I'm one of the "lucky few" with the perpetual steering wheel shimmy problems presumably due to improperly balanced wheels. Read part of the saga here:

Yet another 4Runner wheel balance problem...

Has anyone found a tire shop in the Las Vegas area that can fix Toyotas with this problem? At this point, I'm ready to travel out of state if necessary.

I'm now on a new set of tires (went from E-rated KO2's to P-rated Falken Wildpeaks) and the steering wheel shake is back. I watched them balance and road force them twice, the second time doing force matching on two of the wheels. The steering wheel shake was even worse the second time.

The tire shop says they've done all they can. I despair of taking this back to the dealer for them to diagnose at their ridiculous rates. Most likely, like last time I took it in, they'll ignore everything I tell them and simply re-balance/road force, fix nothing, then charge me a bunch of money.

After that many tries, it is time to look for something else that is causing the problem. Out of round wheels? Wheel alignment? Worn suspension components?

Even a drive train imbalance can cause a vibration you may feel in the steering wheel.

Needle bearing too

The problems first appeared at about 6K miles, and I'm now at 46K miles.

As documented on the other thread, one tire in the first set was replaced early on. Later, I replaced one of the rims, even though I was told multiple times that the rims were fine. But one of the wheels in particular seemed to be a problem child, and that was the rim I replaced. It helped a little but the overall problem persisted.

Also, I previously took the vehicle to the mechanic recommended by the tire shop. He road tested it and verified my complaint. But couldn't find a problem on the vehicle. In particular, he assured me an alignment would not help.

BTW, I don't have a lift or any other mods. And both sets of tires were stock size.


Are you talking about the front half shafts? Check this out: Is this excessive free play? (video)

Best place I've found in town after owning six Toyotas since 2009 is Findlay Toyota in Henderson. See Brandon Grade in service, tell him J.P. sent you.

If you've already been there, and they haven't been able to help you, might as well set fire to the thing ;)

I'm going to a different location of the tire shop tomorrow. An old-timer there sounds interested if not eager to tackle my problem child. If he can't fix it, guess I'll give your buddy a try.

What exactly did they do to it over there, do you know?

Try increasing the tire pressures go in increments of 2lbs drive at least 50 miles after each pump up
Or start at 40 and air down I worked for me on both my sets wildpeaks/blizzaks

No. There is a TSB (technical service bulletin) on the needle bearings in the front differential. When they go bad, even on a new 4Runner, they can cause aa vibration and grinding noise.

My primary problem is steering wheel shimmy at highway speed (55+ mph, peaking at 65 mph). I haven't noticed the type of symptoms related to that front diff issue.

Anyone in your area have a full set of takeoffs available? Sounds like one or more rims is out of balance.


Have you considered Equal Balance Beads? Had to use it on 19.5" tires that would not balance. Later I used the same rims with different tires that easily balanced.

At times, with my old set of tires, they seemed to be balanced just fine and I didn't have the steering wheel shimmy. If the rims were bad, would the wheels ever have balanced or run smoothly?

Stock size P-rated 265/70/17 tires should balance without having to use beads.

+1 for balancing beads. My brother's 4runner had this constant shimmy even after multiple attempts at balancing and alignments. He threw in some balancing beads and the car is smooth now.

OP, I responded to you in the linked thread on what to try. This helped me resolve the balance issues I've been having where mine shook even with seemingly perfect balance. For me it was a matter of turning off "smart weight" function on the Hunter balancing machine.

To be clear, I haven't had this issue. I am running E load tires that Findlay mounted and balanced for me though after another local shop was unable to properly balance them.