Sequoia suspension

Hi gents...

It's been quite a long time, but I'm back with a question! Hope there's still a good bunch around from when I was here and hope there's been lots of new folks along the way. OK on to the question...


I had an oil change/tire rotation done yesterday on the Sequoia (2004, 4WD Limited, 75K miles), and the ride seems rough now. I took it back to have all 4 wheels rebalanced but I can still notice a vibration. More noticeable at highway speeds or over bumps at any speed, and seems to be coming from the rear. I guess it could be a few things:

1. Noticing tire wear now that fronts are on the back, but I never really felt it before the rotation
2. Bad rear shocks – coincidentally timed to the tire rotation? The service guys didn’t mention anything but maybe they just weren’t looking.
3. Imbalanced drive shaft?

I’ve never experienced an imbalanced drive shaft, but I remember reading about it back when we had the 4Runner.

I did a little bounce test on the rear after work, and while the rear is definitely softer than the front, it's hard to discern a difference between L and R on the rear.

If I'm going to replace the shocks - Toyota or OME? Both have good reviews on tundrasolutions, but haven't seen much in terms or where to buy OME's online.

I am already ruling out that you have the air ride suspension in the rear.

What kind of tire wear? Cupping on the inside?

I think the bad rear shocks would more make the ride more plush then rough unless the shafts are starting to get rusted or the seals are somehow locking the shockes when they are in the extended position?

I would think maybe the u-joint before and imbalanced driveshaft, I presume this thing only sees street duty, unless your jumping curves everywhere?

Try rotating them to where they were?

I would just stick Toyota, In my mind the OME would be more stiff, but if you need that I'd go for them then

Yep, no air ride. I need to go out and get a better look at tire wear. What you say makes sense though about the shocks and u-joints. And yes this is a street queen, unfortunately offroading went away when we moved out of Cali!

Holy Crap! It's Tom!!!

I doubt it's an imbalanced drive shaft or worn U-joints if you haven't lifted it or taking it off road and scraped the bottom on stuff.

An imbalanced drive shaft would have a very bad resonant frequency at a certain speed, so the vibes would get worse as you speed up, hit a peak, then mellow out once you get over that certain speed.

How are Sarah and the kids?

Hub Centric Rims, sounds like they might be off a couple of ounces IMHO, the tech didn't properly cone them and tighten them down on the balancer. Take them back, make sure to mark which are on the rear now, have them rebalanced, and do another drive when it's done. *Most times with the 4Runners and Sequoia's the worn side treads don't ever get felt in front b/c they're in constant adjustment as you shift your hand as you drive in addition to there being not just shocks, but a steering damper most times and hydraulic fluid which all dampen the feedback. You might notice it in the back, provided the balance is verified as OK. Give it 500 miles and the edges that are beveled (usually towards the back of the tread as it's the first to contact an abrasive surface) will even out.

Thanks guys for the feedback. I may just take it in to the dealer to check out - we're under warranty for another 2 weeks. Worst case, I pay them to re-balance. Since Big O did it for free, I wouldn't feel terrible about it, and this way if it is hardware related (besides shocks) we can likely get it covered.

Steve - Sarah and the kids are good! Kids are 5 and start kindergarten in a few weeks. Sarah is still working for the same biotech company, they had a merger a few years ago and now she travels to Carlsbad more often than SF. I could definitely get used to Carlsbad - except for the price of just about everything compared to Iowa - but at least we'd know what we were in for! How's Miki?

Here's a pic of the kids from Huntington Beach last May.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a1...r/DSC00449.jpg

Cool pic! *FWIW never bring your rig to Big-O and expect quality work. I've seen vehicles come in that the techs have loosened the e-brake cable tension trying to get customers to buy into a brake job. Did they try to sell you on brakes or suspension work and that's why you were thinking that? It's part of how they do business and they've been doing it that way for years out here. One shop in Stockton tried to talk a friend who bought a set of take-off bilsteins on a new set. The outsides were a bit tarnished, but they had only 100 miles on them and worked fine, they messed w/ his air-ride line to try to fool him.

I know what you mean... but I've actually had great luck at this particular Big O. They've never tried to upsell me on anything. I started going to this one for oil changes just because it was so close to work - they've never charged me to rotate tires, and I've had it done there for the last 2 years or so. They didn't even charge me to balance tires when I went back the next day.