Crazy wheel shake, oem 5-star's or Falkens to blame?

[jmferg]

So specs first.
01 SR5 4x4
150,000
1.75" lift
LT265/75/16 Falken AT3W (7,000 miles)
Oem 5 star wheels
Fresh alignment.
Fresh road force balancing with lugcentric plate per Toyota TSB.

I cannot get rid of the steering wheel vibration still. The alignment and proper balancing took away a considerable amount of vibration and jerking but the steering still severely "Hums" at the speeds of 55-65 lower or higher and it goes away.
There is zero noticeable play in the LCA bushings.
I have had several shops look at it and claim the front end is dialed in and right and the problem is the tires.
I had an issue within the first week of ownership of the tires but drove over 1200 miles during the process of Moving cross country and voided the return policy. I asked a Falken rep and they said I could take them to a authorized dealer who would ship them back to Cali to check if they were bad. I can't go without tires for weeks so that isn't an option.
After more internet research, I found lots of cases oem 5 star wheels with balancing issues.
Is there a way to tell if the issue is the tires or wheels?
I don't have a spare set of wheels to mount them to or a spare set of tires to try.



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[crazycalm]

I have very similar issue that the steering wheel would vibrate noticeably at 60-70mph on highways. If I would lean the wheel to right or left, the vibration would go away. Not sure if that does for you too.

The culprit of this is going to sound strange. The sludge from the oil spill of the engine affected the steering rack bushings. I never got around to replacing them. I just got used to the vibration.

FYI, I have 1998 model.

 

[jmferg]

I have very similar issue that the steering wheel would vibrate noticeably at 60-70mph on highways. If I would lean the wheel to right or left, the vibration would go away. Not sure if that does for you too.



The culprit of this is going to sound strange. The sludge from the oil spill of the engine affected the steering rack bushings. I never got around to replacing them. I just got used to the vibration.



FYI, I have 1998 model.

I have a set of energy suspension bushings that I may throw on this weekend. I highly doubt that causes any difference as vibration usually starts from something moving (the wheel/tire combo) not something stationary like the steering rack. Assuming I am holding the wheel straight with good alignment, etc


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[theesotericone]

I went through the same thing. Fixed up the front end, new bushings everywhere, pulled both drive shafts and had them balanced(they where good). For the life of me I couldn't find it. Then I purchased new rims and tires. After installing them the shimmy vanished. I mean it's gone. My old rims and tires where balanced and my alignment was spot on. I had Split Spokes with General Grabber AT2's on there.

 

[jmferg]

I went through the same thing. Fixed up the front end, new bushings everywhere, pulled both drive shafts and had them balanced(they where good). For the life of me I couldn't find it. Then I purchased new rims and tires. After installing them the shimmy vanished. I mean it's gone. My old rims and tires where balanced and my alignment was spot on. I had Split Spokes with General Grabber AT2's on there.

I really don't want to get new tires.....again.
not unless Falken wants to replace these for free based upon recommendation from a Toyota dealer.

Pending that, I still to have to get my wheels certified that there are true and able to be balanced. Is that possible?

$1200 for wheels and tires to get rid of a vibration isn't feasible for me right now


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[Kanoe]

I really don't want to get new tires.....again.
not unless Falken wants to replace these for free based upon recommendation from a Toyota dealer.

Pending that, I still to have to get my wheels certified that there are true and able to be balanced. Is that possible?

$1200 for wheels and tires to get rid of a vibration isn't feasible for me right now


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Mine has had a mild vibration ever since I bought it. It seems to follow 1 tire from front to back. I have had them rebalanced a couple of times with no real improvement. I keep stressing to them that I would like to know if I have a rim problem or tire issue, and all I get back is that they are all in spec. These tires are nearly dead and I think I will try Michelin LTX M/S2s as these are reputed to be very easy to balance.

Shitty situation, I can sympathize with all of you.

 

[RonJR]

I went through the same thing. Fixed up the front end, new bushings everywhere, pulled both drive shafts and had them balanced(they where good). For the life of me I couldn't find it. Then I purchased new rims and tires. After installing them the shimmy vanished. I mean it's gone. My old rims and tires where balanced and my alignment was spot on. I had Split Spokes with General Grabber AT2's on there.

You might have had a wheel with some horizontal runout. That would cause vibration but wouldn't necessarily show up on a balancing machine. Slowly rotating the wheel with a dial indicator on the rim might show something.

 

[tjaguilar]

Ive had this recently as well after lift. A few months after install, alignments, wheel balance, ect. My CV boot tore, made a mess all over the place. Addressed this issue swapped out the entire CV. After the swap then BAM vibrations gone.

Check that out but not entirely sure if that was my issue.

 

[Ed_C]

What road force results (in lbs) did you get? The tire balancer just measures road force, it doesn't physically do anything to improve a tire's balance*, the installer can disregard those numbers and still continue with a standard balance. It's up to them to go the next step and match the tire to the wheel to reduce a high road force measurement, which requires breaking the tire down again but they'd rather rush the job and get the vehicle done ASAP.


*splitting hairs here for those who've used a Hunter road force balancer..some may argue the application of the roller centers the tire to the wheel,achieving better results

 

[staypuft]

I just had a new set of the falcons installed and had the exact same issue. 55-75mph sucked. Got it rebalanced and same still. Took it back the third time and had them road force balanced and sent 3 tires back. The new ones are road force balanced and are 99% better. The rest I'm assuming is from something else. Good luck!

 

[daniresch]

It is very unlikely the vibration is coming from the 5-star lug centric wheels.

It is quite likely the vibration is coming from the tires. Have you rotated the wheel/tires front-to-back to see if the vibration changes?

 

[Mudeprived]

So specs first.
01 SR5 4x4
150,000
1.75" lift
LT265/75/16 Falken AT3W (7,000 miles)
Oem 5 star wheels
Fresh alignment.
Fresh road force balancing with lugcentric plate per Toyota TSB.

I cannot get rid of the steering wheel vibration still. The alignment and proper balancing took away a considerable amount of vibration and jerking but the steering still severely "Hums" at the speeds of 55-65 lower or higher and it goes away.
There is zero noticeable play in the LCA bushings.
I have had several shops look at it and claim the front end is dialed in and right and the problem is the tires.
I had an issue within the first week of ownership of the tires but drove over 1200 miles during the process of Moving cross country and voided the return policy. I asked a Falken rep and they said I could take them to a authorized dealer who would ship them back to Cali to check if they were bad. I can't go without tires for weeks so that isn't an option.
After more internet research, I found lots of cases oem 5 star wheels with balancing issues.
Is there a way to tell if the issue is the tires or wheels?
I don't have a spare set of wheels to mount them to or a spare set of tires to try.



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Most likely the tires. I dunno if this is the same with others but I have been noticing cheaply manufactured tires these days. It seems like tires are being made out of round more often than usual. My jeep suffers from out of round goodyears and is a chore to drive. My truck has one out of round goodyear authority. The first set they threw on the truck were so out of round that I could not go over 50mph. They had to swap in a new set and it's still not right. My gf's car has a front tire that is out of round. My ex's Hyundai has an up and down rotation vibration at any speed and I'm betting it's an out of round tire. So I would not be surprised if one or more of your tires has a manufacturing defect.

Like mentioned above, swap front to rear and see if there are any changes.