Wheel shake w/recent Bilstein & KO2 install

1

194Runner

New member
Hello All,

I have a 2019 4Runner SR5 Premium. Just had Bilstein 5100's added to the front to level the vehicle. At the same time of the front shock install, I added 265/70/16 KO2's. Make a long story short, had the wheel shake at 50 to 60 mph, took it back to have the tires re-balanced. The next 40 miles it was smooth as silk until the wheel shake came back. Off to the shop I go to get them re-balanced. They took both fronts off and re-balanced them and told me to drive up the road as they are spot on as far as balancing. Wheel shake still there. Would a front differential drop help this problem? Any ideas?
 
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Toyota wheels are "hub-centric" not "Lug-centric". It's important that this is considered when the wheels are balanced. Years ago, when 3rd gen 4Rs were "new", this was always a topic of discussion. The prevailing advice at the time was to ensure a Haweka balancer was used, and if not, find a service center that had one.

I'd like to think this is well known today and no longer an issue, but it may be a possible explanation for your troubles.

Good luck.
 
194Runner said:
Hello All,

I have a 2019 4Runner SR5 Premium. Just had Bilstein 5100's added to the front to level the vehicle. At the same time of the front shock install, I added 265/70/16 KO2's. Make a long story short, had the wheel shake at 50 to 60 mph, took it back to have the tires re-balanced. The next 40 miles it was smooth as silk until the wheel shake came back. Off to the shop I go to get them re-balanced. They took both fronts off and re-balanced them and told me to drive up the road as they are spot on as far as balancing. Wheel shake still there. Would a front differential drop help this problem? Any ideas?
Click to expand...

Road force balance them. That should do it.
 
we have 30k miles on our 285/70-17 E rated k02's. Zero issues. they are also being used on stock trail wheels with 1.25 wheel spacers.

that being said, if it shakes, and they've been road force balanced, just take them back and ask for different tires. (i'm enjoying my cooper at3 XLT's on my f250)
 
RF Balanced 275 KO2 Es and coming from the prior tires on it, it rides like silk. The shop mentioned having the right adapters for a Toyota, and we discussed the issue before hand. The gent doing the job looked at it as a challenge.

Fronts required only one weight. These trucks are hyper sensitive to balancing. If it comes back for any reason, I’m confident rebalancing can generally eliminate it.
 
Got a refund and put on Falkens. Saved a ton of money and and balanced out of the box. Liked them so much I had them on my 12 4R I sold, and have them on my 84 pickup, FJ40, Land Cruiser and 2020 4Runner. Amazing tire. And all sets balanced.

I have had more balancing issues with BF tires. And the BF are awful in snow compared to other ATs.

My wife was running KO2s (which took 3 tries to balance btw) in an ice storm in her 12 4R. Got stuck on a slight incline when cars were making it up the same hill. I was able to get to her with my 4Runner with General Grabbers. Even after airing her down I couldn't get traction. I was able to tow her up the hill (precarious, but got it done). After balancing issues, hydroplaning, and poor ice traction, I have lost all confidence in the KO2s.
 
I'll say it, the new KO2's are garbage, coming from a long time / die hard BFG fan.

Had the same issues on my Tacoma and then F150 build. Took road forcing them, 2 replacement tires, and time wasted at Discount for them to see how to fix.

Made the switch to Cooper and won't go back to KO2's. Discount made it right and took care of me. Guy at my shop said it's a common issue with the new KO2's.

KM2/KM3 is a different animal and GTG.
 
194Runner said:
They are 'E' Load KO2's
Click to expand...

I've said it before and and ill say it again, ill never buy an E load range tire for our trucks.

I bought a set myself and hated it. Sold it at a loss after one off-road trip.
 
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Get all 4 tires roadforce balanced again. Take the tires that have the worst roadforce numbers and put them on the back. Then don't let anyone rotate your tires. This is what it took to get rid of the shake for 2 different sets of tires, one of which was a set of KO2s.
 
Sparman said:
Toyota wheels are "hub-centric" not "Lug-centric". It's important that this is considered when the wheels are balanced. Years ago, when 3rd gen 4Rs were "new", this was always a topic of discussion. The prevailing advice at the time was to ensure a Haweka balancer was used, and if not, find a service center that had one.

I'd like to think this is well known today and no longer an issue, but it may be a possible explanation for your troubles.

Good luck.
Click to expand...

Are you sure that's correct? I thought they were lug centric which is why they need the Haweka adapter.
 
Bumbo said:
I've said it before and and ill say it again, ill never buy an E load range tire for our trucks.

I bought a set myself and hated it. Sold it at a loss after one off-road trip.
Click to expand...

they stiff. we run ours at 30 psi. next set will be the c rated k02's. Or coopers but the ones i want are only e rated :shrug:
 
honda250xtitan said:
they stiff. we run ours at 30 psi. next set will be the c rated k02's. Or coopers but the ones i want are only e rated :shrug:
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Super stiff... they are not compliant enough off-road. They also feel like crap on-road.

I had the luxury of owning 3 sets of rims and tires for a while, and being able to swap around doing an A,B,C comparison was night and day.

Everything you encounter on or off-road (bumps, chatter, shock) that generally gets absorbed by a softer tire, just ends up getting transferred into your suspension. The end result felt like you actually had less suspension.

The KO2 was the only E load I tried, but after that experience I won't do it again, regardless of the brand. My friend runs the same E load tire on his 2500 HD diesel tow rig with a massive 5th-wheel trailer. Kinda helps put things into perspective about how much load they are actually designed to carry. It's just too much tire for a 4Runner.
 
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Bumbo said:
Super stiff... they are not compliant enough off-road. They also feel like crap on-road.

I had the luxury of owning 3 sets of rims and tires for a while, and being able to swap around doing an A,B,C comparison was night and day.

Everything you encounter on or off-road (bumps, chatter, shock) that generally gets absorbed by a softer tire, just ends up getting transferred into your suspension. The end result felt like you actually had less suspension.

The KO2 was the only E load I tried, but after that experience I won't do it again, regardless of the brand. My friend runs the same E load tire on his 2500 HD diesel tow rig with a massive 5th-wheel trailer. Kinda helps put things into perspective about how much load they are actually designed to carry. It's just too much tire for a 4Runner.
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haha thats me....i run e rated 315/70/17's on my f250 cause thats what the tire is meant for. not for a minivan.

the ko2's were only available in that rating when i bought them though, i knew what we were getting into. but yep next set will be c rated.
 
I have the same setup as you but my BFG's are C rated, I dont have any issues with vibration so far , going on 6K miles now.
 
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