2012 Trail - FEAR - Finally time for new tires!

[Jivewalker]

Well, I've got 56k on the original Bridgestones, and must say they have served me just fine. My Runner has never had any vibrations or shakes, always been smooth and true. So while excited about some new shoes, I'm also terrified I'm going to end up with the dreaded vibrations after the change. Please chime in with any advice you can share to avoid the vibrations.

I will be staying stock at 265/70/17. I'm mostly driving on road, but do get into heavy snow about twice a year and also like the occasional non-technical trail. I also like the looks of an all terrain.

Here's what I'm looking at:

Firestone Destination A/T (regular load range)
Cooper AT3 (thanks to post from 1Engineer)

My research has mainly been here and Tirerack. Let me hear your suggestions and advice about the vibrations. If I go with Firestones, I know the Firestone shop has a road force balancer.

Thanks a ton everyone!

Brian

 

[badhabits]

I have had both tires and they are very good for all a round use. The Firestone AT have a more aggressive lug pattern than the AT3s but I have found both to work well. The good thing is I bought the Coopers from the Firestone dealer that I have been using for quite a while, and they did an excellent job on the install. There is a good chance that your dealer can get the Coopers if you want them. IMO though both are worth buying.

:hatsoff:

 

[Raven]

I was also worried about vibrations, after reading several threads here. I had the Cooper AT3's installed at a shop where they only have a simple machine to balance tires off the vehicle. No problems whatsoever, and very happy with the Coopers so far, 'though I haven't really tested them much yet. Word 'round here is that they are even very good in snow, even 'though they are not dedicated winter tires.

 

[rigtec]

"...My Runner has never had any vibrations or shakes, always been smooth and true. So while excited about some new shoes, I'm also terrified I'm going to end up with the dreaded vibrations after the change."

Hi Jivewalker,

Worrying about tire vibrations before you buy tires is like worrying about food poisoning before sitting down to eat at... "The Olive Garden".

"...Please chime in with any advice you can share to avoid the vibrations..."

"Have them balanced at the shop before you leave!" Best to you!

 

[Erkelbot]

Hi Jivewalker,

Worrying about tire vibrations before you buy tires is like worrying about food poisoning before sitting down to eat at... "The Olive Garden".

What I'm taking away from this is the OG 7 week $100 all you can eat deal is a bad idea?...

 

[Shawk00]

Well, I've got 56k on the original Bridgestones, and must say they have served me just fine. My Runner has never had any vibrations or shakes, always been smooth and true. So while excited about some new shoes, I'm also terrified I'm going to end up with the dreaded vibrations after the change. Please chime in with any advice you can share to avoid the vibrations.

I will be staying stock at 265/70/17. I'm mostly driving on road, but do get into heavy snow about twice a year and also like the occasional non-technical trail. I also like the looks of an all terrain.

Here's what I'm looking at:

Firestone Destination A/T (regular load range)
Cooper AT3 (thanks to post from 1Engineer)

My research has mainly been here and Tirerack. Let me hear your suggestions and advice about the vibrations. If I go with Firestones, I know the Firestone shop has a road force balancer.

Thanks a ton everyone!

Brian

Either of those tires will work fine. I haven't run Firestones for at least 5-6 years so I probably had a little different model AT but those were good tires and similar to the Cooper AT3's. I also had/liked the Revos as well and would run those again. If all three were the same price, I would choose the Coopers.... but I doubt I could tell the difference if you put any of those three on my 4Runner. :thumb:

I have a few pics of the Coopers on below... have fun shopping!
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-gen-t4rs/179704-trail-premium-home-minor-mods-come-;.html

 

[Jivewalker]

Well, I went with the LTX M/S2 tires. As feared, I have the steering wheel shakes at between 55 and 70ish. So my fears were founded. I had the installer balance the tires and shakes still there. Also had the Toyota dealer re-balance the tires with the alignment and 60k service. Shakes still there. Had a long conversation with the dealer service rep and he is confident they can fix it. So tomorrow Black Betty go's into the shop and we will see.

I will say that the dealer was very understanding and is familiar with the problem and was easy to talk to about it. I'll update on the solution, which I'm hoping is as simple as the road force balance.

Other than that, the tires seem solid and kind of a no brainer with my mostly paved driving and occasional trail and snow. After a rebate and some price matching, 4 tires were $821.00

 

[rigtec]

"Well, I went with the LTX M/S2 tires. As feared, I have the steering wheel shakes at between 55 and 70ish..."

This was clearly a "self fulfilling prophecy"! Try imagining yourself coming into some Extremely good fortune and blessings! Best to you!

rigtec, cheers :cheers:

 

[Jivewalker]

This was clearly a "self fulfilling prophecy"! Try imagining yourself coming into some Extremely good fortune and blessings! Best to you!

rigtec, cheers :cheers:

Lol...thanks man! Really, I expected it as I keep up with the forum and know I was lucky from day one to not have the issue. I test drove a limited before getting the trail, and it had it bad. Salesman said it was normal, I laughed and said BS.

Anyway, my beast was smooth as could be before the tire change, so I know it's most likely a balancing issue and It will just take someone who really gives a crap and knows how to balance to fix it. Will require persistence on my part but I'll get it smooth again.

 

[rigtec]

"...It will just take someone who really gives a crap and knows how to balance to fix it. Will require persistence on my part but I'll get it smooth again."

I agree 100%! I would however, try using a local 'Tire distributor' as opposed to the dealership for this. The dealerships have their specialty services, but I've worked at a few TD's e.g., GoodYear and Firestone 'car care centers' when I was an auto tech, and because they specialize in tire and front-end alignment, they usually invest heavily into State of the art tire and front-end equipment; some even hold classes for the techs to stay informed of the latest automobile advances... that said, don't let them talk you into buying 'ANYTHING' that you didn't go there for! But they will likely provide the best service regarding tire related issues! Rgds,

 

[rigtec]

Almost forgot to mention...

When I got my new GoodYear 275/55 R20's, the tech showed me how they're balancing tires/wheels these days. Remember the High Speed tire balancing machine said to be the wave of the future way back when? "That's GONE!" The machine now uses laser technology to locate the flaws in the rim and tire which result in wheel vibration and shimmy; so no more vibration sensors around the balancing machine's shaft and getting out of calibration at regular intervals. He also showed me that the new tire has a mark on it which tells the installer exactly where to position the valve hole in the rim because the tire manufacturer has 'built-in' a provision for predictable weight anomalies when the tire is joined w/ the rim. Just consider using a local alignment shop to check your tires... "you shouldn't have to go through this hassle!" Cheers

 

[Raven]

Unless it requires a special machine that your local tire distributor doesn't have, I would be inclined to take it back to the place you purchased the tires. They have to "make it right", do they not? So, if you keep taking it back to them, and they keep trying to fix it at their expense, they will eventually realize that this is costing them money, and maybe they'd better put some effort into figuring it out! Of course, if they are in the tire business, you'd think they would have figured this out years ago!

Was I just lucky then? Small shop, no fancy equipment, just a simple off-car wheel spinner, and they got all four AT 3's right first time. Would be interesting to find out what percent of 4Runner owners have experienced major balancing issues. I test drove two SR5's, an LE, and a Trail - none of them had any unusual vibration. Is it a big problem? (obviously it is for those affected - I don't mean to make light of your frustrations).

 

[Randyman...]

As someone mentioned above - "Road Force Balancing" and "Computer Ride Matching" will give you the best possible results. Not all tire shops have these machines (Hunter GSP9700 seems to be a very good one). The Discount Tire by my house doesn't have one (used them for over 15 years!), so I swapped to another Discount Tire shop farther away that does have one.

The shop also needs to have the PROPER Toyota adapter cones to get a true mate from wheel-to-balancing machine or all bets are off.

I don't think I EVER had a set of BFG AT's that were smooth (been through 6 or 7 sets now across 3 Toyota trucks) until I began demanding Road Force balancing. Been smooth as silk since then. I'd also request they fill your tires to YOUR desired PSI prior to performing the Roadforce balance (this is relatively minor).

I'd also add: Don't drive too far/too fast if you end up with a bad balance. I blew through 3 rear axle seals on my '99 Tacoma - largely in part to horribly balanced tires and me not aggressively seeking a proper balance (RoadForce). Granted, this will only be a problem if you pile on miles with a severe imbalance.

 

[Jivewalker]

Well, Road Force Balancing from the dealers brand new machine seems to have corrected the issue! I say "seems" because its so fricking windy here today! My 10 mile drive from the dealer back to work may not have been a good test, but Black Betty sure felt smooth. If the problem is not gone or redevelops I'll post again, otherwise thanks for everyone's input. :cheers: