Steering Wheel Vibration in 2017 5th Gen
 

Resurfacing this issue as the latest posts I could find were from 2012.

I'm having steering wheel vibration issues that I don't think have anything to do with the tires, alignment, or rotors.

I have a 2017 TRD Off-Road Premium (NO KDSS). At about 20k miles I put on some 275/70/R17 BFG KO2's that caused crazy wheel wobble at freeway speeds. I took them back 3 times, it took two road force adjustments before my steering was ok enough to drive. I lived with that very minimal vibration for a couple years but after an accidental tire rotation at the Toyota dealership (28k miles) the problems started up all over again, obviously because the tires had to be re-adjusted. I was tired of the issue and having to worry about rotations, so I traded those tires in and got a set of Nitto Terra Grappler G2's. This time I went with 265/70/R17, stock tire size, thinking that would cure my issues, it didn't.

The wheel vibration was definitely much better with the Terra Grapplers but I still get vibration between 50 to 70mph. Usually around the 55 I can start to feel it kick in and at 60 to 65 its really getting a noticeable vibration going. It's not 100% of the time, and it isn't when breaking. I've only noticed it when my foot is on the gas, but I'll have to experiment more later to see if it still vibrates when I'm coasting. I should also note that my alignment seems to be fine; I don't pull either direction while driving or braking.

Does anyone else have this problem or have experience with it?

The longer it goes, the greater the risk of wearing steering components such as tie rods. Once those are worn, no amount of balancing fixes it completely.

Lots of threads and comments on steering wheel wobble primarily from 55-65MPH. The only consistent solution seems to be perfectly balanced wheels/tires. Sometimes this takes multiple visits to multiple shops in order to find someone with the ability/desire to really dial it in.

For me, vibrations only at a certain speed indicates it’s a problem with the tire. There is a chance that that you could have gotten a bad new tire. It’s rare but sometime the tire can developed a heavy spot in the molding process that even balancing can’t fix and only a new tire will fix that.

But if you don’t think it’s the tire then I would recommend taking it to your local 4x4 off road shop if there is one in your area. They deal frequently with tires and suspension and may be more familiar with this problem. Otherwise I would take it to your mechanic or local Toyota dealer.

Anyway, I came across this list that may help you trouble shoot this problem.
Toyota 4Runner steering wheel vibration causes and diagnosis

Article is good stuff. Like I’ve said dealt with this issue repeatedly over the 305K miles we’ve put on the car. Eventually you will have worn tie rods and when that happens, you could see death wobble when braking from 60+ mph down to 40 mph.

Bottom line rack and pinion steering systems have their merits on lighter cars, but they are not as robust as steering box systems. They are also more sensitive, which explains the wheel pulse issues these trucks are seeing.

Thank you very much for the link, I think i’m going to take it to another shop and have them look at it. I suppose i’ll start running down this list checking things off if the shop fails