vibration from improper wheel balance?

[palwine]

I have seen threads on other sites around the 'net that discuss vibration problems on 4runners due to improper wheel balancing.

One thread says the following:

"4Runner wheels are not 'hub centric' meaning the hole in the middle of the wheel is not in the exact center. You will never ever get the wheel properly balanced using normal tire balancing equipment. Normal tire balancing equipment uses the center hole to mount the wheel to the tire-balancing machine. The Toyota wheels used on the 4Runner are 'lug centric.' This means that the lugs are the center of the wheel and the lugs must be used to balance the wheels. To do this a special adapter that engages the wheel lug holes must be use in conjunction with a special back side forcing cone to properly mount the wheel to the tire balancing machine."

Is this above statement true? I had NTB rotate and balance all 4 wheels about 6 months ago (including an alignment) due to vibration. When my vehicle was at the dealer this past week they rebalanced them (you can see the new weights are in totally different spots on the rims than the old ones). Needless to say, the vibration is gone.

 

[khaug]

Wheel Balance

There is debate regarding whether 4Runner wheels are hubcentric or lugcentric. What is definite is that use of the Haweka Flange Plate adapter when balancing 4Runner wheels gives a superior result. My '98 had wheel balance problems through three sets of tires (Dunlop, Goodyear and Michelin) in 2,000 miles until I had the dealer do a balance job using the Haweka adapter.

Toyota dealers are required to have the Haweka adapter.

 

[Thai]

Check out this thread:

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=173

Hope this helps.

 

[palwine]

thanks for the info! the dealer did a great job balancing and getting rid of the vibration. I guess some chains like NTB/Sears Auto Center haven't gotten the memo yet!

 

[Thai]

The problem is that the Adaptor is quite expensive...about $500 i think. Most places will not invest in this adaptor. That's unfortunate for most of us.

 

[jmc]

Thanks fellow Runners!! I was wondering why it took Costco 5 times to get rid of the vibration. Next time, I'll save$$ buying the tires at Costco, but have them balanced somewhere else!

I have the Michelin Cross Terrain SUVs. They are great on and off road!!

jmc