Shaky Steering Wheel with Nitto Ridge Grapplers

I bought a 2019 Tacoma Offroad in September and have had nothing but problems since buying it. Literally everything that I have upgraded has been an issue. Now I am reading that the 2020 came out and the problem with the gears I was trying to fix has been fixed. (allegedly) Ugh!

Now why I am posting.

I bought new wheels PRO COMP 69, and some Nitto Ridge Grapplers. I have had them balanced 9 times now, one alignment and an alignment check, and I cannot get rid of the shake in my steering wheel. When I put the OEM tires and wheels back on, the shake was gone. Discount Tire is telling me that the wheels and tires were not balanced together, they fixed it, they road trac balanced them, they have re-balanced them, and used different lug nuts etc.

I am beyond frustrated. It is a brand new truck and I cannot get the wheels balanced.

Please help...

 

Can you say how the wheels were mounted on the machine? Did they use a cone collet with clamping hood or, fitted collet with lug plate?
Specs on wheels(width, offset, bore) and tires?
Can you post the alignment sheets?

 

Probably bent rim. 4Runner had one, thought it was a tire. Balanced, road force balanced, tried dynabeads...nope.

Rims replaced = flawless again.

 

Will Discount Tire not replace the tires? I had a set of KO2’s that wouldn’t balance and after 3 tries they gave up and replaced the tires with Ridge Grapplers. I’m surprised they are still wanting to mess with it.

 

Coolcat, I apologize for the balance issues with your set of tires and wheels. I understand this can be very frustrating. PM coming your way.

 

To the first guy that asked for the alignment sheets. I don't have them, wouldn't know where to get them and don't have enough will power to do so. However I can tell you that the guys at Discount have tried very hard to help me solve the issue. The general manager at the store here in Addison personally balanced the tires to the wheels, Road Force tested them, rebalanced, and we could not stop the shake. They had the recommended lug nuts. They were not air tightened, does that matter? But we took front two tires off of wheel and replaced with a Goodrich passenger tires, Still shook. Then he changed the wheels and tires and the shaking stopped but I could feel a vibration coming off the back wheels shaking the whole truck slightly.

So it may be that the wheels are the issue but I don't know why they would be if they keep checking out ok on the machine. Regardless, I had already sold my OEM tires and wheels after the 7th rebalance thinking I had solved the issue. So I have to wait to get new wheels either from different company or some guidance from Pro Comp. I did call them and ask them if there could be a problem and they told it was impossible.

in other news, the leather upgrade on my truck bubbled and the stitching is coming apart at the seams so I have a new fire to put out. Tornado came through Dallas last Sunday and at this point I was hoping it would just take my truck and drop it off in Oklahoma.

 

So, this is interesting. My 2018 had steering wheel shake with aftermarket wheels and big tires. I chalked it up to tires and had them balanced 3 times. The fourth time, discount tire helped me get a manufacturer warranty with Cooper and replaced all 4 tires. They balanced them. Steering wheel shake was still there.

Here's what's interesting. The tires are perfect. There is no vibration at any speeds. However, on some sections of freeway, the steering wheel shakes EVEN when there is no tire vibration. It's only on some sections of freeway, the rest of the time they are perfect with 0 shake. When it happens, the truck is smoothly rolling down the road as the wheel is shaking an inch back and fourth.

It's definitely this wheel and tire combination but I don't know why. I had the alignment checked and rechecked also.

I've just learned to live with it since it's only on some small sections of freeway. I'm guessing the tires are wider than the grooves in the road on some sections and fighting to stay in the grooves.

Just make sure you decouple tire vibration and steering wheel shake, because in my case they are exclusive. If you find a solution, let me know.

 

First guy here...
Call them up and ask the second question I asked you.

Too bad about the alignment sheet...
Contrary to popular belief, different wheels will change your desired alignment; especially wheels with a lot of offset poke. You're rolling down the road toe-out on both sides. That'll cause some shake.

What are the specs on those wheels?

 

What are the specs on the tire?
What pressure are you running?

 

I work in IT. People say that something is impossible all the time. Prove them wrong all the time. Lazy answer. Keep digging, I think you're on the right path here.

 

Do you have hubcentric ring spacers?
I'm seeing those at 108mm centerbore; spec is 106.1mm.

 

SplitBolt,

The wheels do not require any hub centric spacers, according to ProComp and Discount Tire. I am changing the wheels out for some Black Rhino Amory wheels as they seem to be a better fit for Tacoma than the ProComp 69's. American Baja has a similar Old School look that I was going for, but I am mixing it up. Luckily Discount has been pretty good about helping me trying to figure out the issue and then help me get this sorted out.

Basically we think the problem is with the ProComp Wheels and how they ride for the new trucks. They think that the wheel can't handle the weight of the tire, but when a passenger tire was put on it also had vibration. I wish I could figure it out, but I just don't have the time or patience to sort it out. It's too much money to have a brand new wheel/tire combo shake and vibrate.

 

Coolcat, glad to hear your local Discount tire store is ordering in some new wheels for you. Hopefully this will take care of the situation for you.

 

No...if it has a 108mm centorebore, they need the spacers.

I'm seeing Black Rhino rims, with a 6x139.7 bolt pattern, have a centerbore of 112.1mm...they're not going to fix your problem.

Your tire and wheels are most likely getting a hub centric balance.
Without the spacers, your wheel is being mounted on the truck in a lug centric manner.
Then there is the matter of wheels being supported by the wheel studs alone...

 

Yeah from 108 to 112 center bore , going the wrong direction. Ugh!!

 

I agree, these trucks do not like the oversized bore.

 

The Black Rhino Armory wheels came with a hub ring and seem to have solved the issue. I had another bad wheel balancing but it appears that the shaking is gone and after another balancing, I finally have good ride quality. Sometimes I feel a little vibration but it is hard to tell if it from the road or from the Ridge Grapplers.

 

I am having the same issue after 5 trips back to discount tire to have the tires balanced they still shake like hell. I did 275/75/16 on a ‘17 TRD Pro. Anyone have input the dealership says the tires show excessive road force as well but Discount Tire can’t seem to figure it out. Help!!!