Lug Centric - Vibration

Been having vibration troubles after a lift.. I have all the right stuff installed, but it feels and acts like a Tire Balance issue.. 7,000 miles on the truck, vibrates 55-65 and it is very annoying. worse some days than others.

I got it balanced and rotated yesterday at Discount Tire, and it is MUCH better.. one of the front tires was off .5 ounce. Well, there is still a slight vibration in the Steering wheel and pedal, so I went to the internet searching for info and I read an article about Toyota 4runners and the Taco having Lugcentric (Sp?) wheels. You can't balance them with the traditional concentric methods, a special tool is required.

My first taco had Gulf States Toyota's alloy aftermarket on there and balancing was never an issue.. the new truck has the TRD OFFROAD wheels and I am hung up on the thought they are not balanced right. Can anyone shed some light on this one or let me know if you have experienced the same thing?

THANKs!

 

You always get a better balance job if the shop uses a pin-plate adaptor that centers the wheels on the lug holes versus using a cone that uses the center hole.

Most tire shops who know what there doing have the pin-plates, but sometimes they are too lazy to use them.

Are you running the stock tire on the TRD wheels? It's possible to get a tire that will fit on the wheel, but is really too wide for the wheel...this will cause a side to side vibration that you cannot cure at higher speeds.

 

Stock Tire.. 7k miles.

 

haha yep you have a little ways till you get your new set we all know

 

http://www.gadgetonline.com/Vibration.htm#Introduction: 

 

I have used the Haweka adapters at my shop for years...they are definitely the way to go. The road force balance is great....if the tech knows how to use it correctly. Most techs are too lazy to actually move the tire on the rim to match the balance points...I get dealers call me all the time saying the road force is 60 so the tire is defective, when in all reality if they would do what the equipment is telling them, they could simply spin the tire on the rim and pratically eliminate the road force you can feel. And yes, you are dead right in saying GY Wranglers are crap...if you want a smooth ride go with the Michelin LTX MS2! They'll last forever and they'll be smooth from beginning to end. Most tires feel good when you put them on, but within 12000 miles, they feel like crap...not with the Michelins.

Great info...thanks for sharing!

 

For what it's worth.. I stopped by Discount tire today on the way home, and they rebalanced again with the "finger plate" this time.. Perfect! All tires were out, so the took care of it and the truck is as smooth as the day I bought it.. weird..