Dealer said can't diagnose heavy cabin vibration because I have aftermarket wheels and tires

Toyota of Kirkland WA. They used to be pretty nice. I can't really say any more publicly, but I suspect there's a backstory here I will share in PM.

 

I believe you, but since you didn't take the truck in to the dealer while those stock wheels were still on, there really is no way to prove that.

 

By the way. Let's say you do find some OEM take offs and return the vehicle to stock.....and then the diagnosis confirms another issue.....I would be asking for a new set of tires if the warranty issue caused consequential damage in the form of uneven wear on the new tires.

 

I get that, but again, the dealer is supposed to tell you this:

We will be happy to diagnose this issue and let you know what's going on, including repair estimate and options. However, if the issue does end up being your aftermarket wheels and tires, you will be responsible for the diagnosis and repair costs.

 

Keyboard diagnosis: could be an out of balance driveshaft. I had something similar in an old project car. Things would be fine until about 55mph and then the vibration would get increasingly worse. If there's a drivetrain specialist in your area, perhaps google them up and have them look at the drivetrain. If 2 sets of wheels/tires cause it, in my limited troubleshooting mind, you should be able to rule that out for the time being and look elsewhere. Good luck. Update the thread with what you find to help future lookers.

 

He isn't a whiner.

There are sort of two different, equally valid positions being staked out here and both are correct:

1. In some sense Toyota (or any other maker) cannot be liable for issues on vehicles with any random aftermarket mod;

2. This principle is in practice more often than not basically used as a shake down method by Toyota and dealers (and dealerships are basically shakedown operations, which is why a huge chunk of consumers avoid them altogther).

Personally, when I modded my truck I knew I was on my own viz the dealer. For their part that's fine. But they have also gotten literally no follow up business from me on anything. Life is a 2 way street.

 

I will. Like I said, I ordered the alignment because there's a decently reasonable chance that might cause it, but that's where I stop. I'm going to rip the service manager a new one and go to a driveline specialist as you suggested.

 

These guys obviously don't want my business anymore. Let's put it this way, and I'm removing this post after enough people read it. As part of my lemon case, I requested docs from the dealers who worked on the car, including this dealer. They never even replied, and I am entitled to these docs under WA state law. I had the attorney general's office subpoena them. I don't know if they already got that, but I'm guessing this is why they're being assholes.

Wait, OP is running Blizzaks in TX?

No, I am in WA state and I have blizzaks on because I sold my TRD Pro rims with Kumho tires since the truck is getting lemon lawed and I am not giving that nice stuff to Toyota.

 

I was thinking it could be unbalanced wheels. More specifically, it could be wheels with an unnoticeable amount of resonance at various speeds. At the higher speeds the resonance becomes more pronounced.

Start with the simplest fix and ask the tire dealer to check the balance at the high speeds as you could/will be driving 85 mph on a Texas roadtrip.

 

What about the fact that the truck did it on both sets of wheels and tires? And they were balanced twice on roadforce balance machines, recently for both sets, which the dealer doesn't even have (they have the old fashioned balancer).

The texas road trip idea is a good one. I'll bring that up today. The manager literally told me about high speed testing, that they can't do it since they need to do an extended drive to find a 70mph section of freeway, and the tech doesn't want to, since it'll come out of his pay.

 

Find another dealer or borrow stock wheels/tires from someone you can trust. Have them road forced at Discount then take them to the dealer

 

^ Yeah, I'm going to go to another dealer if the alignment doesn't do it.

 

since the truck was taken out of its stock configuration the dealer has the upper hand in whether they can pursue any fixes or investigations into the vibrations using the warranty

 

You'd think they would agree to diagnosis and just charge me for out of pocket repair if it was somehow the aftermarket wheels? Why I'm really posting here is to see if their excuse is bullshit, which was:

"We cannot diagnose this vehicle in any shape or form, warrantied or not, until the stock wheels and tires are put back on"

 

OP if you live in NC you can borrow the wheels and tires that came with my '16 SR5.

 

I truly appreciate the offer, but I'm on the opposite coast. I'm honestly not trying to involve too much energy in this because I'm lemon lawing the beast anyway. Just don't want it to shake apart while I drive down the freeway.

 

they don't want to get involved in modified trucks because it becomes a worm hole of never ending issues when the suspension has been taken out of its stock configuration, just browse the threads of people who have lifted their trucks added oversized tires and they think the truck will still cruise like a Cadillac when they go to the Mall and get 30 MPGs, its just a common fact modify the truck and it will change the handling and performance mostly in negative terms, but it looks cool.

 

I get that Bill, but the stuff on the truck is the exact OEM size and spec. I'm not running 33 inch tires or something. I have no suspension or driveline mods, either. Since when does throwing aftermarket rims on a truck qualify it as "modified"? Geez

 

We would do this all the time when I worked at a KIA dealership. There is literally a whole lot full of used and new vehicles that can serve as temporary parts loaners.

 

^Guaranteed that this dealer would say they have no such thing lying around.