Vibration at 56 to 59 mph on acceleration.

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Vehicle is my, new to me, 92 Toyota pickup 2wd with 297,000 miles. Have a vibration around 56 to 60 mph when I am giving it the gas in fifth gear. Really noticeable when going up hill at those speeds, but stops if I left off the gas. On flat land, vibration is still there, but not nearly as bad going uphill. After 60 mph it's smooth all the way to 80 mph, which is about as fast as I want to go, and there is no noticeable vibration in fifth gear from 45 to 55 mph.

Searched about this problem, and what I found was that other Toyota truck owners spanning a lot of different years had the same problem around about the same speed that I am having the vibration. U-joints seemed to be the main cause, so I am going to change the front and rear u-joints. It's a two joint drive shaft. U-joints looked OK doing a visual inspection. They are not greaseable.

Have some Spicer 1310 series greaseable u-joints with outside lock rings on order. Don't have a press, so I am going to try, and rent the u-joint tool from a local auto parts to get the job done.

What else could cause this type of vibration? Asked the local tire shop that does Road Force tire balance, and they said the tires being out of balance would not cause the type of vibration that I am having.
 
U joints are a good bet, you don't need a special tool for that job just a big vise and sockets. I would take the shaft with the new joints installed and have it/them balanced, clean it good first and paint it if you want as both of these steps can cause it to be out of balance.
The last ones I had balanced IIRC were $70 a shaft but it made a big difference.
 
There's a local shop here that does the whole job for about $85. New joints, balance, paint.

Took the shaft from my 1990 4 Runner there. Sure was nice having them do it for about $30 over the cost of joints...and it was balanced properly when they were done...
 
U joints are a good start. I was going to suggest front CV joints or intermediate shaft but it would be hard for those to vibrate since you don't have them!
 
Check transmission mount. I had what you describe and other issues like clunking. Gone when I replaced the mount
 
No clunking sounds. Just the vibration. Will check the transmission mounts when I pull the drive shaft.

Did read that that the vibration could possibly be a bushing in the manual trans output shaft. U-joints are old, and it's a cheap fix on this pickup, so hoping my shot in the dark solves the vibration problem.

Thanks for the suggestion about having the shaft balanced. Totally forgot about the drive line shop that's right down the road from me, and they do a lot of work for the 4 wheel drive off road crowd. Going to give them a call.
 
Just got off the phone with the drive line shop, and it's $40 to balance the shaft. Going to get them to install the u-joints while they have the shaft. Said it was $7.50 per joint, or $15.00 each if they have to be torched out.
 
Just got the shaft back, and yes it was out of balance. Pretty good size weight was tack welded on it.

No rust or dents on the shaft. I guess after 297,000 miles it just went out of balance for what ever reason. Balance made a huge difference. It's lots smoother now at all speeds. Glad I spent the extra $40 to have it balanced.
 
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