Steering wheel Shake

Hey guys, I just spend 6 months trying to resolve this issue. At about 64 miles and hour it would start shaking like a b****, the tech would take the car and kept coming back and telling me there was nothing there and the he couldn't do anything if there wasn't a real problem. So finally after 6 months of this bs the dealership called in TOYOTA expert from denver, CO. He drove the truck, and told them to road force balance the wheel. Problem gone.

Apparently the only difference is that the put pressure on the wheels, as if they were driving down the road, when they balance them.

So moral of the story, make sure that if the normal balancing rack doesn't fix the problem that the road force balance the wheels.

 

Roadforce balancing is the only way to go on lugcentric wheels

 

Not for nut'n but you'd think the stealership should-would know this.

 

I bought my truck in Nov. noticed the shake at highway speeds told em to fix...well after a road force balance, replacement of stupid club tires, another road force, front bearings,finally 3 u joints it is gone, and this is all 4 months later.

 

Though I'm only 14, what is happening to your truck is called the "Death-Wabble" or "Wabble of Death". It usually only happens to small trucks or SUVs that have small lifts with bigger tires. It happens when one of the tires is more off balance than the other.

 

STRUTS Check your STRUTS. I had the same problem on my '09 4 cyl. I don't go off road, and I had a broken strut. Dealership fixed under warranty.

 

Should have these tomorrow, will post back the results.

Gorilla Automotive 108-106.1 Wheel Hub Centric Rings (108mm OD x 106.1mm ID) - Pack of 4

 

have developed a new vibe, looking for input. Its at highway speeds between 60 and 70 and isn't a slight balance shake, but more of an extreme vibration that feels like i'm driving over rumble strips, enough to make my hands numb. It won't do it all the time but comes in and out at highway speeds. It feels similar to the vibe that i have between 30 and 40 which is constant no matter the conditions, but this is 10 times worse, violent is the only way to describe it.

Could this very hard vibe be caused by a u joint or the carrier bearing? or wheel bearing? so sick of chasing one vibe then developing more...debating getting rid of the truck if i had money

 

I bought FJ Cruiser Wheels, blacked them out, reinstalled tires. Shake is gone. That was easy (not). I hope you guys figure it out. I tried hub centric rings, ET lugs. road force balance, etc. I cannot believe the front ends on these trucks are so sensitive. Oh well. I am just glad it is fixed. Good luck everyone. I hope ya'll have better luck than I did.

 

Does this also take care of shaking felt through the floor & seats? My tires have been balanced with proper Toyota items and shaking mostly gone from steering wheel but not the floor & seats

 

I think we should follow this format from now on...

Setup:
09 PreRunner AC with rear leaf TSB
Stock susp
Konig Countersteer Offroad
Hankook Dynapro ATM 265/75/16

Problem:
Wheel shake at 40-65+
Floor and seat shake at 40-65+

Tried:
Regular balancing
Hub centric rings (link above)

Status now:
Wheel shake is 90% gone, only feel it a bit at 65mph. Would recommend those hub centric rings for anyone with my setup
Floor and seat shake still at 40-65+

I do still feel the floor/seat shake though. I think I am going to try a road force balance too.

 

So, do the Hub centric rings work with stock steel wheels? If so, what size? My truck is an 08 PreRunner, access cab, stock susp, rear leaf TSB, still on factory Dunlop tires (replacing soon). I will try road force balance when I replace my tires, no sense wasting money on those crap Dunlops.

 

No. The idea is that the hub bore of aftermarket wheels is larger than the stock wheel hub. In my case, it was ~2mm larger.

 

Thanks for the reply. I will look into this further when I replace the Dunlops.

 

Start the truck. Leave it in park. Climb under the truck with someone else in the driver seat. Have the driver rock the steering wheel from side to side. 10:00 position to the 2:00 position. The tires should move together and at the same time as the steering shaft and the tie rod ends. If there is even a slight amount of play in the rack and pinion and/or the tie rod ends (or any other front end component) then that can be exagerated as a bad shake in the steering wheel. Then jack up the front tires. Grab the front tire top and bottom and try to shake it up and down. There should be NO noticable play. Now with the front tires off the ground push out on the inside of the front part of the tire and then pull back towards you. There should be no side to side play in the front end components. This will exagerate into lots of shaking also. And for the guy who wanted to know how to take the rotors off. Find a shop with an "on the car brake lathe". It will machine the rotors right on the car. It's a much better fix because it machines the rotors true to the hub and spindle. Much better than removing the rotors and chucking them up on a regular lathe.

 

So I dropped my truck off to get the tires road force balanced today during lunch and then got it back after work around 6. I go down the street to help my uncle move some crap and it feels good (duh, low speed city driving)... until I got on the freeway to go home, then it does the same shit! Now I have to take it back tomorrow during lunch and see what the hell happend. I know my wheels got balanced cause I have new weights on the rims, but I'm guessing they didn't do the road force balance !

*sorry, just needed to vent a little.

 

check your u-joints! a lifted 4wd vehicle with a short wheel base will beat the absolute snot out of u-joints because your driveline angles are so extreme. transfer case makes your driveshaft that much shorter, and the lift makes the angle pretty wicked. The very least you could do would be to shim your rear end to give it some positve caster. those crazy angles will beat your u-joints out even faster if you do not grease your slip joints because you're too lazy to replace that mushroomed grease nipple like i am!

edit: also, this is actually a general vibration thing. you'd notice it more in your shift tower bounching around like a mofo. cardoc's advice is sound as well, gotta check the ball joints and tie rod ends because those can make a pretty noticable vibration. Improperly adjusted wheel bearings will, too. a quick check to differentiate between ball joints and bearings if there is a bit of play is to get someone to jam on the brakes while you rock the tire at 12 and 6. the applied brakes will take the play out of the bearing because everything's pretty well locked onto the knuckle.

 

well i've given up dealing with my vibrations, getting a Subaru finally. But do not worry i'm not totally bailing on my good ol yota, the little brother is getting it as his first truck for free so he can use some money to get it fixed for my generosity haha

 

You guys are bumming me out. I am looking to get a Gen 2 Tacoma and after reading all these posts, I am having my doubts. Are all of these problems because you have aftermarket oversize tires and lift kits? Is this an inherent problem with Tacomas? If I get one and put a small 2" lift and slightly oversize tires, am I going to get wrapped up in this hell. What do you think?

 

Every once in a while theres a bad apple. I owned a bad apple for a while myself.