So my tundras steering wheel shakes slightly once in awhile while cruising around (doesn't seem to be at a certain speed, just kinda randomly) and always while braking. The peddle itself doesn't seem to pulse, but the steering wheel and truck shake. The truck tracks straight while driving.
What I've done so far: Replaced ALL brake parts, new rear wheel bearings, new brake backing plates, bleed brakes (twice for good measure), checked front wheel bearings, checked tire pressure, and gave suspension/steering component a good shake to see if anything moved around.
I will be putting on a suspensions, wheels/tires, and getting an alignment in a week or two. Is there anything I should look at before putting this stuff on or is there a chance replacing that stuff and getting an alignment will sort it out?
any advice is appreciated!
Edit: Installed new slotted/cryo stoptech rotors if it helps at all.
Did you wash rotors with hot soapy water to clean of anti corrosion material? If not, that would cause the material to melt when heated and contaminate the pads and could cause uneven braking surfaces at different temperatures.
I'm pretty certain I used brake clean on them before installing. It has been a few months since doing pads/rotors so I can't remember fore sure, but that's my standard procedure. If I didn't how do I correct it?
Shake test won't tell you much unless the wheel bearings or some suspension bushings are completely shot. I think you may have a bearing (or two) on the way out or some trashed control arm bushings' or maybe some combination of the two. I just did a front brake job (I had an intermittent shake too, sometimes while cruisng but mostly under hard braking) and was greeted by galled spindle threads and a trashed outer wheel bearing caused by the PO's last hack job. (i'd only done pad changes on this truck until now). Anyway that's my .02 and it's worth exactly what you paid for it. I wouldn't worry about pad transfer too much, unless you've been driving through standing water or something similiar. EDIT: This is on a 2wd Chevy C1500 so YMMV.. Again, just my .02.
Im thinking bushings are my next port of call now. What's the best way to test them?
Good question, some will pass a visual inspection but be worn close to the point of failure. The alignment shop should be able to check them out, as a quality alignment shop won't do the job if they notice any play in the suspension. If you're doing suspension work anyway might as well replace any worn parts.
I'll schedule something and see what they say. I'm really starting to think it's the lower arms, I'll report back the findings. Thanks for the help.
Schedule for Wednesday afternoon...we'll see what they say.
I have no experience with the Tundra specifically and, in fact I don't even know what kind of suspension they have but here's some generic guidelines for checking suspension.
To check for play in the steering and anything that locates the suspension left to right have someone gently turn the steering wheel back and forth just slightly more than what it takes to take up all the slack in the system while you lay on the ground and observe all of the joints. You'll see some movement in bushings but there should be no play in things like tie rod ends and ball joints. If you lay your finger so that you're touching both sides of the joint it should feel like they're solidly connected.
To check ball joints, king pins and wheel bearings jack up the vehicle and grab the tire firmly at the top and bottom and rock it. If you detect motion have your helper do the rocking while you use the same finger check as above to locate the source. You can usually get some movement in the system but you shouldn't be able to get any noticeable play in any one part.
On some vehicles the ball joints are loaded when they're jacked up so the above test won't detect them. To check those put a long bar under the tire and pry upward. If there's a bad ball joint there will be movement in the tire that doesn't translate to the control arm. Rather than think about what suspension systems load what ball joints when I just do both tests.
The mechanic said brakes and suspension bushings look good. He noticed the steering rack bushing were a bit lose, but recommended an alignment and tire balance first to see if that resolves anything.
I’m going to install my new suspension next week and take it in for an alignment and balance. I’ll let you all know how it turns out. In the mean time, if anyone has other ideas please let me know.
