Interesting outcome to someone’s steering wheel shake

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2021nightshade4x4

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The front drive shaft, that isn't spinning, was causing a vibration?

Tire's weren't properly balanced, which this vehicle is incredibly sensitive to, and has been for 20 years now.
 
So, I posted this a few weeks back. I have a 22 ORP, within the first 100 miles I had Discount Tire put on some new A/T's Toyo AT 3's. I had a shake in the front wheel between 50-65mph. I went back to DT and they ordered me a new set of front tires to see if that would fix it. It didn't. I changed to Cooper Rugged Treks, factory size. Runs perfectly now! This is what I love about DT, they take care of you. Yes, the do road force balance the tires as well which is the latest and greatest balancing technology.


Mike :usa2:
 
2021nightshade4x4 said:
You think the poster meant CV axle?
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Who knows? The drive shafts are balanced with stick on weights, as they spin at very high speed. The CVs aren't balanced in any way that I'm aware of, outside of manufacturing tolerances. Probably 3rd hand info that all really boils down to tire balance.

May be stating the obvious for many, but for anyone doesn't know: the SR5, Trail, and TRD's part time 4wd system has a front axle disconnect that prevents the front driveshaft from turning when in 2wd, whereas the limited with full time 4wd spins the front driveshaft all the time.
 
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Jeremy556 said:
Who knows? The drive shafts are balanced with stick on weights, as they spin at very high speed. The CVs aren't balanced in any way that I'm aware of, outside of manufacturing tolerances. Probably 3rd hand info that all really boils down to tire balance.

May be stating the obvious for many, but for anyone doesn't know: the SR5, Trail, and TRD's part time 4wd system has a front axle disconnect that prevents the front driveshaft from turning when in 2wd, whereas the limited with full time 4wd spins the front driveshaft all the time.
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Glad to see there're people here that know how the vehicle works beyond the "will these tire fit?" and "what lift for Xxx?" folks.
 
04’ V6 4Wd

Funny, I just updated an older post today on the steering wheel vibration at speeds of around 65 mph. This may be purely coincidental, but after having 2 sets of Bridgestone tires (one set was the original and experienced vibration on both sets), I decided to try Michelin and I couldn’t be happier. Vibration gone and driving on the highway is now a pleasure, ride is smooth as glass even at 90 mph. The second set and the 3rd being the Michelins were both put on by different Costcos and the 2nd set was put on in 09”. At the time, I didn’t know about the certain balancing machines the balance tires correctly, so I can’t speak to balancing machines at Costco. Just know I’ve never been happier with the ride especially in highway.
 
After DT installed my Michelin Defenders, the steering wheel had a terrible shake to it. Took it back and they rebalanced the tires, but it still wasn't much better. 3 of 4 tires took about 3 oz of weight, so they used 12 .25 oz tape weights, effectively spreading out the weight over too great an area, not really fixing the issue. At least they didn't stack weights on top of each other like they did on my Jeep. They may road force balance the wheels and tires once they are together, but they don't take the time to force match them before they are mated, where it is really needed. I removed all the weights and replaced them with 1.0 oz tape weights, concentrating the area. Much improved, almost zero shake.
 
Deuxdiesel said:
After DT installed my Michelin Defenders, the steering wheel had a terrible shake to it. Took it back and they rebalanced the tires, but it still wasn't much better. 3 of 4 tires took about 3 oz of weight, so they used 12 .25 oz tape weights, effectively spreading out the weight over too great an area, not really fixing the issue. At least they didn't stack weights on top of each other like they did on my Jeep. They may road force balance the wheels and tires once they are together, but they don't take the time to force match them before they are mated, where it is really needed. I removed all the weights and replaced them with 1.0 oz tape weights, concentrating the area. Much improved, almost zero shake.
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The skill of the person doing the balance job matters. Some are hacks, others simply don't know what they're doing. Ask for someone with lots of experience, who knows how to use the machine to it's full capability.

There's also the possibility you just got a tire or tires with poor uniformity, in which case they should be replaced.
 
02SE said:
The skill of the person doing the balance job matters. Some are hacks, others simply don't know what they're doing. Ask for someone with lots of experience, who knows how to use the machine to it's full capability.

There's also the possibility you just got a tire or tires with poor uniformity, in which case they should be replaced.
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Absolutely this. I like Discount Tire for a lot of reasons but in general I don't believe they are experts at solving balancing issues.

The Nitto Terra Grappler G2's that came on my T4R ORP had issues from day one. The dealer replaced 2 of them and got them balanced well enough that they were tolerable but never perfect. At 40k miles I took a chance on a local tire shop and had them road force balance them. I figured the tires were too old and worn to perfectly balance them and was hoping they could just make it better. But I'll be darned if they didn't get them pretty much perfect. DT was my goto place for tires but I will be buying from this local shop when my T4R needs tires.
 
Michelin tires with weight issues are rare, in my opinion.
If the wheels are good wheels, not crappy chinese knock offs, and the person putting the tires on knows what the red and yellow dot means, the amount of weight should be negligible on high quality tires.
I would also check the DOT letters are see where your tires are made.
 
Unbalanced front driveshaft seems kinda vague within the context of the issue. It doesnt spin on a Pro on paved road. They must mean CV axle which doesnt quite make sense unless this just is a basic way of saying the needle bearing was defective or something like that?
 
Sort of wonder if it isn't the steering rack guide wasn't tensioned properly, but "defective steering" isn't a phrase customers would like to hear. There was on TSB for the GX470 to replace the rack guide spring and retension it properly because of steering shake issues on some of them.

I tightened mine up slightly on the 99 to make the steering heavier the way I like it and never had issues with any tires. Not to mention SPC UCAS for extra caster adjustment.
 
Ali0227 said:
Funny, I just updated an older post today on the steering wheel vibration at speeds of around 65 mph. This may be purely coincidental, but after having 2 sets of Bridgestone tires (one set was the original and experienced vibration on both sets), I decided to try Michelin and I couldn’t be happier. Vibration gone and driving on the highway is now a pleasure, ride is smooth as glass even at 90 mph. The second set and the 3rd being the Michelins were both put on by different Costcos and the 2nd set was put on in 09”. At the time, I didn’t know about the certain balancing machines the balance tires correctly, so I can’t speak to balancing machines at Costco. Just know I’ve never been happier with the ride especially in highway.
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Did you have them all at the same psi the whole time or are these new ones higher? I notice different shops have different ideas about psi. Big O had my old set of E KO2s at 48psi when they installed them.
 
Jeremy556 said:
The front drive shaft, that isn't spinning, was causing a vibration?

Tire's weren't properly balanced, which this vehicle is incredibly sensitive to, and has been for 20 years now.
Click to expand...

We oddly enough have had a couple CV axles on newer Toyotas causing an odd vibration/shake (I believe it was a Camry and two Rav4's IIRC?), not sure what about the axle was causing the issue (wasn't a horrible vibration/shake, but just enough to be annoying on a new vehicle).

From what I recall when one of our coworkers got a brand new TRD PRO and went through this similar ordeal; the port that was converting/finishing TRD PRO vehicles had issues with the calibration of their balancer and it meant just about every damn TRD PRO for a good run had some form of balance issue.

I will also note that I have no idea if it's due to the supply/current issues in global manufacturing; but I have noticed an increase in mainly tires, but a couple wheels being just garbage out of the box. You'll road force them and the run out on the wheel is just way out or the tire won't roadforce below 50-60ft.lbs no matter how you turn it on the wheel. It used to be easy to tell which ones were the brands that'd give you the most trouble when you go with their AT/MT's (a Romani curse upon you Micky Thompson and Dura-Trac!), but it seems everyone is popping out more wonky tires these days.
 
02SE said:
The skill of the person doing the balance job matters. Some are hacks, others simply don't know what they're doing. Ask for someone with lots of experience, who knows how to use the machine to it's full capability.

There's also the possibility you just got a tire or tires with poor uniformity, in which case they should be replaced.
Click to expand...

"All of our installers are experienced experts"- DT management.

I'm done with DT. In six years, I've had 9 or 10 sets of tires installed at my local DT. I have an expensive set of Motegi wheels on my 4R now because they gouged up my ORP wheels and replaced them (didn't get to keep the damaged wheels) plus they damaged the wheels on my wife's GTI. I made them replace them with wheels through the VW dealership, not OEM knock-offs. I did get to keep the damaged ones for winter use.
 
We have good results with Michelin tires, no balancing issues on our 2017 20" on the Limited. I think you do get what you pay for when it comes to tires.
 
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