Is slight steering wheel vibration normal with AT tires?

35 all around. And I live in AZ where it’s suuuuper hot

 

For LT285/70/17's the pressure, based on the recommended OEM pressure and size, is 38. I run 38 on my 285 Toyo AT3's and it seems good.

For SL (P-metric) it recommends 26, but I don't think I would run that low

Here's the calculator I'm using:

 

Thanks so much! I appreciate the info!

 

Little off topic by a while ago I think I remember you saying you had a bit of a shimmy with stock tires and when you upgraded it went away? Is my memory true?

 

Yes. The shitty Dunlops had the standard ~60 MPH wheel wiggle. And, I've only had It with the Toyos and the Yokohamas when I have a clump of mud in a wheel, or when I lost wheel weights "somehow."

 

Thanks, calling my tire place now! The time has come.

 

I'm running 38 in sl rated, so I'd jack your up to 42 and test it out. If its to firm just lower psi to achieve the ride stiffness your after.

 

I think I finally got rid of the shimmy.

I changed Falken Wild Peak AT3W 265/70/17 to 265/65/18 Michelin Defender. I took the wheels and tires to discount tire for road force/dynamic balancing and tipped the tech $20 for taking his time and not scratching my wheels. He told me it's the best he could balance and if the truck still shakes, it's not the wheel balance.

I drove multiple times on the same highway where I would normally feel shimmy at around 60 mph, it is very smooth now.

 

I do not know. Good question. Perhaps that’s why Toyota doesn’t recommend that rotation pattern.

 

But practically every tire shop does it, and other manufacturers recommend that too.

 

I've been rotating mine so that they change direction on my last 4 sets of tires with great results. They wear evenly, and have great tread life.

 

99.99% of the time, all 47 billion "I have a shake on my runner?" Threads and issues are the tires mate. I stopped reading them, and replying to them, as they would get so fucking off the rails, over a out of round/not balanced decently rubber.

 

It's funny though, the tech asked me what vehicle those wheels go on to, I said a 4Runner, and he commented that he gets a lot of 4Runner vibration complaints and his opinion is that they are very sensitive to imbalance and also non OEM wheel specs.

That's why I decided to upsize the wheel size from 17" to 18" so that the wheels are easier to balance.
Also I went from -10mm offset to 0mm, not OEM but closer to OEM offset.

 

"The best he could balance" doesn't sound very good to me. It's either balanced, or it isn't. I definitely wouldn't take my vehicle back there.

They definitely are. I'm not sure why, and nobody else seems to know, either. But, if your tires are balanced perfectly, it shouldn't shimmy.

 

They way he explains to me is that it's more like a range of acceptance in terms of being balanced rather than a yes and no binary choice.
The following is just my speculation:

I don't know the specifics, but let's assume that the balancing machine they use has a threshold of 1.5% of acceptable vibration, and most installers in a hurry can balance it to 1.2%, and someone taking his time carefully placing the weights, massaging the beads, can get it to 0.8% something like that. So, to the machine, the 1.2% and 0.8% are both "balanced", but one has less vibration than the other.

I think it kinda makes sense because the weights they are using are pre-cut, and they can only choose a selection of what's available to best approximate it. For example, if they only have 1, 2, 5 grams weights available, they need to come up with 7.5g, the best they can do is just 7g. So there's always some level of imbalance left.

 

I get what you're saying. But, I don't think almost balanced is good enough. Maybe some shops are more meticulous than others. Maybe I'm just lucky, but both sets of my tires are perfectly balanced.

 

Quick update: Took Frankie back to 4 Wheel Parts (initially installed Bilsteins and tires in Oakland, CA) and had them balance and rotate, all good now. I have no steering wheel shimmy so I guess the other shops just couldn’t balance them correctly, including the $225 road force balance at the dealer.

If only I realized there was a 4WP here when I moved I would have gone their first.

 

Keep us updated, every time I had a rebalance it was fine for the next day or so and came back like a stray cat you keep feeding.

 

Frustrating problem! I get the 60mph vibration on the highway only occasionally, and I cannot figure out why. I live with it but, wish I could figure it out.

 

My Tacoma had the vibes. Turns out, my tires were shit

 

I fought these issues for a long time, stock Dunlops, KO2s, General Grabber. Nittos in stock size then worked at first but the wobble came back.

Michelin LTX AT2 solved my problems. That and a small shop with a good tech and the proper 6 lug adapter.

 

I had one bad tire that caused vibration at 65mph. Once located and replaced - no vibration. Bad tire had high spot on it even though it was perfectly balanced. Watch them spin in balancer. If they wobble manufacturer will give you new one due to defect. GL

 

Ever since I got my tires properly balanced 2k miles ago, no vibration.

 

My Wildpeaks on the Tacoma have bad luck. 2 flats & only 2 years old. I’ve patched one & replaced one. First was a brass drill bit then a large screw on the edge of the tire.

My 4Runner has duratracs. 2 years old & there loud as shit. Both sets r 265/70/17

 

I am starting to feel the same way about the wildpeaks...on my 4R. I seem to have to go to discount tire every 5K to get them rotated and road forced balance and then the vibration goes away. I was there today....and took this picture and thought of the gang!

 

My nitto grapplers are great when the pressure is right. 33+ cold and I am fine. 32 and I get shakes between 50 and 60 mph. Got it back from getting my 20k and a torn axel seal replaced, shimmy. Checked pressure…sure enough 32. Added my air back in and bang…no shimmy. Been that way since I got it.

 

Yeah, it’s weird. Seems like a lot, not all but a lot of 4Runners have a certain psi sweet spot when it comes to tires. My ‘10 Limited had a range with Michelin Defenders (which seem to be the least troublesome) and now my ‘22 with Toyo OC AT3’s also has a certain range that it likes. It appears that if I get my “cold” psi dialed in, it doesn’t matter if it’s 95 or 65 outside it’s fine from the start. Similar, on the flip side, if I’m not dialed in for my cold psi, it sucks through any temperature range.

 

I hope my story helps some people out.

I lifted my 4R with 2,000 miles on it. No shimmy until about 14,500 miles. I did an alignment and 2 tire balances with no luck. Took it back to the shop that did the lift and they found that my drivers side UCA was messed up so that was replaced. Still had the shimmy. Did another balance with no luck. Took it back to the shop and they put it up on the lift and ran it in 4WD to look at the shape of the tires. One tire definitely had a wobble to it. They put the wheels and tires on it from another 4R and the wobble went away. Took it back to Discount Tire and they said it was no big deal and balances the tires again. I convinced them to change out the tire in question since I had a cert on the tires and was able to verify that another set of tires resolved the issue. It had to be the tires. Once they replaced the one tire, the issue completely went away.

If someone can't seem to fix the wobble with multiple road force balances, I would suggest trying the wheels and tires from someone that doesn't have the issue to see if it goes away. Discount Tire can balance an out-of-round tire properly and not really notice that it's out of round enough to make a difference. To them, all tires are not perfectly round and if it balances, it's not a defective tire.

 

I have a 21 Pro with the stock Terra Grapplers. It is 18 months old with 30,000 miles and I recently returned from a 20 day / 5,400 mile road trip out west from MD. I have only noticed the shaking steering wheel on two occasions going around 60 mph and it seemed like a brief spell. Maybe I am very lucky in that I apparently don't have an issue or I am just tone deaf to the vibrations. My mountain bike handlebar shimmy's pretty good thru the rock gardens and downhills - maybe that is why I think the 4R is good to go!

 

If your having this shimmy issue, try rotating the tires(yes you'll still have a out of balance tire) but you'll might be able to tell which tire it is.