jgs9455

I have a 2000 SR5 Sport with 38,000 miles. I was having the vibration between 60-70mph. It has 31x10.50s and 2 are Bridgestone (front) and 2 are Toyos (rear). I took the runner in and got new brake pads, got the rotors turned, oil change, 4wheel rotate, align, and balanced. When I picked up the truck, they pulled it out of the bay and gave it to me, so there was no post work test drive by the mechanic. So when I first drove it, it had a bad vibration between 40-50. When hitting the brakes at these speeds, the vibration got worse until under 40. Plus over the weekend it was getting worse.

After reading these threads, I figured I was in for trouble. I'm not sure if the guy used the roadforce method and/or haweka adapter, and I doubt he hand tightened the lugs. Of course I took it back, and I feared the worst. The mechanic drove it, felt what I just described - but he said he didn't have much problems with 4Runners. He thought maybe the rear drums were out of adjustment. He had me bring it back the next day so he could have all day to play with it.

Well he called me a little bit later, and said the front rotors were re-warped BAD. This was in like 3 days from when he turned them, and when he turned them he even comented on how thick they were. Well he said he'd credit me what I paid to cut them ($10 each), and odered some new after market rotors. He said he'd charge me minimal to put them on since I had to bring the truck back twice.

Well I picked it up, half expecting some type of issue. It was PERFECT. No problems with the brakes, not shimmys, and no vibrations. Nothing between 40-50 or 60-70. Or anywhere else. Tracked straight on road. Now I'm very happy!

So it seems that the stock 3rd gen Toyota rotors for 4Runners suck and warp easily. I'd recommend anyone having these vibration issues replace them first, and go from there.

Del

I'd try a new steering stabilizer. I picked up one from OME, and along with a quick balance, no more vibrations. Before that the steering wheel would shake like crazy at highway speeds.

MTL_4runner

Yes, they do and you shouldn't even bother trying to turn warped rotors on these trucks.
Using Brembos or other good quality aftermarket parts can help with this issue.

dynamo

A little bit OT, but sort of relevant: does OME make steering stabilizers for 2000 4Runners? If so, where could I order one?

2000t4r

Where do I order one from? Can it be just any steering stablizer shock or does it have to be one specific to the 4runner?

Wildcat_4R

I know that www.4by4connection.com sells the OME steering stablizers....not sure if they make them for 2000 and up. There is also a link in the tech section on installing one on a second gen.

LSUMatt1514

To the best of my knowledge, there are no steering stabilizers for the 3rd gen 4Runners.

Matt

williemon

steering stabilizers might just be a band aid only. Have to wonder whats causing the shake in the first place.

Matt, have you thought about having the tires trued and then balanced on the vehicle? No tire is perfect round. Any "matching" machine can only get the tire close, not perfect.

I had Mitchelin LTX ATs on my 90 runner. I got around 90k miles out of them, mostly interstate. Rotated every 6 to 10k miles. They had to true 1 when new, and another one later in life if im not mistaken. The weight used to balance them, was a stick on about the size of a postage stamp. Only 1 tire required any weight at all. Rode smooth as glass. It only cost about 4 bucks a tire to balance plus any weight.

I did the same thing with the new Revos I got. This time, 3 needed trueing and 2 tires required a postage stamp weight. Smooth as glass. I need to have them balanced again now cause I can feel a little vibration. They are about 2 years old now.

Look into it. Just might be the ticket for you.

LSUMatt1514

Williemon,
What exactly do you mean by trued? What do I need to tell the shop to try? I don't know that I've ever heard of an on the vehicle balance, but if it would solve the problem, it's worth looking into. BTW, how did you like your Michelin LTX A/Ts? Because of the high road force numbers on these Cross Terrains, I may be able to swap them out, pending and inspection by an "authorized" Michelin dealer. Keep in mind the term "high" came from the Hoover Toyota service manager and the highest tire has 22 pounds of road force variation. Michelin has already told me that they would not honor the Hunter road force variation numbers, but they want me to take it to a Michelin authroized dealer/inspector to have the tires looked at and possibly replaced. I hate the wet traction of these Cross Terrains, or should I say the lack there of. Those Dueler Revos had unreal wet traction and hindsight being 20/20 of course, but it doesn't look like they were the problem after all since I'm still having the vibration with Michelins on it now. I want an A/T tire on my truck so if Michelin will go for a swap, would you recommend the LTX A/T? I doubt they'll give me my money back so that I could get another set of Revos. Thanks.

Matt

williemon

I just did a google search and found this good link to add to this post.
http://www.aa1car.com/library/tires2.htm

Tire truing on the car is where they jack up the car, spin the tires using a motor and note any variation in roundness. When this non roundness is seen, they take a machine that will shave the bump out of the tread. I have not actually seen the shaving process so Im not sure what it looks like while they do it. I just know it works. You have to ask around for a shop that trues car tires and balances them on the car. In my town, theres only one place. Theres another place in a nearby town. It might be hard to find a place that does this, but I think for the price, its worth it. Dont be confused by "tire matching" or "road force". Tire truing is very old school. In tire matching, they try to mate the heaviest part of the tire, with the lightest spot on the rim to help balance things out. None of these things actually makes a bump in the tread go away. If you cant find a shop locally, take a drive to Fowlers Alignment in Phenix City Al. They do it there.

Once the tire is true round, then they will spin it back up on the car and note any imbalance. Then they will add the weights. My rims can use the stick on weights on the inside without any problems. Like I said, once done, they needed very little weight if any at all. The michelins were better at being truer to begin with than the bridgstones. Truing should only really have to be done when the tire is first put into service, but throught out its life, a tire may need retruing once, or a tire that did not need it at first, may develope a situation whereby it needs it. In my case with the LTX there were 2 tires during their 90k mile life that needed truing. To those that say hey, their shaving the life off the tire, I say, how much more life do you want? Is 90k on a set too little?

Before I rotate, I mark on the hub of the runner, where the valvestem of the tire is. Then I rotate back to front/front to back, making sure that all valvestems match the marks on the hub. Nobody told me to do this, but thats just how I do it. That way, when I rotate yet again, the tires that were on the front and rear when I first had the truing and balance done, are back in the origional spot they were then.

Ive had good results like this. Sometimes there is a slight imbalance caused by rotating, but its not very noticeable. If you are very picky about this, just have a balance done every rotation. In my area, its not very expensive. Like I said, about 4 to 5 bucks a tire, plus any weight.

Im not sure how much I can recommend the LTX ATs. They were long lasting and did well for my use.

A few things I notice between them and the Revos. The Revos have a softer, more coushened ride than the LTX. Keeping in mind that my LTX ATs were a LT type tire and my Revos are a P metric type. I think that helps give me a softer ride on the Revos. The Revos I think, do a bit better job in wet traction. Offroad it would be hard to say. I did not use the LTX ATs in anything but mild offroad so they did fine. Better than a street tread im sure, but I never really put them to the test. I have not put the revos to the test either. I used other user reports to help me decide on what tires to use. At the time of the LTX AT, they were a popular AT tire. These days, the Revos are popular, but for my driving, the Revos are better than the LTX AT.
Another thing I noticed with the LTX is that they would start to roar if you went say about 8k to 10k without a rotation. When I was deciding on tires this time, It was between the cross terrains and the revos. I dont really see much off road these days but I wanted to maintain an AT tread rather than a street tread. The cross terrains were more money and the size I wanted was not as quickly had, so I opted for the revos.

toy_tek

I've got BFG AT Ko's. The wear rate is very good, going on 36k miles over 2 years and just now broke the whiskers off. But, a fresh balance when I rotate always ensures vibration free driving.

Years ago my Dad taught me how they balanced tires back in the 50'/60's when tire tech wasn't as good as it is now. The theory in using this method is that since our truck tires are so large, there is more room for an inherent imbalance to occur in the rubber from the factory, as opposed to smaller new car tires. Anyway, they never used machine balancers back then - just bubble balancers. Old technology still works! We purchased an old bubble balancer at a yard sale for $25 probably 15 years ago, and I've used it for every balance I've ever done. Saves me a lot of time and $$ when I can do it at home and know it is done right.

The main difference is this: The machine balancers spin and notate where a single weight needs to be placed to offset the tire's heavy spot. The trouble is that very rarely is there exactly one spot on the tire that is heavy, usually it is spread out over a larger area. A heavy side would be a better description.

So, when using a bubble balancer you can see exactly how much weight is required at exactly the rim location where the weight will be installed. BTW, this is much easier to accomplish than it is to describe. Say for instance it is a one ounce weight that centers the bubble on the balancer. What I'll do is mark that spot with a grease pencil, remove that weight and instead use four .25 ounce weights, and spread them out in pairs equidistant from the mark along the rim until the bubble is centered exactly. Mark those two locations. Remove the tire from the balancer and install one weight at each mark on the outside of the rim, and one weight exactly across from each of those on the inside of the rim. You now have 4 even weights to offset the heavy side of the tire. Install the tire back on the balancer to double check your balance. Sometimes equal weights don't do the trick, but dividing the weights up also allows you to fine tune the balance.

This method also allows more wear on a tire before a serious unbalanced condition occurs again. This is due to a larger offset area. Not to mention if you lose a weight, you still have 3 more to counteract the heavy spot, as opposed to losing the single weight and having an instant serious imbalance.