Terios Shudder/Vibration

[gustav]

What tyres are you running? I had a similar issue on my fortuner. Turns out 2 of the 4 brand new Bridgestones were out of round. No amount of balancing would solve it either. Out of round is a little hard to test because it needs to be checked under a specific load, and not every tyre shop has the right equipment. My vibration happened at around 115kmh

Thnx for the advice.

Tyres were rotated, including spare. No change. Also same tyres were on the vehicle when everything ran smoothly.

It's not the tyres in this case.

[boreddesigns]

Front prop shaft CV joint is the most likely culprit. The boot cracks and the grease turns into a grinding paste. Easy to spot. Climb under the car and check the prop. It's a high speed boot so looks nothing like a normal CV boot. If it's perished it's almost certainly your issue. If possible import a new prop from abroad rather than getting a prop shaft place to weld on a normal U joint.

[DaR25]

We have an '09 Terios 4x4 which we have owned and loved for several years now.
It has been rock-solid and given us almost no hassles at all - until recently. But we don't believe it has anything to do with the vehicle, but rather with poor workmanship or technical ineptitude.

Here's the story:
After taking it for a service, my wife noticed heavy vibration coming from the front left wheel so we returned it to the workshop.
The technician noted worn wheel bearings and replaced them.
After replacing the wheel bearings, technician noted there was still a "slight vibration" at just over 110km/h.
Fast forward a bit and we were told the vehicle is ready collect - with a hefty invoice.
When queried, the workshop had to send the vehicle for "prop shaft repairs".
We spoke with the technician, who told us that they noticed the prop shaft boot had perished and cracked and, as a result of the grease escaping, there was play on the universal joint which had to be replaced.
They sent the vehicle off to a prop shaft specialist who cut off the OEM universal joint and replaced it with a generic one (without customer consent ).
After driving the vehicle, we noted a shudder/vibration from 80km/h upwards, but only when power is coming through the drivetrain ie: shudder is present at 110km/h but disappears when you lift off the accelerator. This tells me it has nothing to do with wheels/shocks but rather with the drivetrain.
We returned the vehicle to the workshop who, in turn, returned it to the prop shaft specialist who re-checked their work and found no fault. However, the issue persists.

The technician suspects an issue with the gearbox but won't know unless the gearbox is stripped and inspected - at our expense.
This issue was not observed after the wheel bearings were replaced when there was "slight vibration over 110km/h" - before the prop shaft modifications.
I'm a software developer with a basic knowledge of vehicles, but my gut tells me it has very little to do with the gearbox and more to do with the (unsolicited) prop shaft modifications.

Any experts out there willing to comment?

Hi There I have been struggling with a Vibration on My Terios 2009 and also went to do propshaft and CenteredCarrier Bearing, after long hours and money spent on Parts I found that my rear Driveshaft Bearings is the problem they are worn and have play on it that causes Vibration on Acceleration when driving, also a clacking noise when driving rough terrain. Hope it helps.

[3bar]

as a heads up to anyone trying to diagnose this before just throwing parts at it

Get the vehicle up on a lift and have someone in the car "drive it"

get under the vehicle and look - take a good torch and ideally a small little red laser with a magnet on it

you could have a CV axle bent, the prop shaft if bent / out of balance will also show oscillations etc, holding your hand onto a mount etc while rpm is going through it will soon tell when things are awry

this kind of thing is really easy to diagnose if you have it in the air with the wheels spinning - please get to a garage that understands diagnosis - I find it unbelievable that these things drag on for months

[gustav]

as a heads up to anyone trying to diagnose this before just throwing parts at it

Get the vehicle up on a lift and have someone in the car "drive it"

get under the vehicle and look - take a good torch and ideally a small little red laser with a magnet on it

you could have a CV axle bent, the prop shaft if bent / out of balance will also show oscillations etc, holding your hand onto a mount etc while rpm is going through it will soon tell when things are awry

this kind of thing is really easy to diagnose if you have it in the air with the wheels spinning - please get to a garage that understands diagnosis - I find it unbelievable that these things drag on for months

The saga continues ...

Just to be clear: I have full confidence in the people working on the problem. The problem is that (1) there are multiple issues contributing to the 'hum/vibration' (2) spares are difficult/impossible to get and slow to arrive.

So .. to sum up ..

Do not take long to fix your front diff mountings if they are buggered!!!

The only item we spent money on that had nothing wrong with it, was the rear (longer) drive shaft.

The rest all needed attention/replacement:
- front diff mountings
- inner cv's
- outer cv's
- gearbox repairs
- chain drive to transfer box (2nd hand one, couldn't source new)

... and the vibration/shudder was still there.

Then we opened the front diff. The pinion shaft is worn .. and will now be built up and remachined, 'cos no spares.

Here's hoping the little bugger will be its smooth, solid self after this! 🤞

[gustav]

Got the vehicle back and it now runs better than ever. Very relieved and happy.

Hoping to traverse lotsa off-the-beaten tracks soon! Just waiting for the current tyres to give in. Can't wait to slap on some AT's 💪😎💪