billkmiami

My 1997 4 Runner has 157000 miles on it. Replaced all four tires with in the past year- Sumitomo All Terrain tires. My 2wd 4 Runner has developed a front end shake starting at about 63 mph. Can't be the tires already need a rebalance? I think the front end needs possibly new bushings? Has anyone experinced this with their truck and what did you do to repair this?
thanks

waskillywabbit

iTrader: (-1)

Classic tire out of balance.

billkmiami

puzzled why a tire would lose its balance? My wife drives this truck- basically it is a grocery getter- unless she hit a bad bump? any other thoughts?
thanks

gdutch

Yeah, that happened to me after I got new tires as well. The store probably didn't balance them correctly. There's many other threads about this subject, but the problem is that Toyota wheels have their weight centered around the lugs, NOT the hub like most other wheels. In order to balance them correctly, there is an adapter that attaches to the balancer that has five lugs on which to place the wheel, as opposed to the standard practice of mounting the wheel by its hub. If they don't use the adapter, your tires WILL be improperly balanced. I would suggest you go back and ask them to do it again, the adapter is called a "Haweka adapter," although I think some places just call it "fingers" due to its appearance. . . If they can't / won't do it, just take it to your stealership, they will certainly have the necessary equipment. Let us know your results.

waskillywabbit

iTrader: (-1)

A tire can get out of balance if a butterfly farts on it. She could have hit a curb, hit a pothole, a wheel weight fell off, tire pressure is low, uneven wear, anything can change the weight and/or change the balance.

Get the tires balanced. It is not a do it once for eternity kind of deal. Tires have to be rebalanced sometimes.

billkmiami

ok will do- i will report back with my results! thanks

scottishb

Steering rack bushings? Loose skid plate? Tie rods?

Fink

Fink

billkmiami

ok thanks

2DoorRunner

^loose skid plate

Yeah i bet your wife hit a curb or something.

Or maybe a butterfly really did fart on it

scottishb

Yep, at highway speeds the plate can get shaking pretty good if the bolts are loose. The alignment gods forgot to tighten mine after they were done and it shook and vibrated like crazy. Sorta felt like a bad u-joint.

2DoorRunner

hmm, i never would have thought something as small as the skidplate could do that.
You learn something new everyday