Help again with new wheels and tires

I asked for help once before and I thought I was good but I'm just not satisfied with how the truck is driving at this point. Here's what I have:


2013 Double Cab Prerunner (TRD Offroad) 3200 miles currently on truck.
Bilstein 5100 front and back with front set at 1.75
Pro Comp 7032 (17x9) wheels with BFG 275/70r17.


I had to everything installed at a 4x4 shop in Temecula (north of San Diego) but the balancing was never right, I would drive on the freeway and it would shake like crazy over 50 mph. I gave them 3 tries and they couldn't get it right, found out they weren't using the lug centric adapter. I found a local guy with the road force balancer and he did that...seems a little better but still have the shakes...why?


I know my wheels are a little to wide for the tire, found that out after the fact and my tires are 10 ply but shouldn't I be able to get a smooth ride.


Any thoughts or shops in San Diego area or OC that are solid to help. I'm starting to wish I had left it stock!!!! Thanks again!

 

To add: I put hub centric rings as we'll, could it be seething else (i.e the 5100's). Anyone else have a similar problem?

 

Sounds a lot like a tire issue, one or more of them could be out of round. Go to a tire professional and find out if that is the case if you haven't already. If it is, it could very well be a warranty issue due to workmanship or materials. Since you're in Temecula you could try Allen Tire in Hemet or Express Tire in Escondido. HTH

 

Thanks for the recommendations. The last tire shop did the roadforce but not sure if they knew what was up...they said the roadforce balancer can tell if the wheel or tire are out of shape?? At this point just want someone who knows how sensitive Tacoma's are and can do a little trouble shooting.

 

I see, I would still get positive verification if you're dealing with an out of round issue. At least then you could check that off of the list. On the other hand, 2nd gen Tacomas are notorious for having soft body mounts, resulting in the truck not being as rigid as their boxed framed counterparts. So vibration can be amplified.

Are you lifted? If so, did you do a driveshaft carrier bearing drop? If you haven't it's possible that is the source of your vibration as well due to the steeper angle of your driveshaft when lifted.

 

I just leveled it with Bilstein 5100's set at 1.75. Do I need the carrier bearing drop even though I'm a Prerunner? If yes, details would be appreciated...what parts? Thanks

 

Hmm I would imagine you wouldn't have to with a leveling kit but then again, better safe than sorry.

Here's a not so great pic of the driveshaft carrier drop kit by ARB on my truck.



Toytec sells the kit for $12 might be worth the few bucks and an hr or two of work.

http://toyteclifts.3dcartstores.com/Driveshaft-Carrier-Bearing-Drop-Kit-05-UP-Tacoma_p_168.html

 

Wow...thanks, I had no idea. Is there a certain angle in which this required or do you think its worth the try to rule stuff out?

 

I say do it, it's just 2 bolts. If that doesn't fix the problem then I would say recheck your front suspension to make sure everything is tight, check alignment, and take a look at the tires one more time.

 

If you're willing to make the drive to Vista, I'm the assistant manager of the discount tire here. I would be more than happy to help you rule out tire/wheel problems. One issue that you might have is running a 275 on a 9 inch wide rim. This is a stretch fitment, which doesn't help ride at all.

 

Thank you...yes I may take you up on that. I actually used to live in Vista, which exit off the 78? Its a shame I didn't realize the tire wasn't going to fit when I got them. Now I look online it even seems some 265's (Toyo) can fit a 9 inch rim, doesn't seem to make sense as the 275 is wider, right?

 

Not necessarily, there is no actual consistent standard when it comes to what a tire manufacturer labels as a tire width. Some will measure from sidewall to sidewall others will measure at the shoulders. Normally the approved width ranges are provided on the tire manufacturer's website and will indicate what a particular size is optimal for. Usually the optimal width is highlighted between 2 other acceptable widths.

In your case it could be that the BFG's you have actually do fit a 9in wide wheel, it just might not be optimized for it. However, from my experience with tires this is not the likely culprit for what you are experiencing.

 

Glad to hear that, thanks.

 

Might be too late now but it wouldn't hurt to talk to the guy who balanced them last. One of them might have been within range that he might let it go but maybe he shouldn't have.....judgment call, ya know?....even on a road force machine. You never know...

 

Yeah make sure they were ZEROED out, especially the front tires. If they are off by even .25oz then you could get some real shakes in the wheel. Recently I had tires put on, once I left the tire shop and got the truck up to 40-50 mph I thought my wheel was gonna fall off. My first thought was they didn't tighten the lug nuts down. Once I drove back and had them re-balance they found out the front driver side was off by .5. Once they got them all zeroed out the ride was back to smooth.

So, what I would do is get them re-balanced and make sure the wheels/ tires get zeroed out otherwise that's probably what your feeling.

 

hey I had the same problem after I purchased new goodyear duratracs 285 75 16's, my truck would shake at highway speeds and also when slowing down it felt like the truck would go up and down like I was riding on egg shaped tires. so I took it down to a buddy that works at a tire kingdom and he told me that 2 of the tires were not perfectly round. he even showed me the tire on the wheel balancer while it was rotating and you could definitely see it. needless to say he balanced them like they've never been balanced before, now its a much smoother ride at highway speeds

 

It's on Melrose, near Palomar Airport Road. Sycamore would probably be the easiest ecit. 275 is 10mm wider, yes. However, the maximum safe width for a 265 is an 8.5" rim. Some shops will disagree, but the manufacturer's guidelines as well as industry standards only allow certain fitments.

This is only partially true. The industry is far more standardized than this. While it's true that a 275 from one manufacturer might be slightly wider or thinner than a 275 from another, the difference is typically negligible, particularly when it comes to the beads, which is really what's in question here.

Again, with the fitment you're running, you're going to be susceptible to feeling everything, from an improper balance to a balance that isn't considered "ideal". It's common for shops to balance larger tires in a static format (that is, one set of weights on one side or in the middle of the wheel) in lieu of the ideal "dynamic" balance (weights on the outside edges). If you're running a static balance, you're much more likely to feel vibration.

 

Props to dxpsman . OP, I hope you take him up on this. If 2 shops have tried balancing your wheels without success, it is more likely a bad wheel or tire. You need a shop that can take their time with trial an error maybe even try a different set of tires/wheels to fix your issues. What kind of BFG's are you running ? MT? AT? but 10ply seems too stiff, IMO.

 

I am a little higher than you and I have the 285/70/17. Mine rode like shit. Took me a lot of TW research to figure out why. I installed UCA's(I don't think you need them) and got an alignment to my spec 0 toe, 0 camber, 3 caster(which I found on here) not the factory spec that everyone seems to align our lifted trucks too. I have also placed a diff drop, which I don't think helped or hurt at all either.

My point, let's see those alignment numbers.

 

They are AT, 10ply. I went with those because the selection is pretty limited for that size. Just bought the wheels and seems a bit extreme to sell and get 17x8.5's