Steering wheel Shaking

I had a wheels store install a wheels and tires on my 2007 tacoma and my steering wheel started shaking. I had the several alignment and wheel balancing and never solve the shaking. I took the truck for a long drive this weekend and I was disappointed on how the truck handled.The truck was shaking and I was ready to have the truck towed fearing that the tires might come off from all that shaking.The shop installed a leveling 3" kit in the front and the tire size is 285/70/17. I had people tell me that the tires are too big and that nothing can solve the shaking problem. The shaking does comes and go but most of the time the steering shakes.I am to the point of just putting the stock wheels and tires back. Does anyone have this problem? I need some advice here. Thanks.

 

The spacer lift is the problem..

No matter how many alignment shops you take it too, the stock UCA's do not allow the proper geometry.

Look into getting aftermarket UCA's.

 

BTW... Welcome to TW!!


My advice:

Check out some of the many lift threads here in the 2nd gen section! Some good info to make an educated choice.

Good luck!

 

That is not going to make his steering wheel shake, it will only limit caster which would have a symptom like it feeling too twitchy or wandering. Poor tire balance is the most like culprit since the issue did not exist before the new wheels and tires. OP, did you put on wheels spacers too ?

 

The "Twitchy" and "Wandering" AKA bumpsteer contributes to the wheel shake... yes it is the problem.

Wheel balancing... I would think not because op said he has tried multiple shops.

I had the same issue and couldn't fix it. Replaced the BS spacer with new UCA's and CO's and the problem mysteriously went away.

Just my .02cents

 

I do not have a wheels spacers. I did have several shops do the wheel balancing but still have the same issue. I also had a shop checked the suspension and they said everything is still tight since the truck only have 76,000 miles on it with no off road driving. Thank you for your advice.

 

Sorry, but what is UCA and CO. Not familiar.

 

The suspension being tight is not the problem it is the bad alignment numbers.

NO shop can align the caster to proper numbers... The new geometry of the now "spaced lift" is causing the stock UCA's to bind. Incorrect Caster is the #1 cause of bad handling.



Right out of an alignment manual... "improper caster can cause shimmy."

 

UCA - Upper Control Arm

CO - Coil Over

 

Have you looked at the condition of your tires ? Toyota says to rotate every 5000 miles .Tacoma tires must be road forced balanced using the Haweka adapter on the tire machine tsu00296.pdf
When was the last time you rotated your tires ? Are you using LUG centric aftermarket wheels ? have you considered " HUB centric rings " http://www.amazon.ca/s/?ie=UTF8&key...vptwo=&hvqmt=e&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_7ybe1f1pby_e
Have the balance weights fallen off the tires ?

 

I did have them rotated every 5000 miles and I believe I have a lug centric aftermarket wheels. I did check all the weights and are all there. I will be taking the truck to 4 wheel parts tomorrow and have them check it and see what they say. If they can't help me then i will just have the stock wheels put back on. I hate to do it since I love the the look on the truck but safety and drive quality is more important to me. This issue have been with me for almost a year now. And I had enough. I can't even take the truck on a long drive anymore. I hope I will solve my problem soon! I will mention to them what you think the problem is. Thank you for your time guys.

 

check to see if you need hub centric rings does the wheel fit your hub?

 

I have a Gen-1 (1999) and I had tire shaking issues for years. Finally I found a good shop and 2 things solve it. First I had a wheel that was not perfectly around. It wasn't out by much, you had to put the dial indicator on it to see it. That solve it at slow speeds, but above 55mph I had lots of shaking. The second part was road force balance. After many many balances by different shops, with no success, I found a shop that did a proper road force balance and that made an enormous difference.

If they do the road force balance correctly, they may have to dismount and re-mount the tire multiple times. The balance machine applies force to the tire to simulate the vehicle weight. It can tell both if the tire isn't balanced, AND if the tire isn't on the rim perfectly strait. If it's not on the rim correct, the operator is supposed to dismount the tire and rotate it slightly, then re-mount the tire and try again. They had to do this a few times with my tires and WOW what a difference! In my experience, find a small private shop, you're more likely to get somehow who cares about their work.

 

I am thinking twice now if I still want to do that. Les schwab tires actually told me that they do the road force balance and it cost $27 a tire. I don't know if that would solve the shaking. I have spent so much from alignments and balancing already. Thank you for your advice.

 

It is not the same, you are not using the correct terminology. Look it up.

 

i have a slight shake . i have spacer lift. brand new tires . brand new rims. now the rotors are warped. when i take the tires of and spin the hub i can hear scratching in one spot . so in one rotation it no scratching then scratch and so on. you think a warped rotor would cause wheel shake. one of the tires needed 18oz of wheel weight. but i put that one on the back. and i ask for only tape weights so no weights show on face of rim.could that be a problem. its a faint shack but annoying and it doesn't get better or worse with speed. what do you think . I'm hoping its the rotor and not the uca cause the uca are 800 bucks its a five lug.

 

My steering wheel used to shake violently on the highway and some b road speeds. I'm talking like the watch on my driving hand would clatter around loudly. It was pretty embarrassing when i had passengers.

Anyway i tired all the same things with absolutely no luck. Wanna know what fixed it??

Take the front wheels off, and put them back on w/ the correct torque spec on the lugs. 83 ft/lbs i believe?

If you dont have a torque wrench, cheap shit ones at harbor freight are only 20 bucks and get the torque close enough for a lug nut.

Night and Day difference, my friend!

It took me a shit ton of digging to find this info, but no more shake. Best of luck!

 

Your first statement says it all. It started with the wheels and tires. It isnt the truck causing your vibes. Some tires do not balance. If they arent made the best or have an overly heavy side, they wont balance. If the wheels arent hub centric then they can be mounted imperfectly and cause a vibration. 3" lift without aftermarket UCAs will not allow for proper caster alignment. That will make it feel "loose" on the highway.

Sounds like youre blaming the truck for the problems, but its the aftermarket parts that are making the truck vibrate.

 

If speed doesn't affect the shake, and you still have it at slow speeds then probably one or more wheels are not round. And a tire took 18oz of weight? whoa.. that's more than a pound! Unless those are bigfoot tires, or you have a rimlock on one side but not the other, then that sounds like a crazy amount of weight to me. Check that tire out carefully, make sure it's OK and mounted properly.

 

Your UCA has nothing to do with it. If you have a tire that took 18oz of weight to balance you have a defective tire or the tire shop is completely incompetent. I would question the balance of the other tires as well. You need to go back to the tire shop and demand thst they break the head on all of your tires and re seat and re balance them. If any tire takes high weight to balance demand a warranty replacement. If all of this started the day you put your tires on...it must be the tires, stay focused on the tires and go back to the tire shop.