Well same story today even with the a toyota rep from new jersey there (by chance). Only happened on certain roads and the truck was looked at and everything is good. Conclusion right now is with the new electric sterring box with no dampener it is normal to feel the road and get a slight shimmy going over road bumps and imperfections, and every part is to spec Ill see after tire rotation at 5000k to see if it changes anything. It just may be my extreme compulsion with the feel of the truck, because like I said the other limited that I drove had the same thing and im done thinking about it, Im just going to drive and enjoy it.
What tires are on your limited?
- Thread starter Mtn.Rush
- Start date
Well im not done thinking about it because I drove on several diffferent roads for about 35 miles and same result with the shimmy and its REAL annoying. Anyone have anything for me? So far no one here has had any vibration/shimmy in there steering wheel at all which tells me my steering/tires has a problem with in somewhere. Im just not buying road vibration as a cause.
fxoffroad
New member
Did you have the XREAS checked out, like Brian suggested? I have absolutely no shimmy or vibrations.
They didnt check it because they stated an idiot light would come on? Again something I didnt know we had. So instead I went ahead and called the Toyota 1-800 number and got a case number started because I AM NOT BUYING ITS THE ROAD SURFACE. I drive alot of miles and at high speed for my job and this is my 4th 4runner, sister had 2 also and by no means is this normal. Once the field rep/tec gets involved I will be sure to bring up the XREAS. I can actually feel the vibration in the seat and gas pedal. If I take my hand off the steering wheel you can see it bouncing back and forth....and hes telling me its normal because the road surface and new electronic steering.....IM CALLING B/S on this one.
BrianLSU
New member
Well, if it comes and goes under the same conditions then it can't be mechanical, i.e. tires don't go in and out of balance at whim.
If it does the same come and go thing when the vehicle is warmed up and being driven for a while, 35 miles would take care of this, then it can't be thermodynamically driven, i.e. bad tire exacerbated by heat expansion not present when doing a cold balance or hydraulic fluid issues with the XREAS.
So it has to be electrical. I'm not up to snuff on the XREAS system and its electrical components which I assume are valve/computer driven. I'm sure the safety features of the system are more for catastrophic failure, pressure loss, than for bad valves.
A wheel will act as if it's out of balance if the shock, there to dampen the rebound force of the spring, is not operating properly and giving enough rebound dampening. You will get a nasty vibration.
All of these are assumptions based on your input.
If it does the same come and go thing when the vehicle is warmed up and being driven for a while, 35 miles would take care of this, then it can't be thermodynamically driven, i.e. bad tire exacerbated by heat expansion not present when doing a cold balance or hydraulic fluid issues with the XREAS.
So it has to be electrical. I'm not up to snuff on the XREAS system and its electrical components which I assume are valve/computer driven. I'm sure the safety features of the system are more for catastrophic failure, pressure loss, than for bad valves.
A wheel will act as if it's out of balance if the shock, there to dampen the rebound force of the spring, is not operating properly and giving enough rebound dampening. You will get a nasty vibration.
All of these are assumptions based on your input.
I had a similar problem with my 10 SR5 Dunlop 17s. It seemed more prevalent in the morning when I would jump on the interstate...between 55 and 65 it would shimmy the steering wheel. But other times seemed random. Went through the balancing etc. I ended up trading for 20s with a limited and its smooth as a babies arse now. I wonder if possibly the wheels could be warped or something like that from factory? I had an 06 sr5 with same problem with the bridgestones but it was a lease and i just dealt with it.
BrianLSU
New member
That's a bad tire. Heats up, expands, goes to hell.
From what he's saying, it happens cold and hot, comes and goes. I thought it was a bad tire too. Stock tires are usually crap.
Id say its there almost all the time just not as bad everytime if that makes any sense. But whats odd is that is ultra smooth up until 63 mph then the shaking starts. Yesterday on the Long Island Expressway it shook for my entire trip after 63 mph and up as soon as I go below it is smooth again (even with the road surface) And it does seem to get worse as the tires heat up. It was worse (or at least seem to be) during that really hot spell we had here on L.I. but again only after 63 or so......Im stumped.
BrianLSU
New member
Well, that's simple then, it a bad tire. It's rearing its head at high speeds and especially when hot. I thought as much, couldn't see having XREAS problems on a new vehicle.
Either get them to change the tires, or upgrade them yourself. See if you can get them to buy them first though.
Explain it just like you did here to the techs and explain how others have had problems with the Bridgestone's.
fxoffroad
New member
This makes me wish I could take my 4Runner to my Lexus dealer... you have to call? that's bs.
I received a call today from a Toyota rep based out of CA. This is what I got "well your toyota dealers tech and the regional tec (from NJ) both feel that there is no problem at this time and feel that the truck is operating as designed so therefore NO AUTHORIZATION FOR REPAIR WILL BE MADE AT THIS TIME." They will not change the tires unless and until my dealer feels that this is the problem. A basic good by and good luck to ya sir type conversation. I asked him point blank if this was his truck and if the steering wheel shimmied back and forth from day one even after a roadforce balance would he be satisfoed and call it NORMAL his responce "I am not allowed to give you my personal opinion" OK thanks guy you just answered my question. It not worth yelling and screaming at some poor guy on the other end of the phone just for him to keep saying he cant do anything so I ended the conversation before my head popped. I have another route im going to try ASAP so stay tuned...........Oh and by the way Im still loving the truck even with this little bump (and Shimmy) in the road....................
Yup, pulled some strings...........Dropping it off tomorrow (wed) morning for them to "look" at it again.
Well I dropped it off this morning and picked it around noon time. The field Tech from NJ was there and helped with the repair. They stripped all the weighs off all the tires, re-road forced balanced the tires (again) and the truck is now good to go, no more shimmy as of right now. I road tested it on several different roads at several different speed and its fine now. Lets hope it stays that way.
It has returned but very slight over the past couple of weeks. Not a big deal yet but I hope it doesnt revert back to what it was......
gmoney2626
New member
How are things going with your vehicle since more time has passed. I have an SR5 that is suffering the wheel shimmy. The dealer rebalanced the tires and still had the shimmy. We then drove two other SR5 models on the lot and they too had a shimmy... one worse then the other. I read a length FJ forum post that some reported the shimmy was fixed after re-balancing but it came back over time. Another woman swore to have the tires replaced with Michelin tires.
I hope I will have a fix soon. I really dont want this issue to reoccur.
I hope I will have a fix soon. I really dont want this issue to reoccur.
Shimmy Or Tacking Problem
My 2011 Limited has a real weird handling problem at higher speeds (above 50) when driving on slightly grooved concrete roads where the grooves are parallel with the lane. My Toyota dealer doesn't know what to do, because this type of grooved highway is 50 miles from the dealership. Have been waiting months for the regional toyota folks to check it out. I also notice a slight vibration in the steering wheel when accelerating. I have the Geolander tires which handle fine except for those road conditions which is really horrible. These symtoms occurred within the first 100 miles and are still there at 4800 miles. I have seen a number of complaint with the limited handling either shimmy or tracking. Anyone else have this problem. Is it similar to the other posts here?
My 2011 Limited has a real weird handling problem at higher speeds (above 50) when driving on slightly grooved concrete roads where the grooves are parallel with the lane. My Toyota dealer doesn't know what to do, because this type of grooved highway is 50 miles from the dealership. Have been waiting months for the regional toyota folks to check it out. I also notice a slight vibration in the steering wheel when accelerating. I have the Geolander tires which handle fine except for those road conditions which is really horrible. These symtoms occurred within the first 100 miles and are still there at 4800 miles. I have seen a number of complaint with the limited handling either shimmy or tracking. Anyone else have this problem. Is it similar to the other posts here?
100% gone and straight as an arrow. 3 road force balances later though, but it's fine now.
