Discount Tire blaming Toyota for vibration on their wheels?

[Samm25]

Alright. But if a back story. In June of this year, I purchased a set of brand new tires from discount tire AND a brand new set of American Outlaw Lonestar wheels from them on an ‘05 4Runner. Ever since that day, my tires were consistently going out of balance. I’d have them balanced, then not even a week later the wheel would be shaking again around 55-65mph. Would take it back and have them balanced again. Every time I took it back, the would tell me they were pretty out of balance.

Fast forward to August. I purchased a newer ‘08 4Runner. The dealership gave me a brand new set of tires that were completely different than the ones I purchased at discount AND they allowed me to keep my wheels, too. Since then, I’ve been getting the exact same issue on this ‘08 4Runner. The only thing that I kept from my original ‘05 was the actual wheels. Tires are different, suspension and wheel bearings are different, but I’m still getting the same issue.

I called Discount and they’re telling me that it’s Toyota’s balancing issue. They apparently have a different setup on the wheel hub or something, blah blah blah. The funny part is: I’m not buying it. My father purchased the EXACT same wheels as me, same size, etc. on his ‘05 4Runner. The only difference between mine and his? His tires are Michelin, and he gets no vibration whatsoever.

Could two sets of completely different tire brands cause the same vibration issue on two different 4Runners?

Discount wants me to bring it by today, so I’ll update the thread when I find out more info.

 

[ZiaMan]

Our wheels are lug centric which do have a different set up than the more usual hub centric. However, this isn't such an exotic thing that Discount Tire shouldn't be able to do it right. Obviously they know it's different, I think there are specific adapters they can use.

More info:
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/4th-gen-t4rs/83220-wheel-balance-question.html

 

[Seymore Butts]

It the problem persists after changing tires AND the truck, then I'd say there is a problem with those aftermarket wheels.

 

[Bumbo]

I’ve had such bad experiences with hub centric wheels in the past that I try and avoid them… you might be missing a spacer or some sort of hub adapter between the wheel and the hub which helps center it which is what happened to me on a different car.

Alternately, are you sure your rims are not out of round?

Other than that… I do like Discount Tire, never had any note worthy issues with them.

 

[Seymore Butts]

Duplicate post

 

[Samm25]

So, after coming to the store and talking to them, they got me into some awesome Cooper Discoverer ATP tires for $425 out the door. They promised me that if these tires didn’t fix the issue they would get me some new wheels as well at no cost. So, I’m pretty satisfied with their customer service and wanting to make things right.

They’re currently installing them and I’ll let y’all know how they work out.

 

[riceandpho]

if your wheels can take the et lugs, use those. i think when i had wheels on, tirerack actually sent me the et lugs, its a little different from the regular lugs.

 

[UrbanRunner651]

does your 08 have the 18" wheels?

 

[Samm25]

No. They're 17s

does your 08 have the 18" wheels?

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[Samm25]

So here I am a week later sitting, waiting for my truck to be done at the same Discount Tire.

Came back in today to tell them I'm still having the same vibration issue, they tried to balance them, I left and came right back since it didn't fix the issue. I keep telling them that I feel it's the wheels themselves but they keep assuring me it's not.

Their solution? The are now changing out the tires to Goodyear Wrangler Ultra Terrains for no additional cost. It's about $30 more a tire for those and if they want to give them to me, great. I'm not complaining. I'm just complaining at the fact that they continue to deny that it's the wheels themselves that I bought from them. This will now be my 4th set of tires and I've just come to the realization that no tires are going to fix this issue.

My thought is: I will probably end up trying to find a pair of stock wheels and swap them out at some point and sell these American Outlaw Lonestars.

Just thought I'd update y'all on this thread since it's been a week

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[riceandpho]

check the type of lug nuts they provide, some wheels can take the et type.

Gorilla Automotive Products

e-t ultra conical

when i had my 22s on, tirerack provided me with that type of lug nuts, never had any vibration.

 

[94toy22re]

I’m actually having similar issue, Is the steering wheel just shaking or douse the whole vehicle shake? On mine the whole vehicle starts to shake from 55 to 65 and then it will smooth out. I have BFG KO2 with TRD Pro wheels with stock lug nuts. Also using discount tire, I’m about ready to go the local dealer and see if they can get the tires balanced!

 

[Samm25]

I’m actually having similar issue, Is the steering wheel just shaking or douse the whole vehicle shake? On mine the whole vehicle starts to shake from 55 to 65 and then it will smooth out. I have BFG KO2 with TRD Pro wheels with stock lug nuts. Also using discount tire, I’m about ready to go the local dealer and see if they can get the tires balanced!

It was mainly just the steering wheel with my old 4Runner, with this newer '08 it seems to be the steering wheel and I've started to notice the seat vibrating as well

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[alia176]

This blows dude but if you're back there again, have them dismount the tires off the rims then throw the rims on the balancer. Have them show you how "balanced and true" their rims are.

Balancing is an interesting thing IMHO. You can have a wheel balanced, dismount then return to the same machine but not be 100% balanced. Balancing is mostly mechanical but some human factor is in there as well and it differs from different employees.

They can also road force balance your wheels for free to see if that cures your ill.

Good luck man.

 

[TOY2G]

This blows dude but if you're back there again, have them dismount the tires off the rims then throw the rims on the balancer. Have them show you how "balanced and true" their rims are.

Balancing is an interesting thing IMHO. You can have a wheel balanced, dismount then return to the same machine but not be 100% balanced. Balancing is mostly mechanical but some human factor is in there as well and it differs from different employees.

They can also road force balance your wheels for free to see if that cures your ill.

Good luck man.

This wont fix anything. if they are not using the lugcentric adapter to balance the tires and wheels, they are never going to balance on the truck. Our wheels are large hub wheels and look hubcentric. but you can tell from the lug nuts it is lugcentric. you need lugcentric wheel with lugcentric lug nuts balanced with a lugcentric adapter.

 

[alia176]

This wont fix anything. if they are not using the lugcentric adapter to balance the tires and wheels, they are never going to balance on the truck. Our wheels are large hub wheels and look hubcentric. but you can tell from the lug nuts it is lugcentric. you need lugcentric wheel with lugcentric lug nuts balanced with a lugcentric adapter.

I can only assume that the aftermarket rims that was purchased are lug-centric vs hub-centric but that's only an assumption. So, my guess is that the store isn't using any type of adapter for the balancing process.

I know that when the shop balances my OEM wheels, they use the "finger" adapter to make sure that the rims are centered properly on their spindle.

Curious, do these aftermarket rims come with a plastic adapter that goes inside the large opening in the center?

 

[Samm25]

That's the weird part. I asked about the hub-centric and lugcentric issues and the assured me that they did everything right. They told me I didn't need an adapter because the specific wheels I purchased are a direct fit that don't need an adapter or anything.

I've never had a bad experience with discount tire because they always seem to make it right. But for some reason, this time around, they just cannot make it right.

The part that PISSES me off the most is that they told me I needed new tires and that would fix the issue. So I spent money that I didn't NEED to. I had gotten brand new tires from the dealership when I purchased this truck and they only had 1700 miles on them. I could have at the very least gotten two years out of them instead of dropping money right now. That's the part that pisses me off most. Then, they don't have my old tires to put back on which they told me they could do if I still had an issue with the new tires I bought. So I can't get a refund for any of it.

Just sucks especially with holidays coming around. I could've used that money for gifts. Now I'm stuck with these new tires, yes, which they upgraded for me without anymore money out of pocket, but I still could've kept my originals and gotten by just fine with them if it was a wheel problem.

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[hinmo24t]

sounds like a PIA - sorry and good luck to those dealing with the issue.

Instead of starting a new thread - does anyone know if going from the sr5 5spokes to the FJ Cruiser 6 spokes, can the same lugs from my sr5 wheels be used? any hub or lug differences to avoid a similar issue in the near future for me?

thanks. - Tom

 

[L8Shift]

sounds like a PIA - sorry and good luck to those dealing with the issue.

Instead of starting a new thread - does anyone know if going from the sr5 5spokes to the FJ Cruiser 6 spokes, can the same lugs from my sr5 wheels be used? any hub or lug differences to avoid a similar issue in the near future for me?

thanks. - Tom

Typically, the OEM wheels use the flat style lug nuts; aftermarket wheels use the acorn style lug nuts, or ET tuner style.:biggrin2: