Vibrations, shady explanation
- Thread starter mcmanimal
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Put it up on a rack and look it over. There is a lot of stuff that can rattle under a LC. Heat shields can have welds pop or get bent and have metal to metal contact. When these LC's age s*** will vibrate, if you look at it and everyting "looks" ok then you need to go through a ton of analysis to track down the vibration or just live with it and turn up the radio. 
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- #4
I just talked to Toyota again and asked them what was vibrating if the heat shields were missing, and they told me that it was "engine noise that is usually silenced by the shields." This sounds very suspect to me, especially considering the fact that i can hear the vibration inside the car with the windows up. Oh and it only happens under load around 1500 RPM. Ill have a look tomorrow.
Sounds like a load of s*** to me.
mcmanimal said:
Where did they go? I think you would have heard them fall off while driving down the road. And did they give you an estimate on replacing them? Do you have your oil changed at the same dealer? If so, they take them off to do the oil change. Ask for yours back.
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- Thread starter
- #7
I bought it in Florida over Christmas break and drove it back up to school in North Carolina, which is where I am right now. I didnt hear the noise when i test drove it, nor did I hear it for the first couple of weeks of ownership. It started as a very faint noise and has gradually become worse. This also makes me skeptical of their explanation, because if the heat shields were never there and they were "covering up engine noise," then i would have always heard the noise. I wouldnt have gradually noticed it over time.
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You probably need one of these...or maybe another one if you already have one. They are to absorb/prevent unwanted vibrations on LCs's. Let me know if you want to buy one I think I might know someone who has one for sale 
spressomon said:You probably need one of these...or maybe another one if you already have one. They are to absorb/prevent unwanted vibrations on LCs's. Let me know if you want to buy one I think I might know someone who has one for sale
What is that a picture of???
Take a look at the PS frame rail, approximately under the middle passenger seat, on your '99 LC.
Nobody has said for sure...but most agree it is somekind of vibration dampner Toyota installed...probably out of frustration
Nobody has said for sure...but most agree it is somekind of vibration dampner Toyota installed...probably out of frustration
spressomon said:Take a look at the PS frame rail, approximately under the middle passenger seat, on your '99 LC.
Nobody has said for sure...but most agree it is somekind of vibration dampner Toyota installed...probably out of frustration
Thanks I checked it out
I have one too. I love learning new stuff
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SWUtah said:Thanks I'll check it out
The damn thing must weigh 20lbs....plus another place to collect weeds, etc. Best advice: Remove it! I did...didn't notice anything different...except of course it doesn't lean to the PS anymore
spressomon said:The damn thing must weigh 20lbs....plus another place to collect weeds, etc. Best advice: Remove it! I did...didn't notice anything different...except of course it doesn't lean to the PS anymore
I love my 7 year old LC, it's just like me, it vibrates and groans until it gets warmed up
I could never remove this part it might throw off its perfect balance.
Vibration might be the transfer case
You mention that the vibration occurs under load. Are you sure its not the transfer case? I know that 98-2000 landcruisers have an issue with the transer case that caused "buzzing" on acceleration from like 0-50 and then sustanined at 70 mph. There is a TSB issued that addresses this buzzing. I found that info on this forum. I have an '02 with buzzing under these conditions and she'll be going in to service soon. I'll let you know what they say. Also, I have the Alldata for the 2002 LC so if anyone needs anything just give me a holler.
peace
You mention that the vibration occurs under load. Are you sure its not the transfer case? I know that 98-2000 landcruisers have an issue with the transer case that caused "buzzing" on acceleration from like 0-50 and then sustanined at 70 mph. There is a TSB issued that addresses this buzzing. I found that info on this forum. I have an '02 with buzzing under these conditions and she'll be going in to service soon. I'll let you know what they say. Also, I have the Alldata for the 2002 LC so if anyone needs anything just give me a holler.
peace
SWUtah said:
Warning: Practical Dynamics (ME) stuff below.
That is a tuned mass damper.
Believe it or not, a good OEM (like Toyota) does quite a bit of engineering analysis and testing, to tune the entire vehicle system, including the chassis, for reduced vibration & noise.
Sometimes they find a resonant point in the system, where a judiciously-placed, calculated mass will damp that point, attenuating (quieting) the entire system significantly, for a particular range of frequencies. So they judiciously place a mass there, and lo, the entire system is attenuated, since the natural frequencies & the inputs are harmonics of the range in question. This results in a quieter vehicle with less vibration in the system.
Interesting, eh?
Once they confirm where they want such tuned mass dampers, they design production parts for this purpose, to be included in the production vehicle build.
That particular mass damper is one of the largest I've seen. (But then again, I don't spend that much time crawling around inside vehicles anymore...)
I'll leave my mass dampers in place, thank you. (And thanks Toyota, for designing & building them in!)
Regarding the dealer BS about your noise/vibration problems: I feel your annoyance. Sounds like BS to me. Good luck.
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macneill
Rollin’ on 33s
My 02's had a rattle for a while that I can't seem to locate. Thought it might have been the exahust, but it "feels" fine.
Just annoying to hear a truck with 24k rattle.
Just annoying to hear a truck with 24k rattle.
Are you sure it's not the heat shields THAT ARE vibrating (a potential misunderstanding between you and the dealer)? Mine vibrates right around 1800-2000 RPM under load - worse when truck is cold. There is an easy fix for this, but I haven't crawled under there and looked into it yet (and I've had it for a year)...
SWUtah said:
That is what holds down my sprinkler when I water my lawn.
I cannot feel any difference before or after it was removed.- Thread starter
- #19
Well I crawled under my car this morning and starting banging on things. Sure enough, when i hit the drivers side cat it made the same noise. From what I have read on this forum this is an easy fix with a hose clamp. I just have to find exactly what is rattling. Im not exactly sure what the heat shields look like so I dont know if they are missing or not, but I suspect they arent. One thing is certain: im never going back to that dealer again.
