Steering wheel shake after new suspension and lift install

I put some 255/85 r16 ST Maxx tires on my 2020 Tacoma with only 5,000 mi on it. The tires pulled to the right hard but that was the only change.
A day later I had a stage 3 icon suspension put in which included an alignment. The shop had to do the alignment twice.
Driving away there was lots of shake in the steering wheel at highway speeds. The shake in the steering wheel seems to happen mostly at speeds above 50 miles an hour and going downhill. The steering wheel also seems to sit slightly to the left.

What do you think is causing the shaking in the steering wheel?

 

Just had my 5100's / 2888 OME coils put on today (2.5" front lift / 1.5" rear lift) with 285/70/17's put on today and everything went great ... except steering wheel wobble / shake on the highway trip back home. From what I've read its the needle bearing on the driver side. The fix is a bushing that replaces the Driver side CV axle needle bearing with bushing to help control Vibration and shaft float common on these differentials.

Here is the part ... https://eastcoastgearsupply.com/i-8536125-toyota-8-clamshell-bushing-eliminates-needle-bearing.html

Here is another thread ...

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/ecgs-bushing-is-it-a-must.527875/

 

Be interesting to know if it fixes your problem. When do you plan on replacing it?

 

Not sure, waiting to hear back from the shop that did my lift to get their opinion on cause and any other fixes.

 

I too have the ICON coil overs suspension lift, but everything was good from day one. I would start by making sure all nuts and bolts are tight to specs, then make sure the coil overs height was adjusted properly.. if all of that checks, have the tires balanced by a good tire shop..

 

have a copy of the alignment specs?

 

Yes, I'll get you a picture of it tomorrow.

 

Let us know what happens. I'll tell you if I get mine resolved.

 

This is BAD advice. The needle bearing issue results in a rhythmic pulsing vibration. It’s not going to make your steering wheel shake.

OP your tires need to be balanced properly using a road force machine with the proper Toyota adapter.

 

Okay. But the tires were put on before the suspension lift and there was no shaking. Only when the new suspension and lift, with wheel spacers, was put on did the shaking start.

 

I’m guessing improper tire balancing with an alignment not ideal for a lifted Tacoma.. one more question, are your wheels just centric or lug centric ...

 

Don't know. The wheels are the stock wheels though.

 

I thought I had read at some point that the needle bearing was not an issue for the 2020 and maybe 2019 because they changed out the part. I could be wrong though.

 

are the spacers high quality hub centric? I bet that’s the problem.

 

Start with what you can do in your driveway first. Remove the wheel spacers see if it makes any difference. If not have the tires balanced again

Curious what spacers did you use??

Swapping out tires will not affect your alignment so you should not have been pulling hard in any direction.

 

Coopers are notorious for pulling to the right...
Might be radial from tire conicity; and source of your vibes.

Should have a road force balance with minimal road force weight applied using a Haweka adapter, or similar. It'll have a fitted collet for the hub bore and plate with tip adapters for securing.

Brand of wheel spacers?
Spacers and lug nuts tight?

 

Got it. So my steering wheel wobble / shake is pretty rhythmic and only occurs at speeds >50 MPH. You believe its a tire balance issue and not a needle bearing issue? As I stated in my post, I'm on 285/70/17 KO2's with aftermarket wheels (17x9, 0 Offset). Thanks for the input!

 

I'm taking it back to the 4x4 place this morning. They're a well-known well-established southern California outfit.
I'll pass along all the advice given and see if they can sort it out.
I guess it could be a tire balance issue even though the car didn't vibrate when the tires were put on - it just pulled hard to the right. Lifting it may have exposed The tire imbalance even more.
I don't know much about the spacers (except that they were "bolt on") but I'll check if they're hub centric as well.
Thanks for all the advice. I'll report back when I know more.

 

I was thinking I just taking off the stickers on the right side, doubling them up on the left side and see if that straightens the car out.

 

Yup, you need about 1-1.5 degrees of cross caster (passenger more positive) to get coopers to drive straight.