Yet another 4Runner wheel balance problem...

[seatia]

If the hub and/or bearings were the problem, wouldn't the steering wheel shimmy occur no matter which wheels were on the front? I'm not an expert on these things, so maybe I'm overlooking something.

I'm rotating at 6000-7000 miles, I don't think that's excessive. All the extra visits have been due to the steering wheel shimmy, when it occurs. How many miles do you usually go between rotations?

You see wear first on the front tires, on a vehicle that is usually rear-wheel drive?

BTW, I've not paid anything extra to DT for all this extra work. I bought the tires there so the rotation/balance and roadforcing has been provided at no cost. Even when it has been done multiple times. However, now that we're at this point, they don't seem to have any answers.

As for rotation patterns, that's another subject. I've found that different DT shops don't follow the same patterns.

If you do find runout on the rim, it would be prudent to go ahead and test the hub anyway while you are set up. It's just being thorough
Shimmying over a period of time will cause extra wear on things including the steering rack and joints.
But you are completely correct, it sounds like a wheel or tire or both right now.

I don't rotate unless there is noticeable wear.
As an example, on my car there is none so far and I'm and 31k miles on the new tires.
The 4 runner has approx 4500 miles since new and still look like new.
Front tires usually show wear faster simply because of the turning involved.
My ex, the Uturn queen would wear out a pair of front tire in no time.
Uturns are very hard on tire wear.

It's not surprising the tire places are only doing the minimum required for free.
And even if paid, I don't know if many would be able to properly measure with a dial indicator.

If you caan't find a solution put the shakey tire on the back at least.
If you were local, I would do your runout test.
Good luck, but just take my word for not cross rotating tires. :wink2:

 

[85GT-79FJ40]

I bought mine with 35k miles on it about 2 years ago. Stock tires were smooth as glass. 3 days later swapped them out for Grabber ATX tires in stock size on the stock wheels. No problem. obviously not as smooth being an A/T tire but still no vibration issues whatsoever. Even ran them with spidertrax spacers for six months after I lifted it. Decided to put Method wheels and 285's on it 2 months or so ago.... Started with Falken's and they shook horribly. Had them balanced I think 4 times last time being road force where 2 were found to out of round. Got a local dealer to warranty them which was great. They installed BFG A/T's which has always been my go-to A/T tire for the last 25 years. Horrible horrible shaking. Worse than the falkens. Swapped those out 3 days later for the new Toyo open country AT3's. Smooth and quiet as the stock tires but still shaking.... Finally brought the truck to the dealer and had a master tech road force them. All single digits now and it's smooth as glass 70 percent of the time. Still occasionally shakes from 55-65 but then I go around a corner or use the brakes and it stops. Weird. Something else has to be going on.

 

[RusPro17]

Hey don’t feel bad. I went thru 3 different sets of Falkens stock size on my Pro and all shaked between 50 60 mph. Put my oem Nitto’s back on. No issue. I believe the 4runner does not like the aggressive tires.

 

[AZ Craig]

Hey don’t feel bad. I went thru 3 different sets of Falkens stock size on my Pro and all shaked between 50 60 mph. Put my oem Nitto’s back on. No issue. I believe the 4runner does not like the aggressive tires.

Nope, Falkens are just notoriously out of round and very difficult to balance.

 

[702_SR5]

...Finally brought the truck to the dealer and had a master tech road force them. All single digits now and it's smooth as glass 70 percent of the time. Still occasionally shakes from 55-65 but then I go around a corner or use the brakes and it stops. Weird. Something else has to be going on.

As described in the OP, I took mine to dealer too. But I dunno if it was a master tech who did it. Though I'd discussed the matter--and all the efforts made to fix it--with them beforehand.

Long story short, after I got it back, the same wheel was causing the same steering wheel shimmy. :wacko:

 

[Big B]

As described in the OP, I took mine to dealer too. But I dunno if it was a master tech who did it. Though I'd discussed the matter--and all the efforts made to fix it--with them beforehand.

Long story short, after I got it back, the same wheel was causing the same steering wheel shimmy. :wacko:

702_ which DT are you dealing with in town? I have the same problem on my 20 trdor w/ aftermarket rims(vision) and tires (ko2s)

 

[CutthroatSlam]

I bought mine with 35k miles on it about 2 years ago. Stock tires were smooth as glass. 3 days later swapped them out for Grabber ATX tires in stock size on the stock wheels. No problem. obviously not as smooth being an A/T tire but still no vibration issues whatsoever. Even ran them with spidertrax spacers for six months after I lifted it. Decided to put Method wheels and 285's on it 2 months or so ago.... Started with Falken's and they shook horribly. Had them balanced I think 4 times last time being road force where 2 were found to out of round. Got a local dealer to warranty them which was great. They installed BFG A/T's which has always been my go-to A/T tire for the last 25 years. Horrible horrible shaking. Worse than the falkens. Swapped those out 3 days later for the new Toyo open country AT3's. Smooth and quiet as the stock tires but still shaking.... Finally brought the truck to the dealer and had a master tech road force them. All single digits now and it's smooth as glass 70 percent of the time. Still occasionally shakes from 55-65 but then I go around a corner or use the brakes and it stops. Weird. Something else has to be going on.

BFG A/Ts are probably one of the worst quality tires out there. Love the tread design, but hate their quality. I guess the fact that they don't even offer a warranty on them should be sending us a huge message.

I've been running Cooper AT3s and mixed results. Had one punctured through the tread while doing some pretty tame off roading. Now I've had one from that same set start to have the belts separate and another severely out of round.

 

[pointman]

What tires aren't going to run into this issue? I keep reading about how "X tire" has reasons to cause such vibrations. I want a more aggressive tread but not at the cost of these sorts of issues.

 

[Wolfman’s Brother]

What tires aren't going to run into this issue? I keep reading about how "X tire" has reasons to cause such vibrations. I want a more aggressive tread but not at the cost of these sorts of issues.

Now you’re starting to get it. Pick a tire, and you can find someone with a 5th gen complaining of steering wheel vibration and the saga they went through to find THEIR fix.

Pick the tires you want, get them roadforce balanced as well as humanly possible, and figure out what you’re willing to live with and how far you’ll go to get there. Proceed accordingly.

My shiz rides like silk after a RF balance on E load KO2s which people love to sh1t on here, but the rear has 3-4 weights per tire and the front has none. I’m sure when I go to rotate, I’ll have them RF balanced again in hopes they can do better but who TF knows with these vehicles. I might be forced to keep the less balanced wheels in the back for their entire life. Whatever. If it pisses me off enough I’ll go get a Bronco.

 

[RusPro17]

I have read many post on tire issues on the 4runner and seem the majority tires are always the more aggressive tire.

 

[ScoMey]

I have read many post on tire issues on the 4runner and seem the majority tires are always the more aggressive tire.

I put Michelin Defender LTX's on last fall... one of the tamest tires around, and I'm currently in the process of getting rid of the shimmy's. They were fine in the winter, but as soon as the weather got warm this spring... shimmy at 65-70+mph. The part that sucks the most is that my previous tires - Cooper AT-W's went 65K miles without any steering wheel shimmy issues - ever.

It's not just 'aggressive' tires that can cause the issue.

 

[Wolfman’s Brother]

I have read many post on tire issues on the 4runner and seem the majority tires are always the more aggressive tire.

If you scurred go to church.

 

[RusPro17]

I put Michelin Defender LTX's on last fall... one of the tamest tires around, and I'm currently in the process of getting rid of the shimmy's. They were fine in the winter, but as soon as the weather got warm this spring... shimmy at 65-70+mph. The part that sucks the most is that my previous tires - Cooper AT-W's went 65K miles without any steering wheel shimmy issues - ever.

It's not just 'aggressive' tires that can cause the issue.

It’s good to know other tires are causing issues. Hard to believe that the 4runner is so sensitive for wheel
Shake.

 

[FullTime4]

My Cooper AT3 4S (265/70R17 on OEM TRD OR wheels) are causing me vibration headaches as well.

I've been back to Discount Tire 4 times after the original purchase visit. The first two return trips (to different locations, a week apart, less than 100 miles driven) the techs indicated the Road Force was "within spec" and "under 20", but out of balance both times. I finally got someone who knew that they were doing (after a sternly worded phone call to the manager) who indicated two of the tires were over 20lbs of road force, with the highest being 36! Apparently the other two technicians were lying about the numbers. He force-matched all four tires (finally, I've been asking for this every trip) and got the numbers into an "acceptable" range (36 went to 27), but there was still shaking at highway speeds of 70+ mph. I returned, and they replaced the two tires with the highest RF numbers. Now all four are below 20, but there's still the slightest shaking at speeds of 80mph. An alignment did not help but the dealer tech noticed the vibration, and recommended a road force balance . It's still not perfect, and I'm starting to think (convince myself) the vibrations I'm feeling at this point are the effect of significant wind resistance on the semi-aggressive tread and limited model's stiff XREAS suspension at that speed, and I am tired of taking time off work to sit at Discount Tire for hours at a time for something that should have been done right the first time. I was ready to call the situation good enough, and the TPMS light came on the other day :fish:. I'm guessing a sensor was damaged during the last visit.

If you have to return once, demand a force match balance Force Matching 180 Procedure - Hunter Engineering Co - YouTube and request to see the numbers so you can begin to diagnose what is going on. In my experience, most techs are kids who don't really give a shit about service beyond the green check box on the balancer.

Next time, I'll be getting something other than the Cooper AT34S, and I'll be going somewhere other than Discount Tire. I would request a replacement set of tires, but I'm not confident those tires will be defect-free and I'm not confident they'll be mounted properly.

 

[obxbird]

Just swapped out my KO2's for a set of Falken Wildpeaks AT3W's and they are smooth as glass. Compliments to Discount Tires in Newport News VA. Tires were road force balanced and they are perfect. This is my 2nd set of Wildpeaks. 1st set apparently were bad and they could not balance them. Switched to KO2's...biggest mistake ever. Road like a tank and still was not balanced very well. Went back to DT and they ordered another set of Falkens and has them installed this morning and I'm very pleased with them. Didn't realize that KO2's had such bad ratings. Wish I had done my homework first.

 

[axel1]

I still need to figure out my issue - at this point I'm almost positive it's not the tires but I'm not really sure what it is.

If the truck's been sitting for a while (at least half a day or so) I'll get pretty bad shake as soon as I get up to 55-60mph. But, after 15 minutes or so of driving it'll settle down. Still present, but very mild and not annoying enough to worry about. That makes me think it's either all four tires being slightly out of round and heating up as I drive, or something else in the suspension that starts out stiff and loosens up during the drive.

I've had the tires rotated and balanced, road force and all, five or six times over the past year, whenever I was in the shop for other things. Never made a lick of difference. At this point it has to be something further up the drivetrain but, like I said, it doesn't really bother me enough to start dumping money into the problem to try and find the root cause. Just mildly annoying.

 

[85GT-79FJ40]

I still need to figure out my issue - at this point I'm almost positive it's not the tires but I'm not really sure what it is.

If the truck's been sitting for a while (at least half a day or so) I'll get pretty bad shake as soon as I get up to 55-60mph. But, after 15 minutes or so of driving it'll settle down. Still present, but very mild and not annoying enough to worry about. That makes me think it's either all four tires being slightly out of round and heating up as I drive, or something else in the suspension that starts out stiff and loosens up during the drive.

I've had the tires rotated and balanced, road force and all, five or six times over the past year, whenever I was in the shop for other things. Never made a lick of difference. At this point it has to be something further up the drivetrain but, like I said, it doesn't really bother me enough to start dumping money into the problem to try and find the root cause. Just mildly annoying.

When cold that's just flat spotting of the tires. All but the factory Dunlops I have experienced that with.

On mine I have noticed that when it's shaking if I take a moderately hard corner it almost always stops as I enter the corner and usually stays gone.

I'm thinking my problem is lower control arm bushings simply being too soft. I want to go urethane but I don't think they are available as a direct fit for a 5th gen. I may get them for a 4th gen along with the cam bolts for a 4th gen and see if I can make it work.

 

[702_SR5]

702_ which DT are you dealing with in town? I have the same problem on my 20 trdor w/ aftermarket rims(vision) and tires (ko2s)

I've been to the ones at 4840 S. Jones (Jones & Tropicana); at 3830 Blue Diamond Road (Blue Diamond Rd & Valley View Blvd); and at Charleston & Rainbow.

The latter is where I bought the tires. I also went there a few days ago to have the routine rotation & balance done. So now the problem child wheel is in the RR position.

I then completed a lengthy (400+ miles) road trip that included some dirt driving. I occasionally feel a slight vibration that seems to come from the rear. But no noticeable steering wheel shimmy.

This is probably the last rotation for this set of tires. But I don't know what I will replace them with. :noidea:

I do love that I've never had a flat tire running the BFG's. Including the ATA's I've run on multiple 4WD's. And the MT's on my Wrangler Rubicon. Despite lots of driving on rocky desert and mountain roads and trails. And it sounds like other tires have given 4Runner owners fits. :suspicious:

Haven't yet figured out how to manage a DIY runout test on the wheel. Since I don't have a floor jack or jackstands. And the one DIY garage in Las Vegas went out of business.

 

[702_SR5]

Just swapped out my KO2's for a set of Falken Wildpeaks AT3W's and they are smooth as glass...

Are you using the 115T (Load Range SL) or 121S (Load Range E1)?

With the driving I do, I would prefer the E1's (10 ply rating) vs the SL's (4 ply rating).

 

[pointman]

According to the Toyota dealer the vehicle requires; i.)Road Force Balancing ii.) "cone" attachment on balancing machine iii.) torqued to spec as over tightening will cause a shimmy.