Is there an ans to steering wheel shake?

G'day all,

I have a 2011 Tacoma OR TX Pro package. I've been reading, with much interest, all the threads addressing steering wheel shake between 55-65 MPH, as I have some minor shake at those speeds. As you know there are volumes of suggestions and actions taken by others to correct the problem from wheel balancing to replacing the trans, drive shafts and rear end, and not to forget the carrier bearing mount assy and replacing the two piece drive shaft with a single shaft.

I thought Toyota might, by now, have a "fix" but no so as far as I know. In my humble opinion the single piece drive shaft makes the most sense, but no one on TW, experiencing the problem and taking some corrective actions has actually come out and said that's the cure.

Is there a "final" conclusion or is this a "one fix" does not cure all situation?

I appreciate your time and response.

 

Assuming it's under warranty, have the dealer check it out. Also, it could just be the more agressive tires vibrating at higher speed. Lastly, have you done any driving through mud? Mud can get between the rim and tire, causing a ton of vibration at speed.

 

x2 on the warranty.

It's a brand new truck - take it in and tell them you don't want it back until it's fixed.

Fink

 

No, there is no fix. Thought I finally had mine fixed after 3 1/2 yrs. Drove it over 400 miles past 2 weeks, no shake. Now it's back again. All wheel weights still intact.

 

Mine did it right off the lot with 2 miles on the truck. Took it back to the dealer. Short story, 2 wheel balances later it was still there. Dealer swap rims and tires off another new one on the lot. That stopped it. I still have a barely detectable vibration from the back end, but no steering wheel shake.
Take it back to the dealer and be prepared to spend a 1/2 day or so, but don't leave till they fix it.
There does not seem to be any single black and white fix. Make sure they road force balance...(but on mine it did not make any difference and actually made it worse.)

 

Steering wheel shake is bad balancing. Our wheels are balanced 'hub-centrically' and not 'lug centric' like other vehicles. I'm not an expert on how this affects things, but I know they need to know this when they balance them. A cheap spin balance doesn't work for these trucks. This is why I was annoyed for a long time by wheel shake with my KM2s. They don't balance well. FINALLY one day I broke down and got a road force balance and no issues anymore.

 

Planning this when the new tires go on next week as I am having that shimmy between 55-65 also...THX

 

I wish you luck. I have had my tires road force balanced 4 times by tire shop & dealership (factory Dunlops & new Michelins), aligned twice, altered air pressure, still had bad shake. RFB even made my shake worse. Mine starts at 62 mph. Under 62, no shake, 62 & above, shakes badly. After all that, I spent a week moving my tires all around the truck, including my spare. I finally thought I had it fixed. For 2 weeks, I had no shake. I drove from home in Santa Cruz to Murphys, approx 350 miles round trip & truck had no shake. Day before yesterday, shake was back like gangbusters. Yesterday, no shake. I have yet to find out today.

 

You check your tire pressure? Its starting to get cooler around here. Tires tend to have a flat spot when it gets cold and goes away when they warm up. Maybe a little more tire pressure might help.

 

I do check pressure. I have them set at 35 psi. Should I go higher?

 

Help me out here as I am a little hazy on hub-centric vs lug centric.
Could you give me a good explanation of the differences?

I think I understand lug-centric; they yank the wheel off, throw it on a wheel balancer with lugs on it, balance, and put it back on, whereas with hub-centric, has to balanced on the truck as just balancing the wheel won't do squat. Has to be balanced and centered on the hub, not lugs;

Can you clear up the haze for me?

 

Thanks, that's today's project if it doesn't rain.

 

Guys,

I appreciate all the inputs. But, I'm having a difficult time believing it all comes down to balancing. My tire pressure is where it belongs. Higher than most of you based on the Toyota and Honda dealerships In Colorado; you add one half pound of pressure per 1000 feet of altitude, so living at 7000 feet I have at least 3 extra pounds of pressure.
The steering wheel shake is there the majority of time but will change intensity from day to day. Greasing the drive live u-joints will change the intensity, the ambient temperature seems to also have a minor effect. The shake is never major, just degrees of minor, but never diminishes to zero while driving anywhere between 55-68mph. It always occurs some where between those speeds.
There are days when is so minor I dismiss a trip to to dealer. I know I should go and get this on record at the dealer, it's the smart thing to do, just need to get other pressing stuff off my plate.
This condition manifested it self at about 5000 mile, now have 12,000 miles. While I off roar there is not mud or dirt build up on the wheels.

Again, I appreciate the inputs.

Cheers

Bob

 

In my experience, it's not a balance issue. My shaking varies from day to day (severe, none, minor). I too dismissed trips to the dealer in my first 2 years figuring it was balance issue (I bought mine new in April 2008). I just made monthly trips to a local tire shop for balancing. It was not until Feb 2011 that I discovered this forum & that others were having same problems. I've tried just about everything, ie; Road Force Balancing both factory Dunlops 1 time & new Michelins 3 times, alignment, adjusting tire pressure, rotating tires all around the truck including spare, Toyota factory engineer & dealer service manager spent day doing RFB, rotation, alignment, took tires & wheels off other trucks, they measured runout on my rims which all measured to within tolerances & dismissed them. They think it's my new Michelins. If that were the case, why did my factory installed Dunlops shake too? They both told me this is not a driveline issue. I did have 2 weeks recently where shake was non existent. Now it's back & varies day to day again at speeds starting @ 62mph & above. Sorry I have no answers for you other than keep taking it back during your 3yr/36k warranty period. I feel there is a design problem that either Toyota doesn't know how to fix or chooses to ignore. I wish you the best of luck!! Charles

 

It's worth a try at the dealer. My new '11 had a vibe at 65 when new. The dealer set tire pressures to spec (they were 37psi instead of 29!), fixed a slight toe out of spec issue, and found three slightly out of balance tires. Problem solved.

It came and went on mine too. Some days I didn't notice it. My theory is that if two tires are slightly out of balance, their position in their roll relative to each other can cancel out the issue sometimes. Also, some vibes can occur when tires sit for a day or two and develop a slight flatspot. Usually that goes away after a few miles.

 

That's the other theory I've been told about & finding it may be most accurate. I will be doing the chalk test & probably lowering my tire pressures. My Michelin dealer told me to keep them at 35 psi for maximum tread life. I'm at the point of screw that & do what works best to lessen or eliminate the shake. However, at 29 psi, my steering felt squirmy & ride too soft.

 

Tire brand is also an issue, quality, etc. I had no shake or shimmy with the stock Duelers, but when I put my Geolanders on, shimmy at 55. I like the traction of the Yokes, but they are made in Thailand and hence I think they are pieces of shit quality wise.

Then I switched to the procomp wheels I have now. Shimmy between 55 and 60. Goes away just over 60.

This is not new to me. I have modded all of the vehicles I've owned and have always experienced balance issues with custom wheels/tires. I think it comes down to the balancing tech and the time he spends with each wheel. But there must be an inherent limitation to balancing equipment since everyone seems to experience the shimmy in the same mph range.

 

Subbing

 

Did you by any chance take it to the dealer for it's first service at 5,000 miles? I'm thinking since they rotate the tires at 5,000 miles they either knocked off a weight or screwed up the balance.