• Welcome to The Truck Stop! We see you haven't REGISTERED yet.

    Your truck knowledge is missing!
    • Registration is FREE , all we need is your birthday and email. (We don't share ANY data with ANYONE)
    • We have tons of knowledge here for your diesel truck!
    • Post your own topics and reply to existing threads to help others out!
    • NO ADS! The site is fully functional and ad free!
    CLICK HERE TO REGISTER!

    Problems registering? Click here to contact us!

    Already registered, but need a PASSWORD RESET? CLICK HERE TO RESET YOUR PASSWORD!

2014 Toyota 4Runner Braking Death Wobble

Big T

Big T

Well-Known Member
Messages
13,233
Reaction score
30,079
Location
Fullerton, CA
During braking from 60 mph down to 30 mph I’m getting a death wobble in the front. Recently replaced tie rods and had it aligned. Have checked upper and lower control arms for bushing wear and ball joint wear which checked out fine. How do I trouble shoot this?

Truck just rolled over 300K miles and all suspension is OEM.

7EBD7300-A1CB-4C8D-8D42-961E3F3CF59C.jpeg4BA5DF93-CD40-4290-9F3F-135F2E107336.jpeg
 
Usually I find it's cumlative wear. Ever so tiny amount at each joint adds up. Find a way to mount a camera underneath to film it might reveal something too.
 
we used to have a 2004 4runner and it would always try to follow ruts in the road. anytime you drove over a seam or small grove in the pavement it would jerk the wheels into it like it hopped on a set of tracks. had two alignment shops and the yota dealer stumped trying to figure it out.

I have been told that struts can cause many weird things. maybe have someone look at them. mine was a sport edition and had all 4 struts interlinked with some kind of steel lines.
 
ak diesel driver said:
Usually I find it's cumlative wear. Ever so tiny amount at each joint adds up. Find a way to mount a camera underneath to film it might reveal something too.
Click to expand...
I’d need a GoPro or something like it. I’m going have the local neighborhood mechanic drive it, then put it on the rack. I’m thinking in line with you that it’s a bunch of little things and it’s just time to replace both upper and lower control arms which come with integral ball joints. Also replace the steering stabilizer. Sheesh I just did most of this work on my ‘99 Suburban.
 
I've changed the one on my 1 ton twice, the first time I was turning and braking, I thought it was going into the ditch. the second time it hit some bad bumps at 60 mph, scared the heck out of me.
 
NVW said:
I've changed the one on my 1 ton twice, the first time I was turning and braking, I thought it was going into the ditch. the second time it hit some bad bumps at 60 mph, scared the heck out of me.
Click to expand...

I just tested it and I'm only seeing the steering wheel shake from medium to heavy stops from 60+ mph down to 40 mph.
 
Big T said:
I just tested it and I'm only seeing the steering wheel shake from medium to heavy stops from 60+ mph down to 40 mph.
Click to expand...
I think I would start with that steer stabilizer first. Kind of begin by weeding out each component until the guilty unit is found.
Unless it comes to a total front end rebuild after the steer stabilizer, then its whole hog all at once.
 
MrMarty51 said:
I think I would start with that steer stabilizer first. Kind of begin by weeding out each component until the guilty unit is found.
Unless it comes to a total front end rebuild after the steer stabilizer, then its whole hog all at once.
Click to expand...
I jacked up and tested both LCAs using a shovel to pry the wheel and I could not see any movement.

I have another set of rotors that I’ll try this weekend.

You’re right I’ll try one thing at time.
 
The interesting thing is that it gets worse as the brakes get warmer. To me that suggests rotors. I am having a hard time finding the AC Delco or Raybestos slotted rotors. RockAuto is proving to be very unreliable of late. Given that they are a third party vendor, it must be a reflection of supply chain issues.
 
Severe wobble is often a combination of multiple items. It is normal and to have people use the parts cannon before finally saying “it must have been X”. Then the next guy starts with that last item and works his way through the list in opposite order.

Tires are a common unit as are rotors. And it is usually in combination with very slightly worn joints. A tiny amount of play in ball joints and or tie rod ends...

Something to understand is NO vehicle should need a steering stabilizer shock absorber. When they come factory with it, is because the manufacturer is covering up inherent design flaws that can be felt while under warranty. Has anyone ever asked a salesman “Does it have a steering stabilizer, because if not -I am walking or your guys are installing one before I buy it!” Of cool not! The entire job of that stabalizer is to “eat” that shake up so you don’t feel the tiny amount that is happening when it begins.

So replacement of the stabilizer becomes an early part to install. The issue with doing that is, you still have some worn parts that now you don’t feel as much. So when a shop is trying to discover what the root cause is- removing the stabilizer for testing gets done in better shops.

What I do is write a list of each part from a rag joint, to steering box, pitman arm, etc,etc. all the way to the tires. Every single connection point. And you have to use major force- as if you are trying to rip it apart- to detect any freeplay.
Things people miss often is tires, rotors, calipers hanging, and steering box.

A mistake often made is the alignment shop used. They get “good deal” at a bigO tires or similar. That’s probably fine when doing normal job. But if you don’t know a shop that has an AMAZING alignment guy- dealership that one. They have the most updated info accounting for the known flaws in design not knowledgeable to he public- the mechanic may not even realize the detail, but follows the mfrs (engineers) instruction of what detail to focus on, and what tolerance is acceptable.

So since your wife is gonna be driving this and especially accounting for her shoulder-
As you remove parts mark them and store them, don’t be afraid to fire the cannon and avoid aftermarket stuff. There is a ton of knock off toyota stuff- eat some money here and visit the dealership. If it was you driving where you could just tighten you grip and deal with it a bit until you find it overtime I would say go so and save money. But you can always save the old parts for later use if half of them aren’t worn out yet.

Btw, drilled/slotted rotors warp faster, it is a performance part and longer life with better manners is not at all what they are for. I have found many, many medium and lower cost drilled/slotted rotors be cut straight but out of balance. And unless you put them on a force reaction lathe that can read it, you will never know.

If you have a different set of tires, like winter tires, get them on there to compare. Hopefully you have them on another set of rims because rims also are an issue. Bang a rock off road, or curb check and the rim is knocked out of balance and can cause this. Something most people never do is check just their rims at a tire shop for balance, out of round, etc. so swap on other rim/tires- Otherwise road force balance them.

Sometimes a best answer for a high mileage vehicle becomes a frame off restoration. You obviously don’t need that. But might think of it as that level rebuilding the front end so it is good to go for the next couple hundred thousand miles all trouble free.
 
Went for the easiest and installed a set of barely used rotors. I had changed these rotors thinking they were the cause of steering wheel pulse at 60 mph, but that was due to tire balancing. A good road force balance cured that, but on a hunch I kept these barely used rotors. That was about 100K miles ago. Took the truck on a spin around our loop. Heated up the brakes. Did some test stops and the wobble is gone. Threw out the culprit rotors.
 
Dropped the GMT-400 lower controls off at my mechanic for him to install Energy Suspension bushings and MOOG ball joints. These will go on my son’s Suburban after many years of planning and intent.

He was busy installing a reman gas engine in a GMT-800 era 1500 Suburban 4WD. Asked him what happened and he said flattened cam on an engine with 260k miles. I asked him if he installs reman engines on the 4Runners and he said sure, but after driving ours he said that drivetrain is solid and good for 500K miles.

I will have him do a quick check of the front end components for anything that needs to be replaced. My checks showed nothing of concern and the replacement rotors corrected the wobble during braking. There is a slight pulse in the steering wheel while driving at 60-62 mph, but this is a chronic problem in this era 4Runner which is addressed by good road force balancing. The current tires have about 5K miles left on them, so we will address it with the next set of tires which will be Cooper AT3 in load range E.
 
Had the mechanic check it out and all ball joints and bushings are fine (confirms my check), but the inner tie rods are loose and need to be replaced. This is consistent with my recent replacement of the outer tie rods. He also said the serp belt should be replaced, so I drove home and got the Gates replacement belt I had and drove it back for him to install. He will order inner tie rods and I instructed him to go with Mevotech like I used on the outers. Will have to get an alignment done afterwards. Also got an appointment for tire replacement out at the end of the first week of August.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top