Duratrac Vibration

[jkdrew]

I bought my 2014 TE last December and was eager to get some new shoes. After tirelessly looking at pictures and reviews on here, I went with the C rated 265 Duratracs since I didn't want to deal with too much power and gas mileage loss (been there before). I got them put on in May and now have 4,000 miles on them. I really love the aggressive look and understand they're going to ride rougher than than the stock, being 6-ply. I'm cool with how they handle over bumps and whatnot, but not crazy about the vibration I get at about 60 mph and especially above 70. I noticed it as soon as they were put on, so I had the original shop rebalance them a week later, but that actually made it worse. Not wanting to deal with them again, I had them road force balanced somewhere else. Going in, they said the tires were severely out of balance and that should fix it. This did fix the steering wheel vibration for the most part (only have a little now).

But I still have a vibration in the whole cabin above 60mph and not sure if it's just to be expected with the aggressiveness of the tires or not. It's bad enough that if I rest my hand on the gear shift, you can definitely see my hand shaking. It also causes the passenger seat to shake quite a bit and has started to rattle. I've had other aggressive tires (BFG MT KMs and Bridgestone Dueler RVTs) on other vehicles and never noticed this same vibration. I've been running them at 36 psi since 38 seemed to make the vibration worse. Is this just normal for the Duratracs?

 

[Jim82]

No. Not normal. I have D rated 285/70/17 and have no vibrations after my Road Force GSP9700 balance. Take them back to where ever you had them done and tell them of your experience, maybe one wheel is still slightly out of balance. Are they using the newest machine?

I now run mine at 40psi. The only change I've noticed with upping the PSI is better city fuel economy.

 

[jkdrew]

I'll have to check on that, maybe try another place. I did forget to mention that the vibration seems to come and go somewhat, even though I'm on the same stretch of smooth looking road.

 

[AZrunner11]

It's definitely not normal as I had the C ply 265/70R17 on my T4R and didn't have any noticeable vibration. I had 285 KM2s on the FJ I previously owned, no vibrations.

 

[Jeremy556]

A lot of shops don't have cones that fit the 106mm bore of Toyota wheels very well, and a lot of tire monkeys don't put forth too much effort to do the job right.

I would recommend going to a Toyota dealer. They balance Toyota wheels all the time, have the correct cones and usually have a GSP9700.

 

[wfo9]

Not normal. i have 285 D rated duratracs. You can hear them at hwy speeds but no vibration....

 

[Maz]

Not normal. i have 285 D rated duratracs. You can hear them at hwy speeds but no vibration....

Agreed, I had "C" rated Duratracs mounted on a 4X4 Nissan Frontier that a friend has now and is still driving on the same tires. While they rode a tad rough for my taste, there was never any vibration.

 

[scanny]

It's not normal. I have C Duratracs stock size for about 2 years now - no any vibrations. 70mph feels no different than 50mph. (well wind noise from roof rack crossbars getting louder a little bit : ) Mine was balanced well from the first time - so I suggest that you find a Goodyear dealer and try to balance tires there. If vibration still stays chances are you have a defective tire which dealer can find and replace.

 

[Misterquad]

If you were running BFGs I would say it is to be expected. It definitely appears to be a balancing issue based on your description. Those tires should be very easy to balance. If you have a Discount Tire close I would go there. You may have thrown a weight or have a defective tire/ or wheel. The Discount Tire guys will be able to tell you.

I am assuming you have the factory wheels on it? After market, lug-centric wheels can be an issue.

My E rated 265s Duratracs are the best balanced tires I have ever owned. I have had numerous sets of BFGs and a few sets of Nitto. I buy a new set of tires every years. I will definitely buy these again.