All over the road

[cbielat]

First, I hate dumb posts as much as the next guy, but will take the chance here and maybe come away with some good advice.

For the first 8 or 9K miles, I essentially drove my '13TE to and from work....6 miles each way, 40mph, etc. Never racked up the 100-200 mile long interstate drives, preferring to take the car for better fuel economy. However, recent life/work changes have me (temporarily) doing these longer drives pretty regularly.

And I'm not digging it. The thing just does not track straight. The endless steering corrections, some of them pretty significant, are gnawing at me. It makes for a very non-relaxing drive. Alignment is spot-on factory settings, tires properly inflated, etc. No other noticeable issues, noises, etc. Tire rotations make no difference.

The only seemingly meaningful change from stock are the Cooper AT3s.

Questions:
1. Just me? Never rule that one out.
2. Other AT3-shod trucks with similar issues?
3. Did something break? Cant see anything, and no other symptoms.
3. What fixes work?: 5100's, alignment settings, etc.
4. STFU because that's just the way it is. Again, never rule that one out.

Thanks....

Are your tires larger than stock? A larger tire will be more sensitive to the undulations in the road. You will notice that roads that have been worn overtime where vehicles have been driving, the tires will not sit well in those "tracks". I notice it all of the time. Wind does play a large factor as well. It will drive differently than a car.

 

[Ducmonsta]

Wise. Just like man should ALWAYS respond to her question: "does this make me look fat?" Though you could reply: "NO."

Fixed it for you.

 

[mwebster22]

Resurrecting an old but still relevant thread…. My 2WD 2012 4R Limited, at 105,000 miles with stock wheels and new Bridgestone Allenza AS Ultra tires, still drives us crazy with the wandering in the wind or grooves on the road, needing constant corrections. It’s aligned with caster between 4 and 4.5. Would it help to up the caster even more to 5 or 6 to get this thing staying straight down the road?

 

[jdm-v35]

Resurrecting an old but still relevant thread…. My 2WD 2012 4R Limited, at 105,000 miles with stock wheels and new Bridgestone Allenza AS Ultra tires, still drives us crazy with the wandering in the wind or grooves on the road, needing constant corrections. It’s aligned with caster between 4 and 4.5. Would it help to up the caster even more to 5 or 6 to get this thing staying straight down the road?

4* is a perfect caster setting. i had mine at 5 and it tracked too straight on nice flat roads when going through twisty areas. It made steering a chore. I am now at 4 and its a perfect balance. IMO it tracks extremely well. The situations you bring up are not because of failure to track straight. The wind is blowing a huge brick, so you can't do much about that. Cracks in the road just cause all tires to skip/wander, tire size/type can also make this more pronounced.

 

[CutthroatSlam]

2014 SR5 with soon to be 330K miles. Tried various tires on it, currently Cooper Discoverer AT3 265/75/R17 in LT or load range E (10 ply). Have never had “wandering” issues. Have dealt with the steering pulse at 60 to 62 mph, but that has been eliminated. Despite some who who claim that Load Range E will result in a tougher ride, you will never notice.

 

[hero1234]

Mine has always wondered to some degree i just gave up on it. It’s still better than a jeep ha

 

[Sonoran_Desert]

Assuming going to Toyota Dealer for an alignment is not a good idea. Or maybe this is one activity the T4R dealer service departments do OK with?