage?

 

[Railwelder93]

I had one of the welded on weight tags come off the drive shaft on my Tacoma a few years ago. Made a similar vibration.

 

[zapatius]

Sounds like u-joints. Raise the vehicle up and see if there's any play, can pretty quickly tell if that's the issue.

 

[Tanner H]

Crawl under there and shake the driveshafts left and right, then up and down. also grab ahold and turn clockwise and counter clockwise. any significant play.If you suspect one of them has play, you can remove that driveshaft and take it for a test drive to see if the vibration is gone. If you go that route, take a paint pen and mark the mating surfaces of the u-joint and the diff/transfer case to make sure they go back the same way.

I did this a few years back and found out my front driveshaft joints were bad.

 

[rongroth]

I haven't replaced the u-joints and I doubt the prior owner did as I bought it with 115k on it. It now has 327k. A reasonable lifespan to be sure.

 

[Offroader93]

I have been having a vibration as well. Weird, because it just came out of nowhere. Similar to what the OP described. You can really feel it, and once you get up to maybe 40mph (speedo doesnt work so took a guess). And stops completely when you take your foot off the gas. It sort of went away yesterday, so I'll re-grease the u joints and go from there.

 

[rongroth]

I just put the truck up in the air and it is super obvious that the front u-joint on the rear drive shaft is complete shot. Thanks for all in responses and suggestions!

 

[rongroth]

An additional observation - after replacing the failed u-joint on my '93 I cleverly decided to grease those on my '95. I found the same u-joint which failed on the '93 was not able to be greased on my '95 because the angle the u-joint is at did not allow enough space for the grease gun to reach the zirt fitting. So when a whining sound first showed up years ago on the '93 and I stopped by JIffy Lube and asked them to replace the fluids and grease the u-joints, they couldn't get to that one and didn't bother to share that tidbit of information.

I ended up dropping the driveshaft to grease, but I could have just removed the nuts near the front, pushed back the driveshaft and increased the gap slightly by angling the u-joint base connection at the transfer case.

 

[RobE30]

Glad you found the culprit. My 94 (135k) has a vibration that sounds similar to what you described. It was accompanied by a pinging noise, like someone tapping on the driveshaft when I would get on or off the gas. I greased all the joints and it's better but once in awhile I still hear it. My next day off is Sunday and I will be investigating this further.

 

[BILT4ME]

Glad you found the culprit. My 94 (135k) has a vibration that sounds similar to what you described. It was accompanied by a pinging noise, like someone tapping on the driveshaft when I would get on or off the gas. I greased all the joints and it's better but once in awhile I still hear it. My next day off is Sunday and I will be investigating this further.

That pinging noise is it crushing the needle bearings in the U-joint. Just get new u-joints.

 

[RobE30]

That pinging noise is it crushing the needle bearings in the U-joint. Just get new u-joints.

I assume Toyota joints are the way to go?

 

[BILT4ME]

I assume Toyota joints are the way to go?

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