Go to dealer for tire issue or just buy new tires

Here is the situation I need some advice on: 23 4Runner Trd Pro, 6700 miles

-had slight steer wheel shake since new between 55-65 (very minor and most of the time I forgot about it)
-rotated tires at 5k front to back and the shake became very bad between 55-60
-took to tire shop for road force balance and told them what they need to do per post on the forum - tire shop said one tire is bad (has a spot on the treads that it kind of sinks in - I could see this when we spin the wheel in air, but you do really have to look and feel. Another tire they could not road force below 20. So essentially 2 bad tires.
-so right now at 6700 i am running the original tire configuration from when I bought new
-called 4 dealerships and each of told me something different about what is covered or what they could potentially do (most said unless you got the tire coverage it’s on me), one said they would look at it go from there

so with that all in mind, what would you all do? I feel like overall the dealership is going to be a waste of time and I’ll get nowhere. On the other hand, this is a new vehicle still under warranty and should not be doing this. Are they going to say it’s past 1 yr or 10k for tires/balancing and I have to pay for all this?

I fully expected to get 40k+ miles before buying a new tire set.

 

As unimpressed as I was with the factory tires, I would go ahead and buy new ones and be done with it. For highway tread the Michelin Defender LTX M/S2 has been great so far. Lot of great options for all terrain out there. I don't do anything but light trails and have been happy with the Nitto Ridge Grapplers on my 4runner. They are decent on the highway for an all terrain, but still have enough off road capabilities for my needs. Others have also recommended Wild Peaks, KO3's, and Cooper ATS 4S as great options. Tire rack has some online reviews that might help.

Also, that 60mph shake has been documented here. Some have fixed it with new tires or a balance. Others have struggled and continue to have the issue.

 

This is from Toyota's website. You'll have to contact the tire manufacturer for a refund or replacement. I'm betting they're Nitto's?

 

Agreed @Opie-IN on the documentation of the issue. I have read through a lot and tried to be open to the road force balance process but being told 2 bad tires? I know shit happens. I’m just more at the point due I cut my loss with these and move on. BUT to your point I could do that and still have an issue.

@Borracho Loco yes Nittos. I did see that after calling around was just surprised I got a different story from every service dept. I’m also pretty sure one said potentially they could go through the tire manufacturer if it is indeed a bad tire. But who the heck what they are gonna put me through to get to that point.

 

I have a 21 OR I purchased two years ago with 9k on it and fought this issue from day one. Back and forth from dealer to DT with re balancing and throwing different pressures at the Ridge Grapplers with no solution. After 22k on the grapplers I opted to replace with Toyo AT3’s 2 months ago. Issue resolved. Blown away with the difference in ride and handling and most importantly no steering wheel shake. Hated spending money on something I technically shouldn’t have had too, but it was worth every penny. I wouldn’t hesitate making the change and hope it resolves your issue.

 

That sucks OP. But before buying all new tires I’d call the tire manufacturer and see what they say .
I just two days ago bought a new 24 TRP OR. On the test drive I took it up to 60 on the highway and then let go of the wheel .
It tracked straight and no shake at all . I looked over at the salesman and said “ I’ll take it .
Keep us posted .
Forgot to say my 2010 TE that I bought new also had a little shake at 60 .

 

Never go to a dealership if you can avoid it. I’d only go for catastrophic engine or drive train failure that’s under warranty. Otherwise, all outta pocket.

 

I replaced my factory tires at 600 miles. So my answer was get new tires

 

sorry pal
Most dealers won’t touch the tires, they’re not a warranty item. Similar instance happened to me, my 2014 ram 3500 dually shook like an earthquake at higher speeds. 4 of the tires were out of round, tons of run-out. No way to balance it out, they were blems. Dealers wouldn’t touch it, I took it all the way to the manufacturer and figured I was going to become a problem for them. I ended up meeting with a rep and he told me straight up, when big manufacturers come to them wanting tires they basically strong arm the tire companies and tell them
“We want this many tires, we want them this soon, and this is what we are going to pay for them”
Because Of this, most tire manufacturers are sending everything off the line including blems, seconds, thirds. This rep ended up giving me a set of tires to make up for the bad set I got from my vehicle manufacturer and I honestly loved those tires so much I have bought 6 sets since then and still love them to this day. He said Walmart also accepts low quality tires and pays rock bottom prices for them.
The quality tire shops get firsts, non blems, you may have to just get a tire or two and throw those bad ones away, I doubt you’re gonna get anything out of a dealer, in their eyes tires are like brake pads and they’re gonna call it a wear item in order to get out from under trying to warranty them.

 

I did mine at 400. Toyo AT3s. Better reputation than the Nittos and they have the 3PMSF for winter. Decent money selling the takeoffs but that’s less likely for OP with a defect in one…

 

Thanks all, appreciate the responses. I was leaning towards buying a new set and being done with it. Shouldn’t have to, but such is life. Certainly could be worse.

once I get a new set I’ll post back with how it worked and smooth as butter steering wheel

 

I would just get a new set and try to go through Nitto warranty.

In my experience, dealer service departments usually are unable to actually diagnose any issues, esp if there's no error code for it. I'm new to Toyota but I think this rings true with any brand today. Dealer service departments today are pretty much glorified high-volume oil change and tire rotation/balancing centers. Credit to Toyota for building very reliable cars which don't need much other than regular maintenance, but getting a toyota service tech to diagnose an issue is very difficult at a dealer in my experience. And whether they actually know how to diagnose is a different story-- esp if the tech is under 40yo. Same issue with high-end German brands where the techs simply plug the cars into computers in Germany and they get a prescribed order about what to do-- not a lot of actual diagnosing anymore. anyway, just my opinion in my recent experience.

 

Seems the dealership should have noticed something on your tires before now and informed you. Contact the dealership where you bought and or having the service done and see what they say when you state the obvious. I'd give that a try before buying new right off the bat.
Oh, did you purchase tire/wheel warranty?
If so, that would be covered IIRC.

PSA, I've had tires replaced at the dealership before because of defects when tires were on the vehicle when purchased.