4runner that has no steering wheel vibration

Last week, my 4runner had a road force balance job done in it. I have Method wheels with Continental tires in 265×70×17. The wheels are 17×8.5. Before the road balancing last week, it was terrible. The vibration has been reduced by about 80%. I initially though it was fully solved. It still has a little bit of vibration at over 60. I'm here at the dealership now and the assistant service manager and tech were basically saying that 4 runners with aftermarket wheels will have steering wheel vibration. Does anyone have aftermarket wheels and are vibration free?

 

Well I have TRD wheels and have a very slight vibration on certain roads from 50-60 even after road force. Its annoying, but so much better than it was.

 

My brand new 2022 had vibration on the way home from buying it! Air pressure was set at 50PSI too.
I had my TRD wheels and Nitto Ridge Grapplers waiting at home. They were switched out at 150 miles. Stock size. I had them road forced balanced. Smooth as can be at all speeds now.

 

They have basically given up on my case, other than switching back to the oem wheels/tires. Is it worth a try going to an independent auto shop to have another try at balancing it again? btw, they put 38 lbs of pressure on the tires. I might play with that too.

 

60-65 mph Vibration then goes away once past those speeds. Stock tires, new tires, another set of new tires doesn't go away. Not a big deal I just don't stay at those speeds 75 plus is smooth as silk.

 

Yes, it is worth trying someone else.

4Runners are just sensitive to front end balance. Very sensitive.

Try finding someone with a Hunters Road Force Balance machine. Have them show you the road force readings from each tire. You want the readings to be as low as possible. If you're seeing tires above 20, then they are most likely your culprit. Below 10 on all tires would be ideal.

 

Sounds like pure BS. The key question to ask them is WHY would aftermarket wheels always lead to steering wheel vibration? If the wheels aren't balanced they can be balanced with weights. If the wheels were WAY out of round (or if they were perfectly round) then road force balance might not work...but it doesn't seem possible that all aftermarket wheels are out of round. The reality is that all tires have road force variation (R1H) so if you have steering wheel vibration it's likely that your front tire(s) are at the high side of the specification for R1H. Ask for the R1H numbers that they measured for your tires.

 

I had no vibrations with OEM wheels and tires (2016 Pro). Switched to the 275 KO2s at 85k miles end of 2018 and had normal bigger tire noise and normal very minimal vibrations, nothing in steering wheel. Kept psi at 37 and no more problems. Switched to steelies (FJ Cruiser spares). No vibrations. Went on an intensive off-road trip (lots of pucker factor and low speed crawling, heavy use of locker) for about a week (Oct. 2021 140k miles). After that I had big vibrations at 55-75 mph, very pronounced steering wheel shake. Dealership looked it over one day when in for reg maintenance. They really really suspected the tires. Drove it like this for a month. Got another DISCOUNT TIRE normal rotation end of 2021. Vibration stayed tried different psi changes, no help. Just got an OME lift with medium springs at 155k as OE struts were finally leaking this week. No change in bad steering vibration. Took it in to Discount and had it road force balanced today, also one wheel threw a weight during the past month. No more vibrations. Tires now at 45 psi. They confirmed wheels not bent. Probably will air down a little and see if I can reduce some teeth chattering stiffness of new lift until I add more weight (sliders, etc.). I think you will have to keep trying different combos and trouble shooting. It is frustrating but so far this forum and the other one have been spot on on root causes and solutions, at least in my case any way. Happy to answer any questions.

 

Yes. 2 sets, smooth as glass. Your dealer sucks.

Absolutely! It's worth it to look for a shop that specializes in off-road vehicles. I've had mine wobble when balanced at a chain, then be perfect when rebalanced at an off-road shop.

38 PSI doesn't make sense with that tire size. If the tires are P metric (SL) they should be at 32. If they are LT, the "correct" pressure is 44, although many run a lower PSI for better ride and even treadwear.

 

Yep, get a slight vibration only around 55-60 and then goes away.

 

I have Continental TerrainContact A/T in 265/70/17. I lowered the pressure down to 36.

Unfortunately, the nearest Discount Tire is more than 70 miles away from where I am. I will take it to another shop in 2 weeks time.

 

Brand/style of tire doesn't really matter. Tire pressure is based on size, GVWR, and load rating. If they're SL tires, which they probably are, they should be run at 32 as spec'ed in the door jamb.

Discount unfortunately was never able to balance my tires properly. I had to have it done at an off-road shop to get them right.

 

It does seem those that get wheels added at port are if not the only affected, seem to be the bulk. My Venture has been just fine in regards to vibration thank goodness. Wonder if the suspension stuff they do there has something to do with it?

 

Are you guys talking strictly vibration or a steering wheel shimmy?

 

I experienced just the opposite. I had the dreaded vibration/shimmying between 55-60 when I had my OEM wheels. Still had the vibration after I installed KO2s. The vibration didn't go away until after I installed aftermarket wheels. So I'm not sure if maybe my OEM wheels just weren't balanced or what...very weird. But yeah like others said above, what your dealer is telling you is way off/wrong, but again I'm not surprised they would tell you something like that.

 

This was my experience. The stock Nitto Terra Graplers on TRD wheels needed to be balanced after I took delivery. I had a vibration which for some reason seemed more prominent when tires were cold between 59 and 62mph. My indy shop attempted to balance the tires, added a crap ton of weights on the rims and the vibrations stopped. Took it to the dealer; they removed all the excess weight (and left all the adhesive residue on the wheels from the weights they removed) and re-balanced with less weight and there are no vibrations at all.