I understand what you are saying, but I disagree very strongly. Without considering wind, simply changing toe-in can dramatically change how well a car tracks. Different suspension geometries can have a significant difference as well. It doesn't take much load on some suspensions to make what may seem to be very small angle changes on the wheels, but those very small angle changes can cause the car to wander at speed.
Highway driving
- Thread starter bbumbles
- Start date
I understand what you are saying, but I disagree very strongly. Without considering wind, simply changing toe-in can dramatically change how well a car tracks. Different suspension geometries can have a significant difference as well. It doesn't take much load on some suspensions to make what may seem to be very small angle changes on the wheels, but those very small angle changes can cause the car to wander at speed.
I see what you're saying. It does make sense. But does the suspension being compressed 1" or so from the winds pushing against the side of the vehicle solely affect the vehicle that much? Also, the double wishbone front suspension is very stable, which is why Toyota chose it. You even said that by changing the tire alone stabalized the ride, which means the suspension shouldn't have been a factor.
Anyway, it's really subjective of how everyone feels about this since there is no gauge to tell how bad it really is for us all individually. But for me, I don't think it's bad at all, and no way any worse than comparable SUV's.
gm350reratliff
New member
:lol: Well, I laugh about it now anyway.
Yes they are, thanks!
I had a 2005 Tundra Double Cab with the same wheels. Loved the wheels, but was just so so on the truck. Interesting how the Tundra wheels look soooo much better than the standard SR5 ones. In fact I like them better than the Limited, and equal to the Sport wheels.
No, I don't.
>60,000 miles on highways and this is not a concern. It may be also be the velocity of wind, but we do get gusts up here and I notice it more when it's from the front as the wind noise increases.
We get 100+ MPH gusts over Echo Summit and let me tell you, I rarely notice.
When the wind is blowing sideways across the windshield on a slick snow covered US-50 and I'm climbing up to 7000', I worry about slowing down to 40 by not slamming on the brakes, but never about getting pushed left or right.
Check your alignment and tires.
Oh, a roof rack and about 1.5" taller in the front raises my lateral wind resistence.
>60,000 miles on highways and this is not a concern. It may be also be the velocity of wind, but we do get gusts up here and I notice it more when it's from the front as the wind noise increases.
We get 100+ MPH gusts over Echo Summit and let me tell you, I rarely notice.
When the wind is blowing sideways across the windshield on a slick snow covered US-50 and I'm climbing up to 7000', I worry about slowing down to 40 by not slamming on the brakes, but never about getting pushed left or right.
Check your alignment and tires.
Oh, a roof rack and about 1.5" taller in the front raises my lateral wind resistence.
CJ3Flyr
Super Moderator
I am agreeing with most of this, the T4R is a brick and the wind affects it. I also agree with the "check the alignment" suggestions. By having the caster set at or near the max positive spec and a bit of negative camber the handling/stability will be as good as it can be for a vehicle of this type, well almost.
On many vehicles I have noticed the flatter they corner the better they do in the wind. Why? I'm guessing it has to do with body motion and response time. If you have a tippy vehicle and put in a small steering correction the body rolls and then it heads in the direction of the input. By that time the correction has been added to and it's too much. Correction in the opposite direction is now required. This creates a series of oscillations that's, frankly, exhausting and annoying.
On my old, very softly sprung Trooper I upgraded to Sway-a-way torsion bars, swaybars and OME rear springs. In spite of being higher it was much flatter in the turns and much better in the wind. (The Trooper has to be the poster child for crappy aerodynamics...:lmao: )
From day-one I considered my T4R to be ok in the wind for what it is. My "high wind" stability improved appreciably with the swaybar bushing upgrade. (Link in sig.) Mine went from 'ok' in the wind to 'fairly good' in the wind. If the bouncing around in the wind bothers you consider the swaybar bushing upgrade, it really helped. Is it as good as a heavy car? No, but it was a real improvement. With the bushings and 35psi in the tires it's fairly good...:bigok:
On many vehicles I have noticed the flatter they corner the better they do in the wind. Why? I'm guessing it has to do with body motion and response time. If you have a tippy vehicle and put in a small steering correction the body rolls and then it heads in the direction of the input. By that time the correction has been added to and it's too much. Correction in the opposite direction is now required. This creates a series of oscillations that's, frankly, exhausting and annoying.
On my old, very softly sprung Trooper I upgraded to Sway-a-way torsion bars, swaybars and OME rear springs. In spite of being higher it was much flatter in the turns and much better in the wind. (The Trooper has to be the poster child for crappy aerodynamics...:lmao: )
From day-one I considered my T4R to be ok in the wind for what it is. My "high wind" stability improved appreciably with the swaybar bushing upgrade. (Link in sig.) Mine went from 'ok' in the wind to 'fairly good' in the wind. If the bouncing around in the wind bothers you consider the swaybar bushing upgrade, it really helped. Is it as good as a heavy car? No, but it was a real improvement. With the bushings and 35psi in the tires it's fairly good...:bigok:
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dcon
New member
I corrected the problem on my 4Runner by dialing in more toe-in, it now tracks straight even with the Santa Ana winds that we get in SoCal. The range Toyota specs for the 4Runner is 1-3mm total toe-in, I set mine close to 3mm total toe. I do have one of those worthless Firestone lifetime alignment policy and the problem started with them monkeying around the front suspension. It appears their Hunter alignment machine is mis-calibrated or the tech is incompetent because they would always set it to toe-out or zero toe and the steering wheel would never be centered. My conclusion is the lack of toe-in caused the 4Runner to be twitchy and wander around highway speed. If you want to fix the problem find a competent alignment shop or do it yourself to dial in the proper toe-in. Attached PDF contains the alignment spec the 4Runner. Hope this helps...
CJ3Flyr
Super Moderator
:bigok: Great point and very true. I was focused on caster, camber and other issues. It never occurred to me that a knowledgeable, competent tech would send a vehicle lined to zero toe even if it's listed as within limits.:bash: Shame on me for taking taking that leap of faith, dcon is right. :headslap:
