Steering Wheel Shake

I currently have 285/75/16 Hankook MT's on 16" Eagle Alloy wheels that resemble Mickey Thompson Classics on my 08 Double Cab Short Bed. When I'm driving at lower speeds, the steering wheel moves back and fourth close to an inch. I believe this only happens when the texture in the road isn't consistant ie: bumps, cracks, etc.
Is it possible that my Camber and/or Caster is off? (not that I know how to check any of that). My buddy has a Tundra with 285/75/16's and his steering wheel doesn't do that...
Any ideas?
I need to fix this asap as I plan on driving with my lady to Mammoth soon.

 

could be an alignment/wheel balance issue.. rotate your tires see if anything changes..

 

Does it have play when you are stationary and off?

 

get your tires rotated and balanced and have your alignment checked

 

Will do, thanks guys. I'll let you know what results I get.

 

Toyota wheels are balanced differently than other manufacturers.
Make sure your wheels are balanced properly, or steering wheel shake will show you they are not.

 

Got a flat (left front) - had Sears patch and balance tire (stock). Noticed steering wheel shimmy at about 55mph and returned to Sears and asked them to recheck balance- they reported that both front tires were out of balance and balanced them at no charge. Wheel shimmy eliminated, although I'm disappointed that my right front was also out of balance (2013 TRD Sport Dbl Cab Long bed.) Have about 4,200 miles on it. The front passenger tire did not throw the balancing weight from factory; it appears that the tire was not accurately balance from the get go. (I'll be monitoring the tire wear on the rear tires as they may also have been improperly "balanced" at factory).

 

yeah, I can verify that many shops, and I mean a whole lot of shops, do not have the proper attachment to balance Toyota wheels...even if road force balanced, without the right attachment, forget it....

For over two years I chased a vibration problem, even after replacing balls, tie rods, steering box bushings, bilsteins, and center support bearing, had alignment checked numerous times, tires balanced at many different shops up and down the East Coast and also in California, had the tires shifted on the rims, had the rims checked for out of round, finally, I found the RIGHT shop and immediately you could feel the difference. Even at 25/35MPH leaving the shop to hit the freeway you could feel the difference...I felt like going back and hugging all the techs at the shop...

BTW, Sears was one of the shops in Connecticut I used for a balance, they had to do it twice, even after the second go round it was never right....

 

care to elaborate?
cant see how a wheel on a Toyota is any different than any other wheel on any other car...

 

Some wheels are balanced as hub-centric. Some wheels are balanced as stud-centric.
So you have to balance the tire via the center of the hub, or via the studs.
I always forget which one Toyota uses, but its the least used method.

 

there is a special outside counterbalance used to balance Toyota rims, especially the alloy's....

trust me, you can get your tires balanced by the best in the business, but without the special part, spinning your wheels so to speak...the shop that I finally got the right checked the balance of the set I just purchased in California, carefully balanced to start my return trip, but never felt right, I had them check each wheel of the new rims and tires, before a rebalance, and all where off by just a little over 1 oz each...

It is annoying this is happening, many Taco owners have frustrating vibes, this is just one of several that can surface its ugly head once and awhile....

 

Thanks for your insight re: Tacoma wheel idiosyncrasies. Next time I need wheels balanced or tires replaced I'll speak with technician to make sure they have the right equipment/knowledge for balancing my stock TRD wheels. Re: Toyota TPMS valves, the Sears technician did state that if I purchase tires from Sears, Sears policy is to replace the TPMS valve components when mounting replacement tires. If these components aren't replaced periodically, they wear out resulting in damage to TPMS computer (which is expensive to replace).

 

Are your aftermarket rims hub-centric? Did they come with hub-centric rings?
http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacomas/284172-hub-centric-rings-worked-info.html

 

Ok, so it turns out that it was my alignment(Tow was off) & front wheels needed balancing(needed more weights added on the inside).

Thank you for all the replies