Burning smell + steering vibration

Hi everyone - relatively new to the forum and new to the 4Runner community. I’ve got a 99 SR5 v6 4wd with 230k miles on it. I’ve noticed recently that there is a pretty significant steering + body vibration after 40mph developing. After driving the rear driver side wheel area also smells burnt with noticeably more heat.

Do you think it’s the brakes or calipers seizing? Could it be anything transmission related if the smell is coming from the rear? I checked the trans fluid and it looks pretty good. Engine also seems fine (oil + coolant ok, no visible leaks)

 

Is it an oil burning smell or rubber burning smell?

If rubber, check for frozen calipers, bad wheel bearing, or an alignment/suspension issue. There should be a few more knowledgeable people that will chime in with better ideas.

 

I am assuming you have already checked and this is not a wheel unbalance issue. If the rear driver side wheel area smells "burnt", then it could be the brake shoes (I am assuming that a 99 4Runner also uses rear brake drums and not disk brakes) or the wheel bearing. If you jack the car up, you can try to move the wheel from side to side or top to bottom. There should not be any movement. Also the wheel should turn relatively freely as well. Next you can remove the tire and the brake drum and check inside the drum to see the condition of the shoes, .., etc. Note that in removing the drum, you may need to turn the brake shoe adjuster screw.

 

Valve covers leaking onto exhaust? Leaky valve covers on the 3.4s is pretty common.

 

Update: thanks everyone for the suggestions - it seems that the brakes were dragging from my previous brake job. Ended up with some warped drums and cracked shoes. Lesson learned, going to redo it which should hopefully resolve the vibration and burning smell.