Man, I don't visit the site that often, but I recall you having vibration issues from several years ago.

On my '97 SR5 4x4, I had the Goodyear Wrangler RT/S 265/70R16 tires from the factory. They were out of balance when I bought the vehicle, and despite numerous attempts by the dealership to fix the imbalance, they were unsuccessful.

I traded them in at 700 miles, for some Michelin LTX M/S LT 265/75R16 6 ply's. They were definitely better, but they would start to shimmy a bit after about 2000 miles of driving, so I'd have them balanced again. Fixing the shimmy for another 2000 miles.

I replaced those tires when they were worn out with Toyo Open Country AT's in the same size and load range. They have been smooth since the day I bought them. I've never had them rebalanced, because they haven't needed it.

They were balanced on a regular spin balancer, with just a cone adapter. Not on a GSP 9700, or with a Haweka adapter.

If all sources of possible driveline vibration have been eliminated, I'd say you have a wheel, and/or tire problem.

An experienced tech that specializes in NVH problems, should be able to pinpoint the problem fairly easily.

Good luck.

 

I just found this thread Ive been dealing with the same issue for a while. I have an 02' SPort Edition with the tundra/ome lift and BFG a/t's. Havent tried the diff wheels yet. Ive also done all the usual stuff several alignments rotations and tire balances.

 

Years ago, my wife's heep got new rims/tires. While following her home, I couls see a wobble in the rear wheel. Went back to the tire store to complain. The tire wheel spun true on the machine, wobbled on the rig. Found we had a bent axle:pat:

 

I found these online: http://protrux.net/outfitter/catalog...products_id=33

Question: Is it the wheels or the hub that makes the system lug-centric or hub-centric?

Question: For those running the Mickey Thompson/Baja style rims, are your wheels hub or lug centric?

I've got another appointment at Longo Toyota in El Monte to have them go over the the truck AGAIN (I recently went in for an alignment and balance) on Wednesday. They are going to have the truck for the whole day, so I'm curious to see what they find.

 

Can we go down the list of possible culprits for this vibration? I have so far:

1. Improperly balanced wheels/tires
2. Out of Round tires
3. Bent Wheel(s)
4. Shocks(?)
5. Struts(?)
6. Steering Rack rod ends
7. Steering Rack Bushings
8. Warped Rotors
9. Bent Axle
10. Control arm bushings
11. Wheel Bearings

I wanna give my dealership a list of items to look over when I take it in Wednesday. Anymore I should add?

Link to Steering rack bushings: http://protrux.net/outfitter/catalog...products_id=54

 

I know that one of my friends car was really vibrationy. If i drove behind him i could see his rear right tire shaking like crazy at fast speeds. At slow speeds it was fine, and hardly noticeable. Maybe just have someone drive around behind and beside you and have someone in their car stare at your tires at fast speeds..... I doubt its as simple as finding which wheel/tire it is.... But it could be worth a shot.

 

I'd still be suspicious of the drive line balance, bearings etc. The fact that your U-joints went out early also suggest something in the drive line.

 

rdharper,
Really? 165k is early? BTW...it was only the front joint that failed but I had both replaced while they were at it. What does it point to then if this is unusual premature failure? Thanks.

Matt

 

just to recap MY situation:

-went to 3 different discount tires stores with road force balancer, lug centric adapter

-discount tires throught my BFG ATs were out of round tires, so they swapped all 4 with brand new ones.

-since then got 2 new ones under warranty(sidewall damage), put them in the front. This means I've already went through 10 new BFG All terrains.


-went to 2 different firestone store to get alignments

 

Another thing im thinking oyu could do is borrow a friends rig and throw them on there.... test if it vibrates on there at all... If not then it wouldn't be the tires or wheels right?

 

Been done...

 

so you havre recently swapped tires? Guess, I'll have to find some other exscuse to go to B'ham. lol. ...I got an ex in fultondale....who knows.

 

If I do decide to buy these Tundra wheels and a new set of tires, I'd like to go into it with some sense of optimism that I'll be able to sell my current tires. What's the best way to sell used tires....Local classifieds? Yotatech? Ebay? Shipping seems like it would be a total PITA, but I checked the local classifieds today and could only find TWO sets of tires for sale in the freakin Birmingham News on a Sunday. Unreal!!! All four of my tires have got 7/32" tread depth remaining and are worn as evenly and smoothly as possible because of my routine rotation and front end alignment. The mechanic told me the other day when he took the measurement that they've easily got another 40k miles left in them. The question...will anyone buy them? I paid around $880 for them when they were new. Is $300 too much to ask and where in the world do I try to sell them?

Matt

 

Rocko Taco,
No, it's been about a year since I've done it. The guy I swapped with recently bought a new set of Michelins like I've got, but I don't know if he would let me borrow his truck again to do the swap. He was very hesitant the first time. If you'll be in there area, I'd love to swap with you even though you've got 265/70/16s and mine are 265/75/16s however I don't want you making any special trips on my account by any means. Not that you would, but I do not want to inconvenience you at all.

Matt

 

BTW...when I told my wife $500 for the new wheels, let's just say she wasn't all that excited any more. She had $250 in her head, but that is what the auction started at the other day (closed at $430 + $80 shipping). I've got a feeling she's gonna get pissed if I do this but then again, she's the one getting a new vehicle next year of her choice and also a larger house. I'll be the one driving the 6 year old truck with upwards of 175k miles!!!

Matt

 

I hope they aint raidals! Uneven wear if you crossed them!

Its the wheels, the factory wheels on all yotas besides the steelies are lug centric, they balance totally off the lugs and dont fit tight on the hubs.

The MT wheels will be hub centric and balance off the hubs.

If you guys keep getting problems with the vibration, try another set of wheels-see if you can swap wheels with someone, watch them on the vehicle, look for trueness in them with the tires on and off if possible. If you cant see it by eye (some of us can : ) ) then get a dial indiactor and use that.

I never had an issue with vibration on my camry and many complained about it, but I only bought good tires after reading many reiviews on tirerack.

I found I could balance them at school (auto votech) on an older hunter machine. Most tire guys dont understand that since its lug centric the cone adapter must go on first and the wheel lock into it, the hub centric wheels-wheel goes on first then the cone goes on backwards. I seen it a thousand times, someone doesnt do it with the cone on first! It does matter, regardless of what people think I balanced and mounted many, many tires and wheels and can tell you for sure: a good set of tires and true wheels, balanced correctly will be fine.

 

Not really true.... I have done that on many of my rigs, all with radial tires. Never had uneven or premature wear. Take a look at your owners manual it will show a X pattern rotation, and the only tire that cam original on your truck was a radial.

 

I've always cross rotated and maintained front end alignment and have never had uneven tread wear.

Matt

 

I have never cross rotated, but I did replace a tire with a spare I had that was originally on the opposite side of the car-so, it was essentially spinning in the the opposite direction it was used to. My dad sad it would mess up the tire. I laughed at him and said he didn't know what he was talking about. Several miles later, the belts knotted up on the tire and I had to replace it.

Ever since then, I have never thought about cross rotating.

 

Ummmmm... NO. changing TIRES will NOT make your alignment mystically be out of spec. Changing coils, struts, or any other suspension component could, but changing tires will NOT. your alignment was out to begin with before you changed tires. what more than likely happened that you checked the alignment after driving the truck into the shop, lifted it up off the ground to swap the wheels, then set it back down and re-checked the alignment. if you didn't move it around, then you could have measured a flase reading on the alignment. as you lift a wheel off the ground, then place it back, you put quite a bit of inward pressure on the lower arm and some outward pressure on the upper arm since the vertical plane of the wheel actually travels outward away from the frame as the suspension is compressed from full droop to it's normal position. simply put, as you drop the wheel to the ground, the tire makes contact closer to the frame than it normall would. as you compress the suspension, the friction of the tire on the ground fights against the force of the suspension pushing the wheel away from the frame. you have rubber bushings in the arm mounting points, and they will give just enough to throw your measurements off if you don't releve those stresses by at least moving the vehicle. it's also best to drive in a straight line to the point where the alignment is to be done - no harsh turns to get into position.



Matt:

sorry to hear that you're still going thru this. keep an eye out on ebay for some takeoffs and get a good deal on a set. you should get wheels w/ tires mounted for $700 or so + about $100 shipping. also, check around at some of the local salvage yards. you might find a set for less and won't have to pay shipping, but you would have to pay taxes. anyway, my point is to get a set for a good price, have the balance checked on them, put them on and drive it around. if the vibration goes away, sell your old wheels/tires on ebay. plan on about $400 or so for them. you might get slightly more by taking the tires off and selling them seperately. if the vibration is still there, then you know it's a truck issue and not a wheel/tire issue. good luck...

it could be:

wheels
tires
ball joint(s), uppers or lowers
steering rack bushings (loose feel in the steering)
steering rack (loose feel in the steering)
tie rod ends
upper/lower a-arm bushings
wheel bearing (should be noisy though)
u-joint(s)
driveshaft (out of balance, bent, dinged, etc)
rear axle shaft (bent - very possibly from bad pot hole)
warped brake rotors