Anyone having problems keeping their tires balanced on their 5th gens? I know this is a stupid question but, the only problem I've had with my 2010 SR5 is horrible vibrations in the steering wheel and throughout the vehicle at speeds starting at 60 to 75 mph. I purchased the runner used with 40xxx miles on it with a set of Nitto Terragrapplers on it that looked great with ample amount of tread left. it vibrated and no shop could fix it. so I traded the tires in and got a set of TOYO open country AT2. fixed the problem until I rotated the tires at 5500 miles and the vibration is now back and just as bad as before. the tires aren't cupped or anything. it's at the tire shop now getting looked at. i'm just aggravated that my other vehicle which is 15 years old rides better on the interstate than my runner. still love it and wouldn't trade it for nothing but still aggravated. it's not like these tires are cheap off brand tires.
Tire balancing problem
- Thread starter MURKY
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Greenamphibious
Banned
dumb question but did you check anything other than tire balance? Alignment? BJs?
You are running AT tires on it now and not what came stock, shouldn't matter, right? I know I've ran 33's and 32's on my 06 Tacoma and never had a vibration issue from the tires.
From personal experience, I had no vibrations with the stock tires on the 4Runner, then installed Cooper ATP tires on it and I haven't been able to get rid of the vibration at about 55MPH.
Next thing I plan on doing is a road force balance, ask your shop if they have a road force balance machine, if not look for a place that might have one. That's the only thing I can think of if all the suspension and steering components look and feel okay.
From personal experience, I had no vibrations with the stock tires on the 4Runner, then installed Cooper ATP tires on it and I haven't been able to get rid of the vibration at about 55MPH.
Next thing I plan on doing is a road force balance, ask your shop if they have a road force balance machine, if not look for a place that might have one. That's the only thing I can think of if all the suspension and steering components look and feel okay.
back from the shop
just got all the tires rebalanced. they said they were all out of balance. however this didn't fix the problem at all. yes the alignment was checked before I got the new tires. i'm just positive it's the tires. here is the reason: had vibration so I had the tires balanced and checked alignment and steering components. didn't fix the problem at all. so I bought new tires which fixed the problem totally until it's first tire rotation. after the tire rotation that same vibration is back. so of course I took it back to tire shop and they balanced all four but, after I just drove it home it didn't fix the problem. When I say vibration im not talking about your normal expected vibration that you would get from a all terrain tire or mud tire. I mean when I hit 60 mph the steering wheel is going back and forth rapidly and you can hardly hold on to it. i'm gonna take it back into the tire shop and see what they are going to do. I've heard of out of round problems with NITTO which are a sister company to Toyo.
just got all the tires rebalanced. they said they were all out of balance. however this didn't fix the problem at all. yes the alignment was checked before I got the new tires. i'm just positive it's the tires. here is the reason: had vibration so I had the tires balanced and checked alignment and steering components. didn't fix the problem at all. so I bought new tires which fixed the problem totally until it's first tire rotation. after the tire rotation that same vibration is back. so of course I took it back to tire shop and they balanced all four but, after I just drove it home it didn't fix the problem. When I say vibration im not talking about your normal expected vibration that you would get from a all terrain tire or mud tire. I mean when I hit 60 mph the steering wheel is going back and forth rapidly and you can hardly hold on to it. i'm gonna take it back into the tire shop and see what they are going to do. I've heard of out of round problems with NITTO which are a sister company to Toyo.
Short term solution/easy way out:
Just do tire balancing frequently (once a month? once every 3 months?) If you have a tire shop that do free lifetime balancing then you are gold.
Long term solution:
Have you looked at the "thrust rod" , "lower control arm" etc.. any way to figure out if they are "slightly bent"? I had a vehicle that had the "thrust rod" bent, and the axel slightly bent to the point they almost cannot complete the alignment (even after the "thrust rod" replacement). This can happen thru a slight offroad accident.
Just do tire balancing frequently (once a month? once every 3 months?) If you have a tire shop that do free lifetime balancing then you are gold.
Long term solution:
Have you looked at the "thrust rod" , "lower control arm" etc.. any way to figure out if they are "slightly bent"? I had a vehicle that had the "thrust rod" bent, and the axel slightly bent to the point they almost cannot complete the alignment (even after the "thrust rod" replacement). This can happen thru a slight offroad accident.
rigtec
New member
Hi MURKY,
(Edit) Back in June of 2014 there was a gentleman with a problem asking for anyone who had experience with technical issues to please send him a P.M. and he would explain what he was having trouble with. Well in reply, I sent him a pm and here's the P.M. that I received from that member:
Then the member goes on to say...
"...It turned out that he had gotten a bad "New driveshaft" replacement on a tsb alert just prior". I don't know if the balance of your driveshaft has been compromised but if so, perhaps have it checked on the slight chance that, that's what is causing your trouble as well. Best of luck,
and Rgds!
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vicpick58
New member
I never had any vibration problems until I got new tires at 80k miles, then could not seem to get the new ones to balance.
I made the mistake of ordering tires from one of those on line tire sellers and having them sent to a local approved installer. Of course the installing shop did not sell that brand of tire so there was no point in complaining to them.
I did have an alignment done at the time of installation, and when I came back with the vibration they did rebalance the tires for free and it did help the vibration some but still shook at 55-70 mph.
I finally took the Runner to the local Toyota dealer and paid to have a Road Force Balance done. It almost completely cured the problem, I was satisfied until I did my first rotation 10k miles later, the vibration came back, but not as bad as at first. So I just lived with it and it eventually got better on it's own.
I have since then done two more 10k mile rotations and now at 112k on the odometer and 32k on the tires and no other rebalance since the Road Force at dealer, problem is gone.
I suspect that the on line tire seller (that I will not name,) probably sells seconds or what they used to call blem tires and know that there is nothing a buyer can do about it once they are sent to the installer and put on a vehicle. I think they were probably out of round when new and have just worn to the point where they are fine now.
In the future I will continue to buy tires from a local tire shop like I always did before and not do the on line thing again. That way if there is a problem they can stand behind their product and have a chance to make it right for me.
The tires were General Grabber HTS and were rated fairly highly for highway all season tires. I even had a set on another vehicle 5 or 6 years ago and they were great when new, but sold that vehicle before they got very many miles on them.
I made the mistake of ordering tires from one of those on line tire sellers and having them sent to a local approved installer. Of course the installing shop did not sell that brand of tire so there was no point in complaining to them.
I did have an alignment done at the time of installation, and when I came back with the vibration they did rebalance the tires for free and it did help the vibration some but still shook at 55-70 mph.
I finally took the Runner to the local Toyota dealer and paid to have a Road Force Balance done. It almost completely cured the problem, I was satisfied until I did my first rotation 10k miles later, the vibration came back, but not as bad as at first. So I just lived with it and it eventually got better on it's own.
I have since then done two more 10k mile rotations and now at 112k on the odometer and 32k on the tires and no other rebalance since the Road Force at dealer, problem is gone.
I suspect that the on line tire seller (that I will not name,) probably sells seconds or what they used to call blem tires and know that there is nothing a buyer can do about it once they are sent to the installer and put on a vehicle. I think they were probably out of round when new and have just worn to the point where they are fine now.
In the future I will continue to buy tires from a local tire shop like I always did before and not do the on line thing again. That way if there is a problem they can stand behind their product and have a chance to make it right for me.
The tires were General Grabber HTS and were rated fairly highly for highway all season tires. I even had a set on another vehicle 5 or 6 years ago and they were great when new, but sold that vehicle before they got very many miles on them.
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^^^^^^ Bad tire or wheel on rear will not be very noticeable - move it to the front and all hell breaks loose.
Randyman...
New member
Auditech recently tried those bags and removed them like a week later IIRC (and he's an auto tech!).
A good Roadforce + Computer Ride Matching on a fairly true set of wheels/tires should ride smooth as glass. If not, something is un-true, or other related issues exist IMNSHO (like the driveshaft TSB that would superficially seem completely unrelated!).
I simply won't stand for an unbalanced/shaky ride. Proper Roadforce Balancing + Computer Ride Matching has served my anal self very well, but it would appear my only vibration issues have been tire related (and not suspension or drivetrain related)...
gm350reratliff
New member
OP- is the tire shop using the correct wheel balancer adapter for Toyota wheels? Also, I'd check to see if the wheel balancer was recently calibrated.
Is Road Force a cure all solution? I have a set of stock size Coopers AT3s and FN Sixshooters installed when my truck 4000km new. I'm at 16000km now. The steering wheels would wobble crazy at 100km/hr. I've had balanced 2x regularly and then by the road force machine at a local dealership. The problem somewhat went away. Then I rotated the tires............. the shakes started again. Should I balance them again? Do you think I can get them to warranty their work?
wfo9
New member
Road force can't fix a bad tire (it can only help a little) and it is as only as good as the tech using it.
Tires are hit or miss... but Toyos and Nittos are usually good about balance and ride.
BTW, I think the six shooters require the center cap or a ring... Check with FN about what adapter should be used on the balancing machine. A lot of shops have trouble with hub centric wheels.
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still frustrated
wheels aren't stock but are stock size etc. Tires are stock size. I really do feel that it's either a bad tire, bad wheel, or bad tire shop. However, on the Nitto's that were on it when I purchased the vehicle which I gave up on and replaced with the TOYO's I did the following before replacing. Rotated, balanced (not road force) by two different shops, checked alignment. I then read some where online about Nitto's having quality issues with them being out of round. So I put her on jack stands and spun the wheels one at a time by hand. 3 of the 4 looked out of round to me. This is when I traded them in on the TOYO's. Runner then road perfect. I thought to my self "well the NITTO's were shitty". Now two weeks ago I rotated the TOYO's and the problem is back. However, this time I have a receipt for the tires from a local shop that I hope will work until we resolve the problem. I'm taking it back in to them in a few days. We will see what they try next.....:sadwave:
wheels aren't stock but are stock size etc. Tires are stock size. I really do feel that it's either a bad tire, bad wheel, or bad tire shop. However, on the Nitto's that were on it when I purchased the vehicle which I gave up on and replaced with the TOYO's I did the following before replacing. Rotated, balanced (not road force) by two different shops, checked alignment. I then read some where online about Nitto's having quality issues with them being out of round. So I put her on jack stands and spun the wheels one at a time by hand. 3 of the 4 looked out of round to me. This is when I traded them in on the TOYO's. Runner then road perfect. I thought to my self "well the NITTO's were shitty". Now two weeks ago I rotated the TOYO's and the problem is back. However, this time I have a receipt for the tires from a local shop that I hope will work until we resolve the problem. I'm taking it back in to them in a few days. We will see what they try next.....:sadwave:
Jeremy556
New member
What exact wheels are they? Many have a 108mm bore and you will need hub rings for them to fit Toyota's 106mm hub, or you will forever have balancing problems unless your lugs are torqued just perfect. You do have tapered "acorn" style lug nuts, correct?
Wheel balance problems will often show up after rotating the tires because the tech doing the balance will put the 2 better tires on the front.
If the driveshaft is not installed in the correct orientation it will vibrate. I think there are two possible orientations, correct and 90 degrees off. Or maybe 3 incorrect and one correct. But if no one took it off, it won't be a problem.
A bad CV joint could probably wobble, but it's unlikely.
If the wheels are not installed properly they will vibrate even if the tires are balanced. Also unlikely since any shop should be competent at installing wheels.
A bad CV joint could probably wobble, but it's unlikely.
If the wheels are not installed properly they will vibrate even if the tires are balanced. Also unlikely since any shop should be competent at installing wheels.
wheels are (bought vehicle with these wheels on them) Rev wheels KO808 the best I can tell. after looking at their specs which there are several specs i'm not seeing any that are bored at 106.00 or 108.00. several that are 6 lug 17X9 are 112.00 so i'm taking a guess that they are 112.00. However, i'm confused is this the bore for the hub? why would that matter as long as i'm using acorn style lugs which I am? Not saying you are wrong. i'm just not a wheel tech by no means and usually run factory wheels. I've never had this problem before. however at this point I will try anything. Also, no we haven't tried spinning just the wheel to look for out of round etc. what is the torque spec on the lug nuts supposed to be? I just put them on with an impact and then checked with a wrench to make sure they were tight. I expect we will check the rims on Thursday when I take it back in to the tire shop.
thanks for all the suggestions and help so far!!
thanks for all the suggestions and help so far!!