Hi All -

Wondering if someone can point in the right direction?

I am getting this slight vibration in the front on my 2003 GX470 (with close to 160K miles) when driving. It seems to go in-an-out. I tends to happen on acceleration sometimes and braking sometimes. I have not noticed a pattern. My wife doesn't notice it, but it drives me crazy.

I feel like I have tried everything to get it to go away. Here is a list:
I recently changed out the front wheel bearing/hubs (on both sides). The driver side was definitely going bad.
I have new calipers, new brake pads, and turned down rotors (within the past 4 months).
I just replaced the upper and lower ball joints on both sides (with the past 4 months).
I checked the front axle fluid and ensured it was full.
Just had wheels load forced balanced, and aligned.

It just won't go away. I have not replaced the UCA or LCA bushings. I should also mention I converted to the mechanical front and rear shocks and springs (respectively).

Anyone have an idea of where to go next? This is driving me mad!

 

Were the control arms replaced with the ball joints?

What about the sway bar bushings which are known to wear out? Although the symptoms you describe don't sound like bad bushings but who knows.

Sounds like you've addressed just about everything else.

 

Control arms were not replaced. I just replaced the ball joints with 555.

Replaced sway bar bushings and links. I used Moog aftermarket on those. Probably should have used OEM looking back.

I appreciate the response!

 

Are you able to replicate at low speeds, like walking speed? Or only when moving faster?

Where are you feeling the vibration, through the steering wheel, seat, etc?

 

Bad control arm bushings can cause vibration. I am always a fan of using oem parts when doing suspension work unless upgrading of course.

By chance did the shop that did your Road Force balance give you a print out actually showing you the tires were properly balanced? I can't tell you how many times I've paid to have my tires RF balanced and the tech did a poor job and I continued to have vibration problems at speed only to get it fixed at another shop. The problem shop last time was a Lexus dealer. Not all techs who balance tires esp on a RF machine are created equal.

 

Nothing inherently wrong with Moog on those parts, not a problem.

Did you examine all the control arm bushings for drying/cracking/splitting/etc.?

 

Vibration is in the steering wheel. I feel it mostly on acceleration and braking. It happens at both high and low speeds.

 

They did not provide post balance report. This was the first time I tried this particular place. My first thought when I picked up the vehicle was “they did not balance the tires correctly”.

I did not trust this place. I told the guy that GX470 are very sensitive to wheel imbalance; the reason I wanted the tires RFB. He told me that all road force balance does is “tell you if you have a bad tire”. They charged me $120 for an alignment. My chamber was 0.1 degrees out. Everything else was in spec. I guess technically, they performed an alignment. Also told me they thought my front wheel bearing was going out. I told them that was interesting since I replaced both fronts less than a month ago. It was Koyo bearings but the way. They then told me I could have a bad bearing out of the box.

Regarding the bushing, it looks dried, but still 100% present. No parts missing.

There is no play in the wheel. I will go back out today and recheck and get pics of the bushings.

 

It might be worth finding another reputable shop to rebalance your tires before messing the bushings.

I'm usually not a fan of chains for a variety of reasons but our local NTB has a fantastic reputation and they just installed a new laser balancing machine. They did a terrific job installing/balancing my heavy Cooper AT3 ltx tires on our Tundra and later relatively low profile Michelins on our LX. Our local Mr Tire is pretty good too. They installed the same Coopers mentioned above on our GX.

 

I also think the most likely reason is the tires need balancing (again).
Where did they put the weights - currently? Are they all in one position or spread out? How much weight did they use?
Because sometimes the tire needs to be rotated on the wheel to cancel out any individual heavy spots. A lazy tire tech will just keep adding weights.

But also - how are the shocks? They may not be leaking but are they doing their job? In bad cases you'll see "stripes" on the tire tread from where it's been bouncing.

Ideally, your tire shop has one of these:

https://www.hunter.com/wheel-balance...-force-elite/?

Chip H.

 

Jack the front of the truck off the ground, and give each front tire a solid, back and forth shake in both the side to side, and up and down positions, and make sure there's no play you can feel when grabbing on opposite edges and push/pulling a few times.

The shady alignment and tire balancing shops sucks to deal with. It would be well worth paying more to have it done right the 1st time for things like that.

 

So, on at least one tire, they used a bunch of weights all at one location. This makes me think, in general, they did not know what they are doing. The sad thing is, if you look on the Hunter link you posted, they are listed as having that machine.

Shocks are relatively new. I converted to the mechanical coil over strut. That being said, they are not a name brand. If anyone has a good suggestion for coil over struts, I am all ears.

 

Thanks - I did this on Saturday. No play. Currently in search of a better alignment shop.

 

Also, I really appreciate everyone posting on this to help me figure it out.

 

So, I checked the front struts again. Driver side was definitely bad. They had less than 25K miles on them. Purchased them as a kit from Suncore. Re-reading the above posts, @chiph9 was right on. Thank you

Anyway, replaced the struts with KYB brand. The ride is much improved. I’ll call this one resolved.

Removing the rest of the Suncore kit in the rear. I figure it is Chinese junk to fail that fast.