Steering wheel shake and pull. KO2s to blame?

Correct, Load Range E

 

I wish they had a C Load in the 275/70R17 KO2's...only available in E

 

That's what I thought. It's too bad. That seems like such a perfect size for a lightly modified 4Runner, but there's a limited selection of tires in that size.

 

I'm honestly not sure I'll have to look.

 

Just an update - I stopped by America's Tire over the weekend to sort out the issue, and once they took the wheels off the tech notice no weights on the front two wheels...just a patch of residue from where the weights should have been. They scraped off the residue properly and took their time in Road Force balancing again using a Hunter machine.

Drove out of the shop and straight to the freeway...back to smooth sailing.

 

I had that with a set as well. I ended up taking off each tire and replacing it with the spare from the factory. Since I didn’t change tire sizes, I finally found the tire that was whack and the dealership replaced it with a new tire and the shake went away. I had been to 3 dealerships and each had a different tire balance system. It wasn’t the rim or a driveline like the toyota dealer claimed.

 

The crown on the road.

I recently had an alignment and it still pulls to the right sometimes pretty hard. It's annoying but it's something we don't normally think of when it comes to how the vehicle handles on the road. Food for thought. https://www.slideshare.net/aaqibiqbal940/roads-and-pavements-ppt

 

21 ORP with only 3800 miles. KO2s 265s, stock suspension, FN FX Pro wheels. Needed alignment when i drove off lot. Dealer aligned and now i need alignment again. tracks to the right always. Had the KO2s since the second day so have no baseline to compare to. All i know is this thing wont stay aligned.

 

Hi! I just bought 2022 ORP from toyota Carlsbad that came with K02s but i have the shimmy that starts at 50mph , went back to service and they sent me to ORP in Escondido and they did balance(road force) & alignment but it still the same!! Any idea or do you still have the problem? My track is only 300 miles yet!

 

It’s amazing that if people would just put some Michelin ms2’s on their 4 runners, we would not have posts like this.

I do have load range C ko2’s on my 4 runner and that are ok, they suck in rain and every once in a while I have to get them rebalanced to be smooth. My brother had load range E and they were a nightmare for him, they are just to much for our light 4runners.

 

What size and load range?

OEM wheels?

There are plenty of tires that will balance perfectly, including KO2's. I've had 3 sets of LT tires, none of which have any issues.

I do agree that load range E is unnecessary for most of us. But, MT's generally come in LT/E only. Even though they're overkill as far as load range, they can be balanced and smooth.

 

I think that is a very valid factor. I have a feeling if I get KO2 (or any Load C / E heavy tire) on my TRD Pro wheels I might have problems. I notice when ever I get out of the trail until the mud and rock chips clear out from tires I get vibration. Vs I did not notice this problem on TRD Offroad wheels. All my 4runners wheel balanced at the same DiscountTire shop for RoadForce balance.

 

I had 265 KO2 on my 16 Trail for 72k miles (rotated every 5k) until I traded her in for my current 22 ORP and never had a noticeable shimmy or vibration.

 

took it back to off road warehouse (second trip) that installed these add ons and asked for a specific road force balance although they said they did a RFB at the first time but fingers crossed
Here is the picture of the setup ;

 

Ask for a printout after they RFB it. If there are any tires above 20, then you know that's the culprit. Ask them to re-do that tire until it's below 20. If they can't, have them warranty that tire and get a new one that will go below 20.

 

I have since swapped for Wildpeaks. Had a balance issue at first but nothing a road force didnt fix. The wildpeaks are heavy but im happy with them. No shimmy or shake. I have experienced that certain shops are better than others with getting the weights right. My wildpeaks did shake at 50 when i first got them installed. Had to find a discount tire with competent employees.

 

I am in San Diego as well , just went today for a second time for the balance and technician said it was out off balance and he did swap the place of the tires and said he did dynamic balance , also said that he could never get RFB right so that’s why he did dynamic balancing. Honestly it improved but it still has the vibrations, sometimes it’s more depending on the road conditions and sometimes it’s less. I don’t know what else to do other than going back to them and saying it’s not done properly but that might not work again because if they can’t get it right, they can’t get it right unless there is an issue with something else which would be surprising since this is a brand new 2022 ORP. Any suggestions? Which discount tire shop did you go to if you don’t mind me asking? Or the name of the technician that did your tires? I am desperate lol

 

Discount Tire in Rancho San Diego finally got the balance correct

 

Great to know that it can be fixable! I still have vibrations but not as bad as before, should I bring it back or accept this outcome and get used to it? By the way once they get it right does it stay the same even after tire rotations and all? Because if you go somewhere else or someone else does the balancing they still can get it wrong right? I wonder if that’ll put you back in the same spot with a shimmy

 

Go to the other Discount tire and let them do it correctly.

You'll be so much happier.

My shimmy has been gone for 70,000 miles now after 1 proper balance.

If all 4 tires are properly balanced (as they should be) you will not have problems after tire rotations.

 

Take it here they will get it done.

 

Yeah I just called them and they said if ORW can’t then we probably can’t and he suggested that a tire might be in fault or something else was going on

 

Even though I have warranty and it’s a brand new car I still have to spend extra to get it fixed. I mean at this point I wouldn’t mind paying if it’ll be fixed. But what if the tire&wheels or lift job is the cause then I’d be wasting time&money

 

Yeah, it's a tough spot to be in.

If it was me, this is what I would do:

I'd go to that Discount Tire in Rancho San Diego and explain your situation. Let them know you're interested in a Road Force Balance, but you've already paid for a bunch of balances and don't want to pay for another one if it's just going to yield the same results. However, if they find they can't RFB properly because you have a bad tire, you'll happily buy a tire from them and pay for the balance if they give you the old tire back.

Then take the old tire back to the shop you bought it at and return it. Also ask if you can get some money back from the balance they were not able to perform correctly.

Or you could just put up with the shimmy

 

Thanks for replying! I honestly really love the K02 s look but today I have been offered to change the tires to Falken or Toyo, I am kinda afraid that if the issue persists then I’d be giving up the K02’s. Should I go get balancing done before I gave up on these tires or my best bet is to get new set off tires since they will change it for free? Which one would you all recommend? I had my eyes on Falkens

 

My opinion is that it's a bit of a gamble.

I say that because any tires can have the same balancing issues.

Maybe you're lucky and you get a set that is perfect and you have no vibes whatsoever. Or you put the new tires on and the same person who balanced your old tires is balancing these and they run into the same problem.

Bottom line, our trucks are very sensitive to balancing and a shop that can balance a tire properly is crucial.

 

^^^All of this!

I wouldn't discourage anyone from getting Wildpeaks. Based on reviews here and on Tacomaworld, they seem like a better overall tire than the KO2.

But, some folks have had balancing problems with them, as well. Chances are, you won't. But, most people don't have balancing problems with KO2's, either. So, it's not a guaranteed solution.

 

Update: so after second time going back to get balance the technician did a dynamic balance and it felt much better almost 80 -85 percent better with the K02s but I still was afraid it would come back so I went ahead and let them swap the tires. Today they swapped with P285 wildpeaks but now it’s P rated. So not sure if this was a good decision at all, nevertheless the car feels so much better like SUV and the difference is day & night

 

P rated shouldn't be an issue, unless you're off-roading a lot, or driving in areas where punctures are a concern. It's good to hear you got it resolved!

 

Just installed a set of BFG on my new Trail Edition, I'm having no issue's. I did make sure to get the correct load range "C". They had a set of "E" they tried to sell me, but I refused them. Made them order a correct set of "C" before installation. I found the BFG tire number is 10892 for a "C" load range tire with Raised Black Letter ( not white ) stock tire size LT265/70R17 C BW 112S