Do any KDSS (or susp. upgraded) owners have steering wheel vibration? Please Respond!

[johnbt]

"I have a 2018 with KDSS and get vibration right at 60mph and gets better with more or less speed."

I have a 2016 Trail Premium with KDSS and 30k miles. From the beginning I've had just a hint of a steering wheel wobble - call it a vibration if you like - right at 59.5, but it only happens about half the time and only if I can hold it exactly on that rpm/speed for a couple of seconds. It isn't there if I'm accelerating or decelerating. I still have it with the new Michelin Defenders.

But I never drive 60, so it's been more of a curiosity than anything. If the speed limit is 55 I'm setting the cruise on 63 or 65 if I can manage it. If not, 58 will do.

But I did spend $1100+ on 6 Focal speakers and HushMat to get some quality vibrations.

 

[tm965]

To get get the perfect balance and zero vibration the follwing steps must be taken:

1. Haweka adapter to get the proper centering. If you see a tire tech that keeps chasing weights then the tire is not properly centered on the balancer.

2. Road forcing balancing. 10lbs or less of road force is a must to get zero vibration. If you get high road force readings, the tire must be indexed on the wheel to get the lowest road force or the tire may need to be replaced. The default road force limit is 25lbs for p-metric tires on the Hunter GSP9700, but a lot of lazy techs don't bother to index the tires as long as it's anywhere under 25lbs.

Some people do get lucky and have zero vibrations without the Haweka adapter and getting a regular tire balance because their tires are pefectly round and have consistent stiffness which equates to low road force numbers.

I had to get one of my tires replaced 3 times until they found a good one. I would say I'm one of the unlucky ones.

Hopefully someone can implement the Lexus steering rack TSB into the T4R to make it less sensitive to not so perfect tires.

After researching tires, it seems like all of the popular tires like Falken Wildpeaks, BFG KO2, Goodyear Duratracs, have a lot of complaints about vibration and balancing. The Nitto Ridge Grapplers seems to have the least issues.

my grapplers have been a pain in the ass. both stock size and 285.

 

[JAXJeremy]

Your patience is admirable..I'd be losing my mind at this point. Reading through the thread it sounds like you've eliminated wheels/tires from the equation. next thing on the list I'd have expected them to check would be the driveline..The bulk of my 4x4 experience is with Fords, particularly later model Broncos (P/T transfer cases) and I've seen this type of problem come up from time to time with them. If the tires/wheels weren't the problem then it was usually the driveshaft or transfer case. Good luck with getting it sorted out.

 

[ellroy2]

I find it hard to believe that this comes down to a wheel/tire issue. While the wheels and/or tires and the way they are balanced may have a bearing on how this issue is manifested, there is still an underlying flaw somewhere. I have had vibration issues on two different sets of wheels and two different sets of tires. Pumacat's experience also shows that this isn't necessarily a wheel/tire problem.

I would compile a list of all the member's different wheel/tire combos and how many times they have been back for rebalance but I would rather spend my time at this point on a class action or something to get Toyota's attention.....if someone wants to team up.

 

[a t l a s]

1. Fully stock
2. Lift/UCAs, new wheels (FN Wheels) and Goodyear 285s mounted
3. New wheels (SCS) mounted with same 285s
4. 285s replaced with Nitto 305s

Maybe I've just gotten extremely lucky 4 times in a row, but I get ZERO vibration at any speed. The steering wheel is completely still.

The common theme I guess is that I've taken it to the same America's Tire each time. They use a balancer that has specifically fitted hub adapters. Other than that, I haven't ever had vibration issues since buying new from the dealership.

 

[pumacat24]

My dealership called yesterday and both the Southeast Regional Tech and Toyota NA tech will be here on Tuesday AM to look at my car.

I have requested/insisted that I have a meeting with them. They said no problem.

No doubt, some people actually had bad tires and were able to fix it, but there's a large number of us whose tires/wheels are in perfect condition and still have this vibration. I will be bringing this thread and maybe a few others printed out, along with the Lexus SB.

So if you guys have any legit questions you think I should ask the Toyota NA tech, let me know by tomorrow!

I will be asking about what the regional tech did (alignment, road facing, suspension re-torquing, etc.) and what their plan of action is now?

I will report back after the meeting and hopefully with a positive update and fix for everyone else who is losing it over this same issue.

*fingers crossed*

 

[mo_mo]

my $.02:

Mine has generally had the steering wheel vibe at 60mph (with KDSS, stock suspension). It was minor to not noticeable with the OEM tires, but with the more aggressive duratracs it is more noticeable (stock size, LT load range C). It is temperature and tire pressure dependent. Cold mornings it is generally not noticeable, but hot afternoons it will become more prominent. I believe this to be primarily a tire balance issue for my vehicle. The tire balancers did their work at stock tire pressure blissfully unaware that the LT tires should be run on the street at a higher pressure. If I drop the tire pressure to the stock levels, the vibration goes away, matching the road force balancing work a bit better. It also gets better when I rotate my tires and shows up again after about 2.5k miles or so.

 

[laurabalaura]

2018 TRD Off Road with KDSS
This vehicle is completely stock

My husband and I have been dealing with shaking in the steering wheel since we pretty much got the car. I have been back and forth with Toyota on multiple occasions (we filed a claim with Toyota and it's ongoing since the issue has not been resolved), several wheel balancing, road force balancing, test drives, swapped tires with wheels and tires from new vehicles off the lot and still we are having the SIGNIFICANT vibrations at roughly 60mph. We were hoping it was just a simple balance issue, but after reading several forums and going through everything, it looks like there might be an ongoing issue with no solution. Our local dealership also said that it was a "normal characteristic" of these vehicles. They even said they test drove two of their brand new 4runners on the lot and have the same shimmy. When we asked to go for a drive in those vehicles, suddenly everyone was too busy to come with us...

I made this account specifically for this post. I'm hoping your meeting can get some answers because we are extremely frustrated as well. We are open to providing you with any other information about our experience.

 

[mteolus]

I just had my KO2's road force balanced and the issue is fixed for now. The guy at Discount Tire made a comment about not being able to put weights on both sides of the wheel (because mine are aftermarket) can be problematic. Not sure if that is true or not, but sounds maybe reasonable.

 

[4FL]

I know there have been lots of replies, but, mine has zero vibration. Ran stock tires for about 45k miles with zero vibration, have some new Coopers on it, zero vibration, stock size.

 

[pumacat24]

Update:

Toyota Techs (Regional and North American) have replaced both my axles and wheel bearings.

Regional tech claims the vibration is about 70% better.

They will continue working tomorrow and I will keep you all updated.

*fingers crossed*


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[JAXJeremy]

Update:

Toyota Techs (Regional and North American) have replaced both my axles and wheel bearings.

Regional tech claims the vibration is about 70% better.

They will continue working tomorrow and I will keep you all updated.

*fingers crossed*


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wow, that's a lot of work and only 70%?? wonder how they arrived at that number.

curious when they'll just wind up pulling the plug and offer you a new vehicle..

 

[pointman]

This wobble thing is the only part of the 4R that has me a tad concerned about the future. How significant is the wobble? Does it make the drive feel dangerous? Or is it just a slight vibration that one can tolerate? Thank you

 

[badattitude]

My 5th gen does not have any steering wheel shake. My 3rd gen had it at 60mph just like the 5th gens have. The solution for the third gen was this finger plate adapter. Use this during balance. I don't believe road force is necessary. Use the finger plate adapter and the corresponding short centering collar to mount the wheel flat to the balancing machine. Also a good idea to clean/scrape any rust etc. off the wheel hub, where the wheel studs are before remounting the balanced wheel.

May want to bring in this TSB and ask what they think about it. attached as a PDF below

 

[RPD01]

I have had a slight steering wheel vibration ('19 TRD ORP no KDSS) that got much worse once I passed the magic 5000 mile mark. Appointment next Tuesday so it will be interesting to see what they tell me compared to what has already been discussed here.
Will update as info is available.

 

[pumacat24]

UPDATE:

The Toyota techs have done more work today and “believe” they have narrowed it down.

They have ordered an entirely new front differential assembly.

It will be here Friday or Monday.

They said they are confident that will fix it.

Guess. We. Will. See.....

*fingers stilled crossed*

If not, that TRD Pro on the lot is calling me. [emoji1787]


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[Mutant138]

UPDATE:

The Toyota techs have done more work today and “believe” they have narrowed it down.

They have ordered an entirely new front differential assembly.

It will be here Friday or Monday.

They said they are confident that will fix it.

Guess. We. Will. See.....

*fingers stilled crossed*

If not, that TRD Pro on the lot is calling me. [emoji1787]


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Hmmmm. If so did they mention anything about creating a TSB?

 

[pumacat24]

Hmmmm. If so did they mention anything about creating a TSB?

Not yet.

If they fix it, I will request a TSB for everyone else’s sake.

Or I’ll send you my paperwork as proof if it helps get work accomplished on your T4R.


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[Mutant138]

Not yet.

If they fix it, I will request a TSB for everyone else’s sake.

Or I’ll send you my paperwork as proof if it helps get work accomplished on your T4R.


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I'm sure we would all appreciate it.

Mine is so intermittent I really can't tell if it's just the road on my commute or not. Need to find a good stretch of road to run in multiple conditions to confirm if it's road surface dependant or not.

 

[MrKiltYou]

I have a 2011 TE with KDSS. I got it new in 2010 and put around 130k miles on it. I have not changed or repaired any of the suspension and have always ran the OEM tires. The only time I had any vibration in the wheel was when the tires were getting near the end of their life. Once I had new tires put on it went away.