rjm

just put a 2.5 inch lift on my 02 d/c and went with a 32x11.50x15 tires. (pro comp all terrains). at low speeds, around 30-40 mph-my steering moves backs and forth - it goes away at highway speeds. i have no vibration or any ill affects. alignment is fine too! is it because i have wider tires now? thanks

Cebby

Do you mean alignment is fine cause "I just had it realigned after the lift"? Hope so. If not, get it aligned cause that is your problem.

Bigger tires put more strain on the steering, but I have 32's as well and never experienced what you are describing. Were you on smooth (ie. no grooves or depressions) pavement when this happened? I noticed my old Celica used to dart around on grooved pavement, but the tires were 205/45R16's.

rjm

yes, alignment was done after the lift. i was on a smooth road. like i stated earlier, i have no vibration to suggest it is something serious. the steering wheels just moves back and forth at low speeds. i may have the front tires re-balanced, to see if that is the problem. but i have had the truck up to 75mph on the highway, with no problems!!!

toyota2

It could be a balancing problem or it could be bad tires. That is what happened to my 03 runner. The dunlops that came on it were bad from the factory. If balancing does not help try moving the back to the front and see if it still happens. If not it is more than likely a bad tire. Hope this helps.
Later

rjm

thanks

The Dutch Man

Toyota 2. You said that you had your Dunlop tires replaced because they were making you wheel shimmy. I notice the same problem with my 03 as well. It occurs at about 55-65 mph. The wheel shakes a little. It's fine a low speeds and 70 mph and greater. Is that the tires you are talking about or the deceleration vibration issue?

williemon

Balance.

keisur

That's what I would say too. Especially if Dickscount Tire Stores balanced them. Who mounted and balanced them? Factory steel or alloy rims? If alloys, did the people who balanced them use a Haweka Adapter to account for them being "lug-centric." if not that is your problem more than likely, read up on

Gadget's Site

and also Here

toyota2

Ok here is the story. I got my 03 4runner v6 sport ed. with the 17" wheel option. Just after I got it I noticed the steering wheel would shake back and forth at speeds around 60. It was fine until 60 and after 70 and up. So the dealer rebalanced and that did not fix the problem. I took it back and they rebalanced and marked the location of the tires in relationship to the wheel and the weights. They thought that the tires were moving on the wheel. It started to shake again and I took it back. All the marks were still in line. So they got a Tundra off the lot and swaped the tires and wheels off of it and put them on my runner ( that was the only other car with 17" wheels on it on the lot). I took it for a drive and no shake. After all of that they replaced the Dunlops that came on it with 5 new Michelins and the problem has not come back. The only thing that was changed through all of that was the tires so that had to be the problem. It only took a month and a half to get my new car to actually drive like one.

keisur

My wife has been complaining about the same thing with the "Dum-flops." I have cut and pasted your story into an email and forwarded it to her, I have a feeling she will be heading over to the dealer quick-like. thanks.

The Dutch Man

Hey guys,

I have to say that recently I have notice the same thing with my 03 Runner. That's why I asked the question of Toyota 2. My wheel shake appears at 55-65 mph and then goes away above and below this range. Kind of weird. Maybe the same issue? Maybe we have uncovered something. Hopefully the stealer will have some knowledge of this? I will find out Tues. the 8th when it goes in for this issues and my brake pulsation at higher speeds. Can't believe this is happening with 5900 miles already! :pat:

keisur

Brake pulsation? did you post this earlier? if so, I need to search to read up because she might have mentioned something like that too. If you didn't post could you pm me a description? She's making me give her a ride to work tomorrow so we can drop her '03 off at the stealer. thanks.

The Dutch Man

Keisur,

Yes it was me that posted earlier about the brake pulsation on my 03 Runner. We had lots of comments on this one and the overwheling majority of 03 owners said that theirs was okay. Mine however is giving me a pulsation over 40 mph, especially noticable when getting off the highway. It's a solid pulsation through the brakepedal, especially noticable with light braking. This has been going on for a while now. I only have 5900 miles on my Runner. I would love to hear your results from tommorrow. I unfortuantely have to hold out until next week for my appt. The biggest question is whether the stealer will cut the rotors under warranty??? Upon that, will they replace the pads like they should??? We'll see. Please post your results tommorrow night. I'm very interested.

Dutchman

Steve K

I'm seriously considering my first Toyota 4runner purchase and I'm concerned about this front end vibration problem (I was planning to buy this weekend.) I am also a little concerned about the fact that this is a totally new vehicle and may have some issues. I test drove a few 2003 V-6 and V-8 4runners and I did notice some steering wheel shake in the V-6's at freeway speed (one shimmied more than the other.) I also found a number of posts at another Toyota forum complaining about this shimmy/ vibration/driveline shake in the 2003's. It would be enough to make me not buy the vehicle if there isn't a fix even though it seems to be well liked otherwise. Has anybody gotten to the bottom of this? Are there any other issues with this truck? Is it an able 4-wheeler (I do want to off road it?) Are there any lift-kits in the works? Does anyone know if there are going to be any changes for 2004 and when they are coming out (August?...September?) I'm coming from a Jeep CJ-7 and a '91 Range Rover with solid front axles where front end vibration wasn't an issue. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

The Dutch Man

Toyota 2,

Did you bring yours in to the shop yesterday? Any comment from the stealer?

As for the vibration issue, it's not really that bad. I'm personally a very particular person who wants everything exactly perfect. I'm really stretching at some of my complaints. I just don't want to be paying for later issues like I did with my last truck (aka. Oldsmobile Bravada ). What a piece of junk that was! This new Runner is a real dream to drive. By the way, the 2003 Runner was recommmended by Consumer Reports in the August 2003 issue for a Midsize SUV. They commented, " the 4 Runner rides better than the Murano and some other car based SUV's." Enough Said! The only others recommended were the Honda Pilot, Toyota Highlander and Nissan Pathfinder. Coincidence that they're all foreign made vehicles, I say not!

keisur

Well, we got the headliner rattle crap fixed yesterday. The service tech first tried to tell us that it is the bearings in the seatbelt should strap thing rattling and they can do anything about that, he hadn't even looked at it or heard it! I told him it's not on the sides, it's in the middle behind the dome light, and if I put my hand up there and press it stops. He says, uh ok we get it fixed. I told him what the TSB number was and that it might even be the loose wire that alot of people have. His mouth dropped and he didn't bother trying to talk over my head again, must have realized he can't!

About the wheel thing, I don't drive my wife's car so I can't really say that it does shake. I have noticed it sort of while sitting in the passenger seat. She tells me that it's around 60 then smooths out around 70 and comes back around 80. She has about 1500 miles on hers. The techs took it for a drive and (conveniently) couldn't reproduce the shimmy, man, they can never reproduce anything problems unless you are with them. But, at least her first complaint is logged. Next time we go in I am riding with the dumb-azz!

Then there's the sulfur smell. She called them up and told them about that and they came back with "Well, that was designed into the engine because it makes it run more efficiently." BS!!!!! I swear I hate dealing with the stealership for things.

While there I went to the parts counter and asked for a printed quote for a set of body mount bushings (my '98's are cracked and mushed. HAHA, he quoted me 257 for 10 pieces of rubber!! haha! and then I had to ask him three times to print it out for me, he just DIDN'T want to give me those part numbers.

As for your brakes, you have a 36000 mile bumper to bumper so they should replace anything that needs it free of charge, even broken OS handles.

Lucky

I'd get the wheels balanced on the car not off the car like most balancing is done. The lift will just magnify any problems you have with vibration. You may find that the tyres are out of true, may not be seated correctly or may have areas that are out of true or heavier than others.

Also are all the wheels undamaged (bends, dings, etc.)

Cheers

Robinhood150

It's probably your tire balance. Having vibrations at a certain speed and not at others is the nature of rotational vibration sources. If something is out of balance it will vibrate more at a specific speed, or harmonic. For example, if you've ever wet your finger and ran it around the edge of a crystal wine glass it'll start to ring, but only when your finger is moving at a certain speed. It's similar to a reed in a wind instrument.

rjm

gotcha- rims should be fine-they are brand new!

williemon

I second what andy says. On a car I have and on the runner, having the tires trued and balanced on the car is the best way to insure a smooth ride with no shimmy. I first found this out the hard way back in 1988 when my car needed new tires. I got some from western auto. Had shimmy problems right away. After about a week of fighting with the manager and buying a new rim, they had me convinced that the rear end was going bad and it needed to be replaced. I insisted it was a balance problem. They kept telling me that they use a tire matching machine machine to mount the heavy part of the tire to the light spot on the rim, or something like that. Anyway, finally found an independent shop that trued and balanced tires on the car. All 4 were out of round and mis balanced. Had them do the work and it was smooth as glass. My 4 Runner is like that too. I have the tires trued if they need it and balanced on the car. Smooth as silk for awhile. Be warned that tires can go out of true later on, and they will also change balance on you too. Thats just normal with wear. Thats why it needs to be redone every so often. Almost forgot, dont be alarmed with trueing because they will shave some rubber off the tire. No problem though cause they only shave the high spots and wont decrease longevity. I got around 90K on my last set of Michelins on the runner and I had some trueing done twice.