Steering wheel and truck vibration

Its okay to be afraid of modern advancements in industry. We weren't all completely sold when adhesive weights hit the market I suppose.. But everythings not a gimmick my friend. If Hunter designed a machine so simple a middle school girl could use effectively, and you still prefer that 65 year old mechanic that still handwrites invoices, so be it. Everyone doesn't have that long-term auto mechanic family friend. For those who don't, there's DTD with a road force balance, ran by a high school/college kid who just wants to learn, and works just as good.

 

One thing I think some people are not considering is that a wheel can go out of balance after it has been balanced. For example, a balancing weight can fall off, mud or ice can get stuck in the wheel, the tire can become damaged, etc.

My personal experience is that have had a similar type vibration countless times and the root cause has always been a wheel being out of balance. Conversely, the root cause has never been any of the other suggestions in this thread. Caveat: I drive in mud, snow, ice, and big rocks frequently. YMMV

 

No doubt a wheel slinging a weight off could easily be OP's issue. I only offered other solutions to check, because they're essentially free to diagnose on your own, and have historically been known issues with threads daily here on TW (needle bearing, driveline vibes after lift, etc). We're working with very limited info from OP, so a wide variety of answers are bound to show up. What we do know, is OP put on 33's and lifted. Its most plausible that tires or driveline changes are the root issue. Switching into 4HI to rule out needle bearing is a free test. There's no need paying for another balance without checking that first. Same goes for greasing driveshaft - if its never been done, or hasn't been done in a long time, start there. It takes 5 minutes. To counter your point, both of those items have been root causes of vibrations for me, when I chased an "out of balance" tire that wasn't there. Start simple, start free, then move to the next plausible.

 

I get it, it just sounded like some people were implying that once a tire is balanced it is unlikely to go out of balance. Too much attention was being give to owner modifications.

Another thing to note is that the vibration caused by an out of balance wheel is pretty easy to diagnose if you are familiar with it. Very typically for me it is a side-to-side shake in the steering wheel that has a resonance in a particular speed range. On the taco that peak range is 50-60ish just like what OP described.

My manual stick shift also shakes back and forth.

The frequency of the vibration is pretty low, maybe 5 hertz. I’m guessing it matches the wheel rotational speed which would be a fun calculation.

EDIT: a 31” wheel rotates at 9 revolutions per second at 50 mph or 9 hertz. I have 33s so it’s about 8 for me.

EDIT: I have never experienced the diff bearing vibe people constantly talk about, but since the bearing supports the axle, it’s conceivable that the vibration has a similar frequency, but I think it would be transferred through a different path to the driver; less through the steering wheel as a front wheel out of balance vibe. I’m just thinking out loud though.

 

I guess that voids my recommendation of installing a powerful amp/subwoofer to achieve phase cancellation I don't think most plug and play solutions reach that low.

 

I just noticed now that the OP said in a downstream post that he recently installed new tires and a lift. That helps me understand some of the responses. My bad.

 

I guess I should’ve added a lot more info this is my bad for sure before these vibrations and shakes it was aligned (unknowingly) with a bad steering rack bushing. The lift is not new but the tires and bushing is new. I know I need a new steering pump. but when the tires were installed I had far from stock billet spacers installed I have yet to get up to the 60 mph as I just re torqued them tonight. This vibration I get seems to come and go but usually only when turning around 40, the shake comes into play at around 60+. If it’s any help they said the caster adjusters were “frozen” but I’ve looked at them along with others and the look completely fine the tabs are not bent or anything barley rusted either

 

Is it possible there's further damage to your steering rack? (can you sense any binding or dead spot around curves?)

 

Theres no binding or dead spots if anything it feels too easy to steer which is weird

 

It's ok that you believe everything you read on the internet. Do you really think pressing a drum against your tire is really replicating real world driving? It is a gimmick. How fast do you really think a tire spins on a balancer? 65? 70mph? and that drum is putting 1000lbs of pressure and you normally ride on cone shaped roads? It's a gimmick and you believe it. Any modern balancer can show the biggest idiot where to put weights. That won't fix the problem when the pimple faced high school kid doesn't know what he is looking at and doesn't know that he isn't setting the machine up properly. A road force balancer is a joke.

 

Agreed and that is part of my point. You introduce an unnecessary point of failure with them. It is so much better to get proper fitting wheels.

 

Can you show us on the doll where the road force balancer hurt you?

Some really strong feelings over there.

But really as suggested earlier start working through every component from most recently mucked with. And have your balance double checked things do happen. Weights fall off belts slip within the tire.

 

There is little I find more humorous than someone trying to sound smart when they clearly have idea what they are talking about. Belts slipping??? You clearly know nothing about tires. That is the most ridiculous things ever. It is impossible for a belt to slip. It just can't happen. I would highly suggest that before you try to be cute with your insults that you learn a little about the subject discussed. There are no belt tensioners or pulleys inside a tire, LOL. Kind of hard for something to 'slip'.

 

Do you know anything about what makes up a radial tire? There are multiple layers within a tire that are generally referred to as "belts" these belts have seams which can seperate or slip within causing wierd balancing issues. Not common in passenger tires but it does happen.
But you are right there are no pulleys or tensioners in a tire smart ass.

 

Haaa. Absolutely I know what makes up a tire. I have been to several factories and seen them made (except Michelin). How many have you been to? That is why I know that you clearly know nothing about tires. Tires are made of layers, but it impossible for a belt to slip as you have stated. These layers are bonded together and they are solid. Again, no room for any movement. If the layers do separate, which can happen as you see from gators on the highway, they do not slip allowing for truing up on a balancer. That just doesn't happen. When a tire separates, it needs to be replaced. I know this is just a quick explination. Certainly you now know more than you did and hopefully will help you stop spreading misinformation.

 

If you're going to try to use someone's words against them, make sure your reading comprehension is at or above a 3rd grade level. In trying to make some grand point, you just made yourself sound dumber. He clearly stated the exact opposite:

He had a very simple stance, and very well said; Your story is a little more wishy-washy:

Which is it? Can belts separate, or no? He says yes; you say no, but your explanation says the complete opposite.

Here lies the true issue. You're bringing an ego into a thread full of others legitimately trying to help OP. What good does you dying on a hill hating road force have to do with OP's issues? The suggestion is this: "balance your tires." Frankly, we don't care if its via road force, balance beads, or melted down lead from old fishing weights, hammered on the wheel with an indian sex rock. The suggestion is the same.

 

Thanks for the thoughtful analysis. To answer your question, belts don't slip or separate. Tires can separate, but that is not germane to this conversation. Tire separation is about as relevant to this conversation as a leaking battery or low blinker fluid. I tried to make it as clear as possible. Maybe you can create a few more quotes?

The point is the OP has a vibration issue. If your knowledge of tires is from what you have read on the internet, you probably shouldn't question those that do then continue to argue your point just because you can't accept the fact that you don't know what you are talking about and completely wrong. This goes for slipped belts and a balancer that has a gimmick feature that does absolutely nothing to resolve issues that other balancers can without a pointless drum.

 

Hm I guess my years in tire service mean nothing and manufacturers warranting tires for slipped/separated belts was all a dream. The internal structure can have defects that arise after a short time on the road be it from mild vibration to completely deformed tread surface to the entire tread ripping off the carcass. Which is regularly seen in poor commercial tire retreads.
Regardless at this point none of this is assisting the OP in his issue this has become an "IM RIGHT EVERONE ELSE IS WROOOOONG" argument.
Good luck OP hopefully you can get some clear advice on the matter soon

 

Its your assumption that no one else on TW has any experience in the tire industry. There's only room for one, and its you; you know everything, thats clear..

If we're all just assuming here, I'm going to assume your experience is limited to some no name shop, and you're bitter because a better tire shop came to town, offering road force balancing and took your business away. Thats probably a wrong assumption, but see how dumb that sounds? Just blindly guessing, acting like you know everything about someone you've never met on the internet? Let your ego go, and offer some real help every now and then - you'll get alot more enjoyment being around here then.

 

It’s the needle bearing or if there’s needle bearing left.. my cv on drives side moves a pretty good amount