I still say check it with a different set of rims/tires.

If you still have the vibration w/ a different set of rims/tires, then it is your rig, and you've narrowed it down.

If not, then you know it is your rims/tires.

I would try that first before I wasted money on mechanics and/or other theories as it is SIMPLE and rules out lots of stuff w/ one simple thing.

 

Nic,
What if I paid for you gas to get here? I'm not sure how far Decatur is from B'ham. I'll check today on Yahoo.

Matt

 

Nic,
On second thought, I would probably be willing to come to you. I just checked Yahoo and it's roughly 94 miles one way. A couple of questions for you...

1. What size wheels do you have on your Tacoma?
2. What size tires do you have?

My friend here who has the 4Runner also has 265/75/16s on his instead of the stock 265/70/16. I probably really need to try to talk him into it, but if that doesn't work, would you be up for it Nic? Thanks.

Matt

 

It just now dawned on me that mine may not work on your vehicle. I have 30X9.50R15s on my truck. I am sure the lug pattern is the same, but will my wheels be big enough to fit yours?

If anyone can confirm they will fit, I will still be willing to swap. Here is a picture of waht my wheels looks like. If they fit, we can work something out.

 

Matt, look at the VIN sticker in the driver door jam. If it says that you had 225/75-15 tires, then the taco wheels will still fit. It is says that you had 265/70-16 wheels, then you MUST find someone w/ 16" wheels to swap with.

 

Yours will not fit his 4Runner, they will hit the calipers in the front.

 

I was afraid of that. I thought I had read that on a thread here somewhere.

 

Nic,
I didn't realize that you have 15" wheels. It's probably not going to work. Thanks for the offer though. Andy I know for a fact (without looking) that the size printed on the door jam and the OEM size was 265/70/16. I'm going to have to try to convince a friend of mine here in B'ham to let me swap. Like I said before though, he doesn't take care of his truck like I do so I doubt that the tires have been balanced in a while. I'd hate to put unbalanced tires/wheels from his truck on mine, my truck then continue to vibrate, and me have a false impression that there is something wrong with my truck when in fact his tires/wheels were just out of balance (Whew, that's rambling). Anyway, maybe I can get it worked out and I think I may try to contact Toyota tomorrow just to see what they have to say about it.

Matt

 

Take a short ride with him and see if his shakes. If it seems to ride pretty good, do a swap if he will let you. You've got nothing to lose. If you do the swap and it fixes your shake, you have eliminated all the other things. That would leave just the tires and wheels to contend with.


Sorry, I couldn't help. I'm my ignorance, I forgot our tires were not compatible. At least mine going on yours anyway.

 

Have you seen the readings or the printout from the Hunter machine? It will tell you the radial runout for the tires and rims. It will pass/fail the tires and the rims each separately. If I remember correctly from Gadget's webpage on this issue, if your road force reading is more than 15-20 it will always be felt:

http://www.gadgetonline.com/vibration.htm

This seems to affect some trucks worse than others. Sounds like you are in the same boat as I am. I know how frustrating it can be. Good luck with yours...

 

actually, only the 4wd limited's came from japan w/ 16" wheels as far as I know. you have a 2WD SR5. my old 2WD limited originally had 225/75-15's according to the door sticker...

check your vin sticker. $10 says that it lists the stock tires at 225/75-15's. if that's the case, then you also have the 15" brakes and therefore the 15" wheels will work.

 

My limited came with 16's.... ?

 

Andy,
It lists two sizes...

225/75/15
265/70/16

So, I guess Nic's will work. However, I would like to put some on here the same size as what I have and my friend also has 265/75/16 Cross Terrains on his 4Runner. Hopefully he'll let me put them on here next weekend.

Matt

 

Matt,

Sorry to hear that you've still got problems. I've completely given up on trying to get my tires/rims perfectly balanced, and decided to live with a little vibration in the wheel. This is after fighting with two dealerships and toyota's technical service hotline. I'm still of the opinion that the problem lies in the design of the steering system, so I think its Toyota's problem to fix. Short of a class-action lawsuit, I'm unsure what will get them to look into the problem.

I guess 4Runners aren't the only ones with vibration issues:

http://www.xterraownersclub.com/ubb/...=002374#000000

http://www.xterraownersclub.com/ubb/...=002316#000000

http://www.xterraownersclub.com/ubb/...=001331#000004

 

Umm... I saw that someone mentioned the drive axle. Did you ever rule that out or just forget about it? That would be my number one concern as mine acted just like you are claiming right before the front u-joint broke while I was doing 70 mph.

 

Don't assume that. Mine did not vibrate until I hit about 55-60 mph. I thought it was my cupping tires I had just rotated. I would have someone check the u-joints. Not the dealer, but pull the drive shaft out and check them out. There is a good description on "how to" on this in the Haynes repair manual.

Trust me, you want to rule this out very soon!!!! And not just because someone says they are ok. They won't be in the truck when the rear gets pole vaulted into the air because the front u-joint fails.

 

I third that. I had a vibration that I swore was my wheels/tires/drums for years. It only did it at (on the speedo) 40mph and 62mph, no other speeds and wether I was on the gas or not. Well after I got finished replacing my u-joints this weekend, the first thing I noticed is the vibration at those speeds is now gone, and I mean gone. Check your u-joints out.

 

You should get some kind of report from the place that Road Force balances your tires that looks what I have attached below. It will tell you whether or not your rims pass, the radial and lateral runout, how much road force your tires and tire/rim assembly puts on the road, and whether or not your tires and rims pass the Road Force and can be balanced. Anything over 27 is marginal and you will feel it. This printout is only one of three pages you should get for all 4 tires. Let me know if you have any questions

 

Like I posted early in this thread, a simple and cost-free test is to drop the rear driveshaft and take a test drive in FWD. If the vibes go away, you have found your culprit. If they remain, you have ruled out the rear driveline.

 

he can't do that. he's 2WD...