Koz

I have a set of Michelin LTX M/S (31x10.5x15) on my PreRunner and they are very good tires. They have over 30K miles and still have good tread left. The only gripe I have with them is wet weather and snow. They suck! This time of year I have to add at least 300lbs. to get decent traction.

Koz

LSUMatt1514

A friend of mine has a 98 Limited and he has 265/75/16 Cross Terrains on his. He's loved them so far and estimtes that he's gotten 50k-60k out of them with tread left. I'm going to go drive his truck tonight and see how it feels. I know it's going to be better than mine, I'm interested to see just how much better.

Sac State

Yes, the LTX M/S is a great tire.

JGage

I have them and I am really pleased with them. I do not do any heavy off roading or anything. I have 42k on them and they are still good to go. Very comfy at highway (and above) speeds.

FilthyRich

Has your truck ever been a wreck? If not, then it seems you just got a bad set of tires. It happens. All brands. Having nothing to do with size or brand your problem does not seem to be balance or alignment. How many times can you do the same procedure to only get the same results. If the rims are straight, then ditch the tires and get whatever you want. Size and brand are personal preferences. I would bet if you bought four new tires and had them properly mounted and balanced you would have no more vibration. If so, then start looking at bent front suspension components. Good luck

The Dutch Man

Swapped the junk Dunflops for 265/70/16 Michelin LTX M/S on my 03 4 runner at 22K. Now I have 26K and they are great. All highway vibration from the Dunflops is gone with the Michlins. Great tires on road. Smooth, quiet, and pretty good in the snow and rain. Leaps and bounds better than the Dunflops.

LSUMatt1514

Never been in a wreck. I bought the thing brand new. I agree, it's gotta be in the tires.

Matt

Swede

Would your friend swap you tires for an afternoon???

On my '81 pick-up I had a strong vibration at highway speeds. It turned out to be the rear driveshaft u-joint was worn out, throwing the balance of the driveshaft off. It might be worth checking out.

Honger

I'll jump in and give a quick to the LTX M/S. The T100 was sold to me with them already on and at about half-tread. I'm replacing them now (30K later) with the exact same. They have performed wonderfully. I punctured one of them in the sidewall so I figured I'd replace all four since they are within 5-10K of needing replacment anyway.

For now my T100 is 95% on-road with the off-road use being camping type of stuff, not rock-crawlin'... similar to your situation Matt. These tires are excellent for guys like us as they are wonderfully quiet on highway and have what it takes for mild off-road situations. FWIW, mine are excellent on wet pavement and we just got 8" of snow here and they've been doing great!

Good luck to you,
Joel

02SE

Matt, read my original post in this thread. Post #33.

Yes, my 4Runner is a 4x4.

No vibration problems at all.

89-4run

I just had my tires balanced at Discount Tire. I sat in while they did the work. They didn't use the road-force balancer... the guy said it sucks and it was a huge waste of money. I'm not an expert or know much about balancing, but they just used that one thingy that spins the tires and tells you how much weight to put on. They asked me if it was ok to do a "dynamic balancing" (??) which would put the weights on both sides of the wheel. I said sure. I was a bit hesitant since its never been done before on my truck and I was getting ready to make a 2000 mile trip for the holidays.

Let me just say, I was amazed. Not a single vibration. It was like driving a new car. Btw, I have BFG KOs with about 25k miles on them.

LSUMatt1514

Swede,
If the drive shaft U bolt was worn out or if their were any other mechanical issues wrong with the truck, wouldn't I feel the vibration at speeds before 65 mph?

Matt

LSUMatt1514

Well, I just got back from driving my friend's '97. He's got P265/75/R16 Cross Terrains on his and he said he has had great luck with them. He's got about 60k miles on them and he's probably got enough tread left for at least another 10k. It definitely rode better than mine on the interstate, but I couldn't get a great gauge on just how much better because his alignment was out pretty bad. There was a little vibration, but nothing close to what I'm experiencing. Also, he bought his tires from a local NTB that did not have the Hunter machine or the Haweka adapter. So, my thinking is that with a proper alignment (I get my alignment checked at every oil change) and proper balance on the Hunter machine, I should get much, much better results than I'm getting now with the Revos. I did talk to Bridgestone today about it and the lady started a file for my case and it sounds like they are going to give me a refund. They want me to approach the Firestone manager first and ask him and she said if there were any problems, to call them back and they would take care of it. I'm even considering asking them to refund the $100 extra that I spent to go to A&R and have them road force balanced. The saga continues.....

Tacoma00

Are your Revo's load range C? I have BFG Ko's in your size with load range D and thats the one thing I don't like about them they feel firmer on bumps and potholes.I don't have any vibrations but theres alot of weights on them.

Swede

Matt,

Not neccessarily. Depending on how bad the u-joint or whatever part is causing the problem is, it will vary.
I only noticed the vibration at a specific speed with my u-joint problem. Also, another indicator of a u-joint problem is a little "ping" sound when you put a load on the driveshaft. Like, for instance, you back out of your driveway and put it into drive to take off, sometimes you'll here a little "ping" sound.

Whatever the problem is I hope you get to the bottom of it. Vibrations can be a good thing, but in a vehicle it can drive you nuts!!!

LSUMatt1514

Swede,
I have noticed that sometimes when I back out of a driveway, parking space, etc. and have to cut the wheels kind of sharp, I will hear a "knock" or "thump" kind of sound, but it immediately goes away and I put it into drive and go about my business. Could this have anyting to do with my problem, or is this just one of the tires rubbing? I really don't see it being a tire rubbing because I didn't believe that they were anywhere near being too big to rub, but it never crossed my mind that this might have something to do with my vibration problem.

Matt

4RunnerBuddha

Matt,

Its funny i found this thread, cause I am in the EXACT SAME situation as yourself. See my threads:

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f2/vibration-steering-wheel-38463/

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f2/tire-decision-time-8315/

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/show...2&page=1&pp=20

I too, have gone to a dealership that has the Hunter Machine and Haweka adapter, and while my first balance was a success, the second one that was done recently did not cure it. At 100 bucks a pop, i'm not going to keep doing this every 3000 miles.

I've concluded the problem lies in the following parts:

1. Rotors: If your brake bias is not done correctly, you'll get a vibration under hard braking, causing warped rotors.

2. Poor Alignment

3. Unbalanced tires (tires out of round)

4. Lugnuts too tight (very common since most tire places use their air guns to tighten your lugnuts; also contributes to rotor warpage)

5. Wheels bent

As much as i love the reliability / practicality of my Runna, this vibration issue makes me ..... I've fought with the Toyota dealers, toyota customer service, and i've even sent letters and emails to Toyota. NO LUCK. I've gone 30,000 miles on my Bridgestone AT's and had numerous leaks in the tire. I didn't really know how much it affected me until my I blew up @ someone on the freeway and my wife commented on how much i've changed...

That being said, I will be replacing mine with Michelin's like yourself. When? I dunno, but its probably going to be after the New Years.....I'm even thinking about gettting new rims, but we'll see....keep us informed of your situation man, cause you are not the only one!

BTW...I get the same "popping" sound when backing into spaces...i don't think its contributing to the tire imbalance, but ya never know.....

Swede

Matt,

Have you had all of your suspension and drivetrain components checked? A popping sound could be anything, tie-rod ends, worn slip-joint in your driveshaft, bushings, pinion gear, etc.

If I were you Matt, I would sweet-talk your buddy with the limited to let you swap wheels with him. If you still have the same bad vibration after the swap and his rig rides good, then you will know that the problem is not the tires but something else is wrong with your rig. Then you can go from there.

LSUMatt1514

Well, I got the Cross Terrains put on today. Dear god what a difference. No more shakin and rattlin above 60 mph. Just smooth. Thanks for all of the advice guys and BTW, Firestone took the Revos back without a fight at all and I did end up going with 265/75/16s instead of 70s. Like I said, no vibration. Thanks again guys.

Matt

Vato Loco

Any pics? Those are the same tires I'm looking at also.