Violent vibration 3rd gen. Please help

Hey everybody I’m very new to this, and I recently purchased a 1998 2wd sr5. Love it but as all older vehicles go they need love. Anyway Mine has just developed a very heavy vibration while in acceleration starting at 20mph. In lower speeds coasting the vibration goes away. But downhill at a higher speed 60+ vibration/shaking still exists even while coasting. I’m new to Toyota’s so I’m not sure if it’s a common issue or where to start. Here are some photos I took of trans and motor mounts. Tires and wheels are 2k Miles from a sr5 wheels from a 201Tacoma. Vibration/shaking seems to be coming from the rear/mid of the vehicle. Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thank you! Update on this post both ujoints seems to be nice and solid. I have no play in the driveshaft. I did try to put it in gear with foot hard on brake and watch the engine for movement and it did move quite a bit. My question now is could a mix of bad motor mounts and trans mounts cause the cabin to shake that much. Rattles everything in the cab.

 

I wouldn’t drive it until you let a certified mechanic look at it? My bro-in-law had a wheel bearing replaced at the Ford dealer. Then later on the highway it started vibrating and the wheel assembly flew off...

 

If the engine is moving...yeah, you have a busted motor mount...which is new to me. Get that checked out.

 

A little help, maybe? Similar problem. My recently acquired '00 2x4 4runner v6 auto with 240k miles has developed a new vibration issue. at low speed, under 30, it almost feels like a dead miss, smooths out between 30 and 55 or so, then comes back worse between 55 and up, as accelerating. But anytime its vibrating, if i let off the gas it stops. And its in the seat, not the steering wheel (so no front end suspension/tire prob, I think) and not in the brake pedal (so no brake probs either). No clunk when shifting into drive from park, but a bit of one when shifting from drive to reverse. The check engine light has been on for years (evap cannister, yeah, I know, on my list to get fixed, lol), but when this is happening the ck engine light starts flashing on and off. I helped maintain the vehicle for the last 10 yrs, as in offered advice when probs cropped up, occassionally drove truck to help diagnose probs, and took to shop for probs when requested. I don't know that the rear end lube level was ever checked (at least I never specifically told the shop to do it, may have been ck'd as some regular inspection). Getting codes pulled this afternoon. Looking for options, opinions and best guesses. I'm betting drive shaft or rear end.

 

Sorry to hear bud! I actually sold my runner unfortunately! But I can help. I can tell you that what I did was I went to the junk yard and I pulled a drive shaft and a 3rd member from a lower mileage runner (Hawaii has so many runners the junk yard is full of them).


Not sure what your area looks like or how mechanically inclined you are. But it cost me 300 bucks and took me 2 hours to swap the 3rd member and driveshaft. To be honest it wasn’t so much the driveshaft causing my vibration but my ujoints were going bad on mine anyway.

try crawling under your truck and seeing if the flange on the third member has any play in it. If you can get one for cheap I say swap it out and see if that solves your problem. A buddy and a beer or two and you’ll be done in an hour. If you have a 4x4 though make sure it’s the same ratio rear end.

The other option if you can’t find a junkyard diff to match your rig is to have one rebuilt at a reputable gear shop. They would most likely do it for a couple hundred.

 

Hey Eastkat34, did you figure out the problem? how about an update. As for mine, were multiple issues creating similar problem. A slightly worn rear universal joint was replaced, to no change. I pulled codes and found P0171 (system too lean, fuel filter was replaced, found water in gas, after replacing filter i filled up at a not-my-usual gas station and added a can of gas dry. Helped some. Also had P0300 (random miss) and P0301/P0303/P0304 (miss in cylinder as numbered). Pulled MAF and cleaned WITHOUT Q-TIPS, helped a lot, cleared codes and took for 20 minute test drive. Only P0301 popped back up, minimal vibration, good power, probably a bad plug/wire/coil, will swap around and pinpoint the problem. Thanks to all that provided advice comments help.

 

Yeah try swapping things around, if the miss moves to another cylinder then you know you have a problem with that coil. Hopefully but new plugs never hurt either especially how cheap they are. I use the denso copper plugs. Unfortunately with these trucks as they get older it’s just a number of things that could cause vibrations. Wheel bearings carrier bearings unbalanced driveshafts. Comes with the wear and tear and owning a Toyota

 

My issues on my 98 was specifically the third member it was toast. When I pulled it there were chunks missing from the ring gear and the bearing had a good amount of play in it. But that was some serious vibrations at any speed. It started off slow though with a low hum at about 50-70mph