Sgary

I finally got my 4Runner (had a Nissan Xterra for 2 years) and as a bonus I also got a balance problem. In December I bought a "Certified Used" 2000 4Runner 4x4 Limited. The truck had 23,000 miles on it with the stock tires. When I test drove the truck evrything was great, but on my 200 mile trip home I noticed that it had a vibration above 60 mph. Since the tires that came on the truck didn't have much life left on them I decided to get new tires. I thought I would take care of 2 problems at once. I wish I would have known about this problem before I got new tires(BFG A/T ko 265 75 16). The shop I bought the tires from does work for a Toyota body shop I do work for gave me a great deal on the tire but not a good balance. My next step was the dealer I bought the truck from. Two trips later and I still have the vibration, and a bunch of nicks and scratches on my factory wheels. After reading all of the posts to this and other sites as well as Gadget's site I think I can finally solve my problem. The one thing I have noticed though is that everyone is saying Toyota wheels are lug centric, I dont think this is correct. For a wheel to be lug centric the center hole in the wheel must be larger than the part of the hub or drum that fits through it, and the lug nuts have a tapered surface that fit to a tapered surface in the wheel. The wheels on my 4Runner have a center hole that just fits over the hub or drum, and the lug nuts have a shank that goes through the hole so that the only part that comes into contact with the wheel is the flat washer on the lug nut. The real reason for the problem is not lug centric/hub centric but because of the way they must be balanced due to the large center hole. Haweka's web site explains it very well. Go here to check it out.
http://www.hawekana.com/Media/ProductInfo3.pdf
Sorry for the long first post.