2022 with Steering Wheel Shake - Need Advice

If you have ever experienced the death wobbles in a Wrangler, it will make you forget about the slight vibration the 4Runner has. I had new KO2's put on this past spring and it was perfect- zero wobble. I just rotated the tires after 6K, and now there is intermittent wobble, but only between 60 and 65 MPH. Above or below no issues. BTW, "reputable" tire shops like Discount and Firestone are high-volume shops, and it doesn't behoove them to spend extra time making sure each tire and wheel is perfectly balanced. For most run of the mill drivers, good enough is fine. Discount once put 16 half-ounce weights on one of my Wrangler's wheels, with one row of 10 weights and then the other 6 stuck right on top of the bottom row. There was also tape left over all over the rim indicating that they had tried other combinations and removed the weights. I was so pissed I removed every single weight and it drove fine. So much for "professionals".

 

I'm kind of surprised that 3 pages into this thread and nobody's mentioned excessive road force as a potential cause. You can have a perfectly (statically or dynamically) balanced tire and if it has too high of a road force number, you're still going to get some shake.

OP, when you get your tires rebalanced, make sure they use a (recently calibrated) Hunter Road Force Balancer and ask what the road force numbers are. Toyota (and Lexus) both have standards on maximum road force allowed. (Lexus requires lower numbers.) If the tires are within specs, put the tires with the lowest road force numbers on the front.

 

That doesn't help once you rotate them.

I haven't had any issues with this. My KO2's, my Toyos, and my Yokohamas have all been smooth on the road. Any time I have had a wobble, a rebalance at my favorite shop always gets them right.

 

Yessir. Body on frame.

I read about so many having to balance and rebalance and still having the shimmy. That sucks.

 

FWIW my daughter finally had this issue diagnosed yesterday at Toyota. In her case one of her aftermarket tires are out of round.

 

Agreed, but if the tires don't have road force numbers greater than the Toyota standard, they're not going to replace them, so that's as good as you're going to get.

 

True. I replaced them myself. Not because of balance issues, but because they sucked ass in snow.

 

I question if it's tire balance. I'm still dealing with this after three wheel/tire combinations. The reason I question tire balance is the fact that the steering shake is random on exactly the same commute every day. I've never had a vehicle that decided on certain days to move the tire weights. Some days smooth, some days shake (no temp differences that would lead to large changes in tire pressure). All mine have been RF balanced with a very low number, little variation, with hardly any weights (TRD Pro wheels). I can't remember the numbers right now but I was impressed when I saw the last spec sheet. Until a few days later.

 

How would you describe the “return to center” tendency of the steering wheel? Does it seem to want to stay where you put t he steering wheel without much tendency to unwind? I noticed this with mine, I think they are set up this way.

The reason I bring this up is because I believe that increasing the caster of the alignment would increase return to center, and the resulting increase in stability might keep the shimmy from happening. Might be worth a try on your next alignment…ask them to max out your caster.

 

Thanks. My service guy and I discussed the castor during the last alignment. I'm at 3.0 now so it could be higher, but RTC and general steering behavior is quite good except for one thing, which is the handling in high wind. This girl tends to wander a bit more than I'd expect, given my previous three SUV's and Jeep Wrangler. She's a handful in a crosswind, but this is my first 4R, so I don't have a reference on what to expect. I do have a .25" spacer on the passenger side and a .5" on the driver's. Alignment was done afterward. Shake issues present since day one (well actually day 3) before spacers to correct for lean.

Like my truck, but not love. If I didn't constantly wonder how it was going to drive from day to day I'd love it and start sinking some mod money. Being a previous Rubicon owner I'm no stranger to that.

 

Toyota dealer told me they only warranty alignment and balancing for 12k miles.

 

I get the same issue when temp swings start taking place. Mine is totally related to temps and tire pressures. If my tires drop 2-3 psi, i will get a slight wobble at about 55. So when I notice the wobble, just putting in a little air kills the issue. I have a '17 pro with oem wheels and tires (original tires still). Hope this helps.

 

Are you using stock pressures?

 

I agree that road force variation is the likely culprit behind many 4-Runner "shimmy" concerns. I don't know if the dealer will tell you the Toyota spec for maximum road force variation. I found this GM service bulletin that suggests 15 pounds as the limit. I think it's smart to ask for the actual numbers (or better yet see the numbers on the Hunter). Frankly I would not trust a dealer that says "we might make it worse" since that's basically saying that they do not know what they are doing.

 

I intend to try getting my tires Road Forced. My front shimmy starts at 45 mph, shimmies 'till around 60. Drive for 10 minutes, come to a stop and then leave....no more shimmy.

I've never seen tires unbalance themselves, then rebalance themselves after 5-10 minutes....every time I leave with the truck. I go through this every morning.
Also went thru it on my FJ. In both cases, the tires were 305/50R20's, but different brands. I refuse to believe it's a case of tires unbalanced, but I'm fed-up and want to take care of this once and for all!

 

Frustrating issue for sure. Mine is fine ......Until I hit 60mph then the shimmy begins . Below 60pmph and i am fine. had the tires balnced again last month and it got better, not gone, but better. (I Think I need an alignment check and tire pressure change)

 

Is the dealership taking care of any of this under warranty?

 

Of course not. They claim my aftermarket wheels/tires are the issue. And to be honest, there was no such shimmy on stock wheels/tires (just as with my FJ), though that really shouldn't be an issue. I've run bigger/wider wheels/tires forever.

Until Toyota, I've never experienced this. I'm 61, been a driver/car owner since 1977.

 

I hate to say this, but my son is a Toyota / Lexus Certified Service Technician, and I showed him this post. He says Toyota will back the dealer up on aftermarket anything not being their warranty problem. That also explains why you're asking us for help. I'm going back to my original statement that you need to go back to whomever you bought the aftermarket tires and wheels from and get them Road Force Balanced and see what the RF numbers show. It's their (and your) problem now.

 

I appreciate your input. Going back to the outfit that sold me the tires/rims is out of the question, they're way too far out of town.
I will try to find a place that has a Hunter Road-Force balancing machine, though I'm skeptical that this will do anything. But I'm at my wits end, so here I come, take my $$ LOLOL

 

How do you do a chalk test? What does it tell you?

 

It would depend on your alignment. it would tell you if you have any anomalies in the shape of your tires. if you had areas that still had chalk on them vs other areas, you'd know the areas with chalk were higher than areas without chalk.

 

I am back from my trip - put about 1600 miles on the 4R. Vibes still there, shimmy comes and goes - still most prevalent at 55-60mph, and is less noticeable when tire pressures are lower (cold mornings - tires 31psi). My plan is to rotate my front tires to the rear to see how it changes. Then, will have the dealer balance the tires and see where that takes me.

I did notice a steady vibration at higher speeds which concerns me, but given the tire situation, I am fairly certain it is related to the tires. Will update you on the progress.

 

Just wanted to add in here that I have a 2022 TRD Sport with 1700 miles in it. Last Friday, I installed new set of wheels/tires, Method MR316 and Continental TerrainContact AT 9n 265/70/17. I have a slight shimmy at 65. My tire pressure is at 32. I will first try setting it to 33. btw, I got the wheels/tires from Tire Rack. I assume that they road force balance their wheels/tires before shipping them.

 

There can be several reasons, however, the intensified road feedback/wobble can be attributed to larger rims/wheels or 1-in-4 of your tires has a variation/defect.

Why it could be your rims: Larger wheels require excellent manufacturing and craftsmanship, otherwise shoddy work can make life hell trying to balance any tire. A good sign a wheel if out of spec is to check how many wheel weights are needed to square up the balance on any given wheel. Also, the larger wheel is going to transmit more feedback into the steering wheel, thus amplifying any issues.

Why it could be a tire: Only one tire needs to be defective for your entire ride quality to degrade. It could be tread thickness along the wall or 1mm off in roundness.


Either way, the frequency of the wheel/tire rotation resonates perfectly for you at ~60 mph- creating the wobble feedback into suspension. And that's why a lot experience the wobble at different speeds.

 

Took re-balancing mine 3 times to correct. Twice were road force.

 

Does Discount Tire use Road Force or do you have to ask for it?

 

I would want that in writing before assuming that.

 

I'd like to know that, also. I've never looked into it, as I've never had any balancing issues with DT, and have used them for decades.

 

Remember, just because you get something Road Force Balanced, that doesn't guarantee perfect balance. If the Road Force number is too high, everything is out the window. The whole idea is to identify a possible problem so that appropriate corrective action can be taken. This might include dismounting, rotating, remounting, then rebalancing a tire, or even replacing a tire with excessive road force.