HELP!!! Steering Wheel shake
 

I apologize now for the lengthy thread. I have a 2006 4Runner Sport 4x4 4.7L that has a steering wheel shake that i cannot figure out. I currently have the original XREAS with the addition of the daystar leveling 2.5/1.5 w/wheel spacers and 285's. I have had the vehicle checked over by multiple mechanics who cannot find anything wrong mechanically. The original set of 285's I had were Falken Wildpeak AT3s which I had for 8 months and was told they were cupping TIREBUYER replaced all four at no cost wiht new falkens. Still shaking after install, switched tires to Nitto G2s still shaking. I have noticed a bit of a rocking while rolling slow from back left to front right. This is the weirdest feeling Im getting. IDK what is going on but If anyone has experienced something like this let me know.

Anybody!?!?!

bad rims
wheel bearings
tie rod ends
rack and pinion

you didn't mention if you have had an alignment following the lift

you didn't mention how many miles etc

Thanks for your response. I have 106,000 miles and yes i got an alignment. I was thinking it could be the rims but wouldnt they present issues when they balanced the tires? Possibly rack and pinion bushings? Swaybar linkage?

Probably 95% of the time you have a vibration in the steering wheel it is all about tires and wheels, if they are not true they will still balance but you will still have a vibration.
If you are feeling a shimmy at low speeds I would suggest that something is bent, either a wheel or a wheel flange, axle etc.
You have taken this to the "pros" and they have failed you, so I would suggest that the first thing for you to do is to jack your truck up and block it up very well with all 4 wheels off the ground.
Put it in 4 wheel drive and let it idle in gear so you can watch each wheel as it spins and see if you see a wobble.
Pay attention to the tire tread looking from straight ahead or behind the tire and see if it wobbles side to side or up and down.

Thank you for your time. Shouldn't a bent wheel present when balancing? or make it almost impossible to balance? The tires are balanced with less than 2 oz per.

You would be surprised how badly bent a wheel can be and still balance, or how egg shaped a tire can be and still balance, or how much side to side wobble there can be in the tread and still balance.
A good tire guy will watch the tread on the wheel when it is spinning on the balancer and let you know if there is an issue, they can measure runout on the wheel if it doesn't spin true. A bad tire guy will just slap a weight on it and put it back on your truck without even looking.
As I said, it also may not be the wheel itself, it could be the hub/flange that it mounts to.
Without connecting my Assometer to your driver's seat I can't offer much more than to suggest you check everything while it's rotating in the air. Good luck!

Tire cupping is usually due to a bad shock absorber. It allows the tire to violently bounce on the road causing cupping, and if bad enough steering shake. This symptom also goes hand in hand with the odd sway you described earlier. Check for oil residue on them and check all of the bolts that hold them in place. Bounce each corner of the vehicle. It should only bounce once or twice at most. If it continues, replace the shocks on that end of the vehicle.

thank you for the input. I have a sneaking suspicion that the mechanic that installed the suspension leveling kit was unaware that the xreas system is a sealed system and mat have disconnected the shocks/ a shock.

thanks again

Got all four tires off the ground and put it in drive. The driver side CV axle looks to be the culprit at this point. Damn thing isn't even a year old.... Tisk tisk. Hopefully this is the cause.

Thank you all for your help.

It was the hubcentric rings. I ordered and installed new Aluminum hub rings and voila problem solved. From my personal experience, I can now say... never buy poly hub rings.

I'm glad you got it fixed, for anyone else following along this is an example of an issue that can hide in plain sight and a good reminder that sometimes the simplest troubleshooting technique would have been to put stock wheels and tires on the vehicle to verify that the vibration went away thereby pointing a smoking gun at the wheel/tire/spacer/hubcentric ring combination. Of course this would require either already having the stock set to put back on or borrowing a set and you would still have to figure out which item caused the issue.

Deacon, was there anything about the poly rings that was visibly wrong? How did you figure this out, was it a shot in the dark?