Unfortunately, there is NO ONE making drums or rotors in the U.S. anymore. The bigger brand names, such as Wagner or Raybestos still offer decent quality parts, they cost more than the 'budget' line of parts that the auto parts chains sell but you can see a difference in quality.

Rock Auto is a good place for good prices on brand name stuff. Call around your town and find the commercial auto parts supplier, they sell the high quality parts to the good garages around town.

 

Went to go check things out on the truck today. When I pulled the drums off I noticed there is some back and forth play in the rear axle, check out the video I made below...



Anyways here's some pics of the drums that are currently on the truck. I noticed the driver's side drum only has 1 balance weight. Could there have been 2 and one fell off? Or maybe it only needed one to be balanced.

Either way I think I'll still replace them...

Driver's side


Passenger's side

 

Well I just ended up going to O'Reilly's today and bought some new rear brake drums. They are "Brake Best - Select" brand.

So I swapped those into the truck and took it for a test drive and still no change. STILL SHAKES. Only improvement is the brake pedal is a little more stiff.

Tomorrow I'm going to pick up 6 new bolts for the bed and I'm going to wait to put them on until I have access to an impact wrench next weekend.

I know several of you have mentioned that even if there were no bolts holding the bed onto the frame, it still wouldn't shake, however in my case it wouldn't surprise me if the bolts are loose that the bed is causing the shaking since I have a 3 inch body lift. So the truck bed does not sit directly on the frame.

This is really irritating... Replaced all 4 tires and rims, rear driveshaft, transmission mount, brake drums... and still shaking.

 

were they brand new tires and wheels or used ones? It doesn't take very much for an out-of-round wheel to really gets things shaking. The only other thing left ( that is original to the truck) is the rear axle. Can you borrow a dial indicator and check each axle flange for lateral ( side to side) and radial ( up and down) excessive run out?

 

I bought all 4 of my tires brand new from a tire shop. All 4 rims were also bought brand new.

I was thinking the rear end as well. I think tomorrow I am going to pull the rear differential cover and see what's going on. At the very least I can change the fluid, as I'm assuming its never been done before.

At this point, It would not surprise me if when I open up the rear differential that there is gear damage. I'm really hoping there isn't, but it can't possibly be anything else since practically everything is new!

I have not used a dial indicator before and not sure how to check that stuff but if I can get a hold of one I'm sure I can look online and see how.

Thanks for the help.

 

I'm pretty sure you will find some broken tooth on those gears... I'm kind of hoping you do just so you finally find the cause and be done with it...

 

I agree Encho! I will find out tomorrow.

 

Well the bed bolts seem fine to me, absolutely no movement between the bed and the frame from what I can tell. I think I'll get the torque wrench out and try to tighten them all up some just since I have the bedliner out anyways.

So I pulled the Diff cover off and everything actually looks really good internally. Very little to no metal shavings anywhere in the differential housing. No broken teeth or gears.



I took some video, in the first, note at the beginning the play in the gears before the driveshaft even begins to turn. I am rotating the passenger's side wheel back and forth, showing the play. Also the passenger's side wheel turns pretty easily with 1 hand, and I can even let it spin a little on its own. (Click on picture below to watch video)


In the second video I made, I found that it is extremely hard to rotate the driver's side wheel. I had to give up in the video because it was nearly impossible with one hand. Will not continue spinning if I let go like the other side. Seems to me like something is dragging on the driver's side? (Click on picture below to watch video)

 

The internals look clean in the pics, I'm guessing that it's an 'open' carrier ( no limited slip?)

If you can spin the pass. side freely and the drivers side is very hard to move, you need to look deeper into the issue. It could be as simple as the brakes need some adjusting or a frozen e-brake cable. Do the brake drums slide on and off with minimal friction? They shouldn't come right off without any effort but you shouldn't have to brace your feet against the leaf spring and pull with both arms.

If that checks out, the next step in to inspect the axle shaft bearings to see if one is seizing up, although you should feel and hear a bearing if it's gotten that bad.

I have to give you credit for being patient with it.

 

Remove the drums. Grab the axle shafts and pull them in an up/down and also a side/side motion. Shouldnt have much movement, if you do the shafts need bearings.

Also with the truck on stands in the back put it in gear and watch the shaft spin, if it wobbles, again bearing.s

 

Yes it is an open diff. I know nothing about adjusting the brakes, or how to know if the e-brake is stuck. I can set the e-brake and also release it, but maybe it isn't fully disengaging?

The driver's side drum is hard to remove/replace. I had to use a rubber mallet to pound on it until it started to come out enough to pull it off. The passenger side's brake drum slides right off with ease.

I don't hear any noise from the rear while it's shaking. And I think when most bearings go out they make a pretty distinctive sound...

And thanks, I'm only 18. Bought this truck when I was 15. Have been working on it ever since Day 1 when I wanted to make it 4 wheel drive. About 2.5 years of waiting, I made that dream come true this summer. Still a work in progress!

Thank you, I will try that tomorrow.

On a side note, put the diff cover back on after cleaning things up and I was tightening the last cover bolt and SNAP. Broke the head off. So I went into town and got an extractor set. Should be able to get the broken off part of the bolt out tomorrow. I have a BAD habit of over tightening things.....

 

On the backing plates theres a small slot, take a flathead and a flashlight and there is a wheel with teeth on it (star wheel). Turn this adjustment wheel a few times and turn the tires by hand with the truck jacked up and in neutral. Tires should spin about 1 revolution and drag.

Also notice if you overtighten them the drums wont come off (this is normal). Get a small right angle pick and fish around in there in that slot and you will notice that you can push something springloaded in there, this will allow you to turn the star wheel the opposite way in order to remove the drums.

The star wheel adjusts the shoes to make them closer or further from the drums. On my F truck they are adjusted to 1 tire revolution then drag. My totoya they are tight b/c thats how toyotas are (stupid toyota).

As for the broken bolt. Remove the cover and see if you can get it out with some vise grips. Had more than one of those so called "extractors" snap in the bolt-making it very hard to drill out afterwards.

 

Thanks, I'll try messing around with that tomorrow.

Already pulled the cover after RTV'ing it and everything. Unfortunately if broke off below the differential mating surface. So nothing to grab onto.

Also have Left Hand drill bits to use, along with the extractor. I'll go slow, I really don't want to break the extractor in there as well.

I suppose it would have sealed just fine with the RTV, and only missing 1 cover bolt. But I don't want to half *** it.

 

Well the screw extractor set I bought worked great! Got the broken off bolt out of the rear differential surface without damaging the threads. Picked up a new bolt and RTV'd the cover and bolted it back on. Filled with fresh fluid, took for a test drive, and seems to be just a little bit smoother. Still shaking though, but I wasn't expecting for new fluid to cure that. I just wanted to check for damage.

Ran out of time today to mess with the brake adjusters and check for bearing play, but will tomorrow if I get time. Replacing rear brake shoes and all bed bolts next weekend. Going to really make sure the bed bolts are solid with the air impact wrench that I will have access to. They are definitely loose, as I can get the bolts to turn just by turning the head with a socket wrench. Might as well check the cab body lift bolts as well.

If the shaking still persists, I am going to drop it at a shop and let them figure it out. I'm just so lost as to what it could be, since basically every component on my truck has been replaced, engine, entire drivetrain, suspension, tires, rims, etc. Lol

 

minnesotafisherman,

Did you ever solve your issue?

I have a shaking too. Mine developed after my solid axle swap.

Part of the problem was the track bar was about 1/4" short, sort of preloading everything. This seemed to cause a lot of floor level shaking that was noticeable at about 30 and got annoying at about 65. Never scary though.

After my RSK and new springs basically everything is new. I modified by stock track bar (more of a temporary hack) to get the needed length and it is near perfect regarding length. But the bushings are not very tight.

This improved my shaking notably but it is still present and annoying.

My next move will be to get an adjustable track bar. I am torn between a solid heim joint style and one that uses poly bushings.

My reason for asking you about your status is I too chased tire balance and similar things your are chasing, with no success. I am applying "death wobble" cures and it seem to be the most effective.

Lastly, are there any Minnesota men that don't fish?