New Owner, some concerns

skag1T said:
I have heard that in some cases installing a (small) lift kit might fix this. Not sure, I haven't done it myself, I would be interested to know if it's true.
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I was thinking of doing a 2" leveling kit, then doing an alignment. I am worried it'll actually make it worse lol
 
BCMUSA said:
I was thinking of doing a 2" leveling kit, then doing an alignment. I am worried it'll actually make it worse lol
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Defiantly get it fixed before a lift. Unless you have a cool dealer they will blame it on the lift and not even try to fix it.
You did just remind me of something, I normally test drive on a highway for this reason. had an 08 tacoma that shook at 80. dealer said legally he can't drive 80 nor is it safe for him to ride with me.. POS, wuss...
 
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So took it off roading yesterday for first time and it was horrible. The feedback on the steering wheel was horrendous. Felt like I was holding a jack hammer the entire time.

Been driving it around a lot today and the wobble has disappeared thank God. Seems like the RFB did the trick. However still have vibrations on the steering wheel and some on the pedals. I also have vibration on my brake pedal almost anytime I brake.

I know it'll probably be a massive waste of time, but I'm going to take it into the dealership some time this week.

I was tempted getting some new tires put on today, but I don't want to waste my money in case I put them on and still have vibrations.
 
My friend first of all I feel for you. It feels horrible to have a new vehicle and deal with issues like this that don't seem to have a simple resolution. As you can tell it's happened to many of us so hopefully our stories can help you.

I had a 4th Gen 4Runner with new Goodyear Duratracs that flooded in Houston a few years ago. I sold the truck for salvage but kept the wheels/tires because they were great and had less than 15K on them. When I got my 2018 ORP I took the Duratracs off my old rims and had them mounted to my new TRD Pro rims (I sold the OEM ORP rims). Had them balanced and mounted and the first time I got up to speed I could tell there was a bad shake around 60MPH. Took them back to Discount Tire and they rebalanced them. The shake was lessened but didn't go away. I then spoke to someone about how I stored my tires during the 1.5 years they weren't used. I had them in my warehouse leaning up against a wall and that was not the way to do it. There was a chance I had warped my tires and they were possibly "out of round" due to this mistake. As a last effort attempt I took them to another tire shop, Goodyear, and had them rebalance them with weights. Again this did not work.

So I did what any fiscally irresponsible man would do and purchased a new set of KO2's. Discount tire was kind enough to waive a bunch of fees and had them mounted for about $820 all-in. They looked great and I was excited to try them out. First time on the highway I hit 60 and......you guessed it, a slight vibration remained. I was crushed! This vibration was much much less than what I felt with Duratracs but it was still there. I thought it could have been a alignment issue, and got it aligned, but that didn't fix it either. Quickly rushed back to this forum for advice and realized my only (and final) option was to get them Road Forced balanced again then deal with Toyota direct if that didn't work.

The story ends on a happy note because the secondary balance at Discount Tire worked. The shake is gone and no vibration is felt. It took me 2 weeks, multiple visits to tire shops, nearly $500 in wasted expenses but I finally have a car that drives straight and smooth. There is a solution for you out there, you just have to be diligent (seems you have been). Good luck and I sincenrely hope this gets sorted out for you. These Toyotas are way too finicky when tires are not perfectly balanced.
 
JustRami said:
My friend first of all I feel for you. It feels horrible to have a new vehicle and deal with issues like this that don't seem to have a simple resolution. As you can tell it's happened to many of us so hopefully our stories can help you.

I had a 4th Gen 4Runner with new Goodyear Duratracs that flooded in Houston a few years ago. I sold the truck for salvage but kept the wheels/tires because they were great and had less than 15K on them. When I got my 2018 ORP I took the Duratracs off my old rims and had them mounted to my new TRD Pro rims (I sold the OEM ORP rims). Had them balanced and mounted and the first time I got up to speed I could tell there was a bad shake around 60MPH. Took them back to Discount Tire and they rebalanced them. The shake was lessened but didn't go away. I then spoke to someone about how I stored my tires during the 1.5 years they weren't used. I had them in my warehouse leaning up against a wall and that was not the way to do it. There was a chance I had warped my tires and they were possibly "out of round" due to this mistake. As a last effort attempt I took them to another tire shop, Goodyear, and had them rebalance them with weights. Again this did not work.

So I did what any fiscally irresponsible man would do and purchased a new set of KO2's. Discount tire was kind enough to waive a bunch of fees and had them mounted for about $820 all-in. They looked great and I was excited to try them out. First time on the highway I hit 60 and......you guessed it, a slight vibration remained. I was crushed! This vibration was much much less than what I felt with Duratracs but it was still there. I thought it could have been a alignment issue, and got it aligned, but that didn't fix it either. Quickly rushed back to this forum for advice and realized my only (and final) option was to get them Road Forced balanced again then deal with Toyota direct if that didn't work.

The story ends on a happy note because the secondary balance at Discount Tire worked. The shake is gone and no vibration is felt. It took me 2 weeks, multiple visits to tire shops, nearly $500 in wasted expenses but I finally have a car that drives straight and smooth. There is a solution for you out there, you just have to be diligent (seems you have been). Good luck and I sincenrely hope this gets sorted out for you. These Toyotas are way too finicky when tires are not perfectly balanced.
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Thank you for taking the time to reply and share your story.

Yes I have lost a lot of sleep recently. I bought a Tacoma about a month and a half ago. It was my dream truck. Well within a month it had multiple trips to the dealership for all sorts of vibration issues. Even the tech mentioned that he felt vibration in the steering wheel and I hadn't even mentioned that to him yet as I was there for another problem.

Fast forward to the 4runner. I will say this thing is very smooth on the highway and I enjoy driving it. It is the constant steering wheel vibration that's killing me. Now keep in mind that for the most part it is very minor, however its still present all the time.

My wife and my friends keep telling me its normal and that its not bad enough to make a stink over. To an extent I agree, I am sure a lot of it is in my head. I have been hypersensitive ever since my Tacoma. Although it is very minor for the most part, is it crazy of me to think there should be zero vibration at the steering wheel? I even get vibration at the best of roads.

I am taking it into Toyota tomorrow and will have them check it out. I did have the tires road force balanced recently and it did help a lot. One of the tires was at 30 pounds. He was able to bring it down to 12.

The problem is also that I have nerve damage to both hands and anything puts my hands to sleep. The constant little buzz vibration I get keeps putting my hands to sleep.

From everything I've read, I keep seeing that these Bridgestone tires that came with my 4runner are garbage. I am most likely going to get the Cooper AT3 4S this week and I am PRAYING that this greatly improves the vibration.

Again, thank you.
 
Cymon said:
Here is a quick explanation:
What’s a tire ply rating? | TireBuyer.com

P, or p-metric tires are usually similar to a "B" 2-4 ply construction but are not load rated, and they are designed for passenger vehicles. The load range strength refers to how much carrying capacity the tire can hold at maximum tire inflation. In general the LT (C, D, E load) have a thicker sidewall and heavier rubber construction in order to carry a heavier load. LT tires in general are overkill for the 4runner as its weight does not require their load rating. If you are off-roading a lot, especially in rocky areas, or places that are susceptible to tire puncture then an C or E Load tire will be far less likely to fail because of their increased sidewall strength. The compromise in this is that LT tires have a rougher ride and weigh more because of their stiffer and thicker construction making them harder to balance and your gas mileage will suffer.

For your stated purposes throughout this thread I believe an LT tire would not be the best for you, or if you do decide to go with an LT tire no higher than a "C" load rating. There are many members, including myself who go off-road with P-metric tires (I had my stock tires for 30,000 miles and you can click the link in my signature to see some of the stuff I did in them). I currently run the Cooper AT3's in the "C" load rating. They have been a good compromise tire for my use, but they were harder to balance.

Here was my decision making process:
Post #122
Cymon's Weekend Warrior and MFD Thread
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Based on your recommendations and others on here, I am probably going to be getting these coopers sometime this week. I want to see what the dealership says tomorrow, and if they can't fix it, I may bite the bullet and get the coopers.

Quick question for you all.

What I've been reading, the stock Bridgestone tires are garbage.

Question for you guys, do you think the Cooper AT3 4S tires will be smoother and better riding than the stock tires? Especially since the Cooper tires are an all terrain tire, and the stock ones are a street/highway tire.

I'd precipitate the feedback.

Thanks
 
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BCMUSA said:
Question for you guys, do you think the Cooper AT3 4S tires will be smoother and better riding than the stock tires? Especially since the Cooper tires are an all terrain tire, and the stock ones are a street/highway tire.
Click to expand...

Street tires will be smoother, quieter, and better riding than all-terrain tires.
 
SummitRunner said:
Street tires will be smoother, quieter, and better riding than all-terrain tires.
Click to expand...

Yup I understand that much, but I am referring to these Bridgestones in particular. I've read tons of reviews and they have horrible ratings.

I am thinking that although the Coopers are AT, they may still be smoother than the stock tires just because they are so crappy. That's what I am wondering really.
 
Just get new tires on your own dime and be done with it.

I had numerous road force balances done and I still get a little steering shake for the first 10 miles. The frustrating part is the steering wheel shake will come back a few days after rebalancing. My dealer doesn't want to replace the tires. They seem more interested in replacing suspension and driveline parts which I don't think are the problem.

From what I've gathered, it seems like installing a lift makes the steering less sensitive to tire imbalances. Some better tires and new lift should make you ride smooth.
 
Hans Moleman said:
Just get new tires on your own dime and be done with it.

I had numerous road force balances done and I still get a little steering shake for the first 10 miles. The frustrating part is the steering wheel shake will come back a few days after rebalancing. My dealer doesn't want to replace the tires. They seem more interested in replacing suspension and driveline parts which I don't think are the problem.

From what I've gathered, it seems like installing a lift makes the steering less sensitive to tire imbalances. Some better tires and new lift should make you ride smooth.
Click to expand...

Yes I plan on buying new ones. I am looking at the Cooper AT3 4S but worried it may make it worse LOL..

I do plan on getting 5100's so I can level my 4runner. Does this count as a lift? lol
 
BCMUSA said:
Based on your recommendations and others on here, I am probably going to be getting these coopers sometime this week. I want to see what the dealership says tomorrow, and if they can't fix it, I may bite the bullet and get the coopers.

Quick question for you all.

What I've been reading, the stock Bridgestone tires are garbage.

Question for you guys, do you think the Cooper AT3 4S tires will be smoother and better riding than the stock tires? Especially since the Cooper tires are an all terrain tire, and the stock ones are a street/highway tire.

I'd precipitate the feedback.

Thanks
Click to expand...

Better riding is very subjective but they are a much better tire. If you get the p-metric version there likely won't be a huge difference in terms of noise and "smoothness", but they will perform better in almost all weather conditions in terms of grip and stability.
 
Cymon said:
Better riding is very subjective but they are a much better tire. If you get the p-metric version there likely won't be a huge difference in terms of noise and "smoothness", but they will perform better in almost all weather conditions in terms of grip and stability.
Click to expand...

The main thing I am wanting is that it hopefully reduces the vibrations in steering wheel. I will only do light off roading, and in Vegas the weather isn't really a concern. Rarely rains here.
 
BCMUSA said:
The main thing I am wanting is that it hopefully reduces the vibrations in steering wheel. I will only do light off roading, and in Vegas the weather isn't really a concern. Rarely rains here.
Click to expand...

Then a tire with a very soft sidewall would be perfect. Keep them inflated a bit on the low side.
 
BCMUSA said:
Ok great. Are the Coopers AT3 4S considered to have a soft sidewall?
Click to expand...

Lots of us here went with the BFGoodrich All-Terrain T/A KO2. Its a great tire that looks aggressive but doesn't have the sound other knobby tires do. For me the difference between KOs and the Duratracs was night & day. Here is a great article that explains why the KOs are great on 4Runners.

Project 4Runner: Four seasons with BFGoodrich All-Terrain T/A KO2 | Hooniverse

Final note: Toyota put the KO2s on the TRD Pro so you can look at this tire as OEM in a way.
 
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