Steering Wheel vibration

[1engineer]

I can safely make a few assumptions about you... you are single and have no kids. Money is not an issue for you because you still live rent free with your parents. So most of your money goes to Mods and chaturbate. ANd you wait in line for hours at iphone release.

Back on topic. Some of us have OEM setups meaning no mods meaning no geometric changes from OEM.

I'll agree that OEM bridgestones arent the best but simply say "give up and fork out the money" is idiocy on your part.

So just stay out of this thread and let the few of us find a solution.

Attack the post, never the poster. This is your warning.
-mod-

Now, taking my mod hat off... did any of you new guys ever think to search this topic and see if it happened before? What was done about it? No?
Well, here's a poll with some thoughts http://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-gen-t4rs/117887-steering-wheel-vibration-poll.html (16 pages of reading goodness) and as you can see not everyone has it (only about half) and there are things you can do to fix it. Never assume guys.

 

[1jzgte]

I'm thinking the root cause is something else. People have reported changing both wheels and tires and still having the same issue. The dealership tech that worked on my truck last time said 4runners are notorious for this problem. Didn't Lexus have a recall for the GX for a similar problem where they replaced some spring in the steering rack?

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Just a general search for "toyota steering shake" and you'll find that a few from tundra, tacoma and FJ forums are reporting the same issue. Good luck my friend.

 

[1jzgte]

Attack the post, never the poster. This is your warning.
-mod-

Now, taking my mod hat off... did any of you new guys ever think to search this topic and see if it happened before? What was done about it? No?
Well, here's a poll with some thoughts http://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-gen-t4rs/117887-steering-wheel-vibration-poll.html (16 pages of reading goodness) and as you can see not everyone has it (only about half) and there are things you can do to fix it. Never assume guys.

we tried it the balance, rotation, yadi yadi but were too POOR to buy new tires.
HE started it. He called us poor. I am offended by it. Plus you called me incompetent because i did not present numbers as to why the 4runner was a premium SUV.

According to the poll, 9 of 521 votes show that replacing tires fixed their shaking problem. So that's obviously not the solution.

 

[tm965]

haha
i love this guy.
:boxer:

I must've nailed at least 1 of those assumptions right?

yeah one assumption, not having kids. wtf is chaturbate anyway? sounds like i shouldnt be googling that at work.


but but but but he started it :crybaby:

 

[1engineer]

we tried it the balance, rotation, yadi yadi but were too POOR to buy new tires.
HE started it. He called us poor. I am offended by it. Plus you called me incompetent because i did not present numbers as to why the 4runner was a premium SUV.

According to the poll, 9 of 521 votes show that replacing tires fixed their shaking problem. So that's obviously not the solution.

yeah one assumption, not having kids. wtf is chaturbate anyway? sounds like i shouldnt be googling that at work.


but but but but he started it :crybaby:

Lol. I usually don't have to call people names. That's a sure sign of a lost argument. You read all 16 pages right?

 

[1jzgte]

yeah one assumption, not having kids. wtf is chaturbate anyway? sounds like i shouldnt be googling that at work.


but but but but he started it :crybaby:

:lalala:

 

[bglfgd]

I did read all pages, as well as searched and read everything I found about the issue. For what is worth, I test drove 5 4runners before I bought mine - all of them had the vibration. The one I bought didn't show any signs of it until few days later.

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[ToyoDriver]

well when the root cause is either:

1. everyone with recent builds has geometry issues that road force balancing isnt solving

or

2. everyone has the same shitty oem tires that are causing the problem, meaning toyota must have received a bad batch from the manufacturer

I think its pretty safe to say its option two. Either get the dealer to replace or take it up with manufacturer using warranty. Or you can save yourself the headache and just buy some decent tires. For those who will whine about this recommendation:

You're wrong. Plenty of people with non oem tires including me have the same issue.

You're not educated enough about the topic to be providing input. Please do some reading.

 

[Airgazm]

In my experience a shimmy without applying breaks is almost always tires, then it could be a bent wheel, rotor, or wheel bearing, etc. But usually it's just tires. I don't care if the tires are new, stock, aftermarket, used, balanced or not, if the tires are large like they are on these vehicles, then they usually get a shimmy at some point. Balancing usually helps for a while, but once they wear some they are out of balance and the bigger the tire, the harder it gets to balance.

 

[Niteghost]

I appreciate all of the replies everyone.

I was trying to figure out if I can recreate the shake under any specific circumstances. I drove to and from work today and only experienced it once while going over 60 mph and I dropped back down to 40 and then went back up and it disappeared for the rest of the trip. Did the same thing on the way home except it didn't go away and you could still feel it around 50-55 mph just not a violent.

I read some threads about trying to reduce or raise tire pressure. I checked the pressure and they were at 43 all around so I dropped it to 35 and will see how that goes tomorrow.

I made an appt at the local dealer for Friday so we shall see how it goes, I made a video of it happening on the way home (I know shame on me) so we shall see. :lookout:

Thanks again everyone. 1engineer I did read that poll thread you posted, correct, lots of great info in there!

 

[_#1_]

I, of course experience this too. 2010 TE bone stock w/ 100,700+ miles.

Sometimes I wonder if it's the road itself. I travel the same route to work and back 5 days a week and only get the shakes on this one stretch.

That's my conclusion...

 

[1jzgte]

I, of course experience this too. 2010 TE bone stock w/ 100,700+ miles.

Sometimes I wonder if it's the road itself. I travel the same route to work and back 5 days a week and only get the shakes on this one stretch.

That's my conclusion...

Unusually its most obvious on a certain same part of this freeway that i travel almost daily too. This stretch of road is brand new fresh gravel which should be butter smooth but that's where i feel it the most. :crazy: However i don't feel it in my camry down this same stretch of road so its definitely not the road.

 

[1jzgte]

So weird. Same exact issue.

Brand new roads = worst vibration.

Concrete sectional roads = don't feel it at all.

I had this same issue with OEM tires and now with BFG KO2s. My next tires will be Michelin LTXs. Three sets of tires in 2 years is quite a bit of coin, at least I'm not poor. :rapture:

do you have OEM rims or aftermarket?

According some posts in the past, 4runners require a special tire balance adapter- hawke adapter, and/or a roadforce balance. But why would the 4runner require such special attention?

 

[TOYO74]

After reading this thread, I found this informative:

When is Road Force Balance Overkill?

Especially this quote from the article:

"All tire manufacturers test tires at their manufacturing facilities for uniformity, including road force variation, conicity (the tendency to roll like a cone), ply-steer (the tendency to crab sidewise) and balance. Acceptable levels of uniformity vary among manufacturers, tire lines and the planned distribution channel for the tire.

Not surprisingly, the most uniform tires typically go to the automakers for OE fitment. How much variation is acceptable for independent tire dealers versus the discount clubs is probably something that is not discussed in public."

 

[ToyoDriver]

do you have OEM rims or aftermarket?

According some posts in the past, 4runners require a special tire balance adapter- hawke adapter, and/or a roadforce balance. But why would the 4runner require such special attention?

I have TRD Rims.

The dealer used a haweka adapter when balancing my tires, and road forced them. I watched them do it.

Twice. Still have the shakes.

 

[1jzgte]

After reading this thread, I found this informative:

When is Road Force Balance Overkill?

Especially this quote from the article:

"All tire manufacturers test tires at their manufacturing facilities for uniformity, including road force variation, conicity (the tendency to roll like a cone), ply-steer (the tendency to crab sidewise) and balance. Acceptable levels of uniformity vary among manufacturers, tire lines and the planned distribution channel for the tire.

Not surprisingly, the most uniform tires typically go to the automakers for OE fitment. How much variation is acceptable for independent tire dealers versus the discount clubs is probably something that is not discussed in public."

I performed a similar test like the video but minus the measuring tape. Basically jack a wheel up high enough to get the wheel free spinning, then bring it back down a tad until the out of round portion of the tire scrapes the ground.

I was able to get the same portion of tire to consistently scrape the ground. Out of round tire right? and like you said, there is an acceptable limit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UriBR55tb0A

 

[bglfgd]

Just picked up my truck, after balance/alignment #5 the vibration persists. Again, the tech who worked on my truck acknowledged there is a problem. He states this is a known issue with the 4runner. Some do it and some don't. According to him Toyota hasn't been able to figure out what's causing some of the trucks to vibrate. All other components of the suspension/power train check out fine. I have just started a case with Toyota, let's see where that takes us - maybe they'll start looking at new tires and possibly the power steering rack? I'm not giving up on the truck, my plan is to keep it for a long while. Although annoying, in the great scheme of things this is not something that will keep me up at night. I'll keep posting updates as they become available.

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[1jzgte]

Just picked up my truck, after balance/alignment #5 the vibration persists. Again, the tech who worked on my truck acknowledged there is a problem. He states this is a known issue with the 4runner. Some do it and some don't. According to him Toyota hasn't been able to figure out what's causing some of the trucks to vibrate. All other components of the suspension/power train check out fine. I have just started a case with Toyota, let's see where that takes us - maybe they'll start looking at new tires and possibly the power steering rack? I'm not giving up on the truck, my plan is to keep it for a long while. Although annoying, in the great scheme of things this is not something that will keep me up at night. I'll keep posting updates as they become available.

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Thanks for being the guinea pig. You've gotten farther than some of us would've with the dealer. Keep us posted.
Thanks again.

 

[Redrum1971]

New lift, Wheels and tires Now a new vibration!

I just had a 3" lift and 285 BFG KO tires installed on my 2016 SR5 with under 3K on the odometer. Driving home I was disturbed to notice lots of vibration and steering wheel wobble at various speeds. Hoping its a poor balance job, but is there anything I should know? The truck was smooth as glass in its stock form.

 

[Jeremy556]

Haven't we done this thread before?

This platform's steering is sensitive to tire balance. All tires flat spot and will cause vibrations to some degree for the first 15 miles or so at highway speed, even if they are balanced correctly. You can see the flat spot if you do as mentioned and lift the tire slightly off the ground and spin it.

Besides flat spotting, some wheel balancers can be out of adjustment, many tire shops don't have the proper size cones to fit the Toyota 106mm bore, and aftermarket wheels with a larger bore don't always center perfectly.