Steering wheel Shake

I fixed a steering shake without going to the dealer. The tire shop i used has several locations and after many re-balances i tried a new location. Apparently the original shop was only using a Tape balance (sticky weights). The second shop used Tape AND the weights on the lip of the rim. This fixed the problem immediately. Just a thought, be sure whoever you use is doing both before you dish out any extra cash. Good luck guys.

 

so i finally got this resolved. After $250 rotate and balance, oil change, and alignment it made things so much worse. (and this all happened from the toyota dealership) I had a crappy tech who lied to me several times so i spoke to a manager and got a tech who knew what he was talking about. He and the shop foreman went the extra mile to help find the root of the problem. Narrowed it to the tires (even though road force showed them good, and another shop said they were good). They could not be balance (they were using like 6oz weights and they're huge!). Found a set of rims and tires from a 2016 4runner on craigslist. Switched them out myself and the truck is as smooth as silk. such a huge relief to have this over with. i just wasted $1k in General Grabbers that are bad (hoping to get that resolved with them), and another $1k in minor maintenance and new wheels and tires. But it's done with and i'm not stressing for the first time in weeks about this.

one minor part is that when i was taking the lug nuts off the truck i broke two threads (they were on the rims so tight it broke them away, i'm chalking that up to the dealership). Gonna go get that fixed.

 

READ THIS: I had the same issue!!!!!.. If you have after market wheels, try "hub centric rings." It is a pretty cheap solution compared to new wheels or tires. Check out my profile gallery to see before and after. The truck I bought had after market wheels on it when i bought it, and it had the shimmy/death wobble from 45-70 and then it smoothed out to a slight shimmy. Well, i figured new tires would fix it.. nope. Took it back twice, then to the dealership.. no fix. I put hub centric rings (which are simple plastic bushings pretty much), and it is 99% better. Drives great now. The set had to be custom made, but ended up being around $65 vs. buying new wheels.

 

One thing nobody has gotten into over the life of this thread: specific alignment specs. Just a thought... I don't remember them off the top of my head but the alignment specs that you want to shoot for are posted all over in the forums. Maybe there's some correlation.

 

So after all the crap I had to deal with I thought I would post my pain and suffering here. My 1999 Tacoma started to shake while braking, really bad at higher speeds to the point it was unsafe. I started with the obvious, brake pads and front rotors. Zero results, still shook while braking. Next step was front calipers, zero results, still shook while braking. Finally I replaced the front wheel bearings and ball joints, and viola my brakes finally worked correctly. This is the first time I've had to replace ball joints and wheel bearing to fix a braking problem, but it worked....... Thankfully I did all the work myself and saved a bunch of $$$.

 

I experience this shakey wheel ONLY sometimes when the truck is cold and after driving about half mile from my house at speeds between 35 ad 45 mph. Haven't been able to figure it out.

I had the dealer check it when had the leaf spring recall done but didn't find any problem. Recently had the frame replaced and thought that it would solve it or that they would find something. Only problem found was steering shaft binding and it was replaced. but no luck. Still happening.

 

Add me to the list. Its been there for a while, but getting worse. I have stock Texas Edition wheels (probably not that stock), 5100 set to 1.75, and Duratrac 265/70R17(i believe). Had multiple alignments and balances, no road force with adapter though. I'm going to do the brakes this weekend and i'll check caliper and other components. Also my Duratracs are cupping on the inside and cant figure out why.

 

Toyota issued warranty on 2005-2011 tacomas for universal joint and drive shafts. Symptoms are noise or vibration sometimes both. Call your local dealership with your vin number and have them check it out for you.

 

I was able to correct mine with a roadforce, another alignment, and me loosening all the lug nuts and torquing to the proper amount/order. Dont know which corrected it or if it was a combo.

But, my Duratracs are so cupped, they couldnt get one to balance and i still get a bounce (it feels like) at around 65mph. When they wear out, i plan to fix my tabs (they broke them), trash the 5100's and do a proper spring and shock, also UCA. Hopefully the less harsher spring rate, accompanied by better achieved alignment, and maybe a lighter tire will keep the new tires from cupping.

 

My steering wheel shook like crazy for about a year and i couldnt place it no matter how i aligned, balanced all that fancy stuff. just Replaced my wheel bearings and road force balanced again. reduced the shake by atleast 75%. At this point i think its got something to do with my outer tie rods being shot and the aggressiveness of the duratrac tires.

 

I also have Duratrac's, that are cupped pretty bad. But the shimmy started with the 5100 lift for me, which probably caused the cupping.

Anyway, even with the cupped tires, my shimmy is now gone. Go outside and loosen and re- torque your lugs to mfg spec, in the star pattern (if you havent already). Everytime i have watched shops put tires back on, its just with the impact in whatever order they feel like.

Not sure if it was that in combo with my roadforce and additional balance, that helped it or not, but worth a shot.

Now i just have to deal with the humming and slight hopping in back driver, from the cupped out of balance shit tire, lol.

Once they wear out, i'll do a proper spring and shock. But, i will also have to redo my tabs the broke when aligning my truck, ugh... freaking idiots. That was a different shop. I had to show the idiot where to loosen the freakin camber nut, he was doing it from the wrong side. Went to a different shop, after he f'd over tabs. Made the asshole pay for proper alignment, but still out money when i go to fix it.

 

Another thought if any people have a slight vibe at about 50-55, is the control arm bushings could be worn. I had this with my truck, and couldn’t get it to go away with all the balances and driveshaft fixes I could do.
Can search “bmw control arm bushing failiure” and there’s a good video of how to check, has a red bmw in the video.

 

All tires have been off atleast two to three times in the last week so its not that, the duratracs are wearing evenly rotated every 3k with zero cupping. If anything its probably a bad bushing or lbj. And i had it before and after 5100's so hmmm

 

/https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/front-diff-vibes-ecgs-bushing-fix.464941/

 

I use to have the worst wheel shake between 50-60 mph. I bought new tires falken wildpeak at3 and no shake what so ever. I wasted my time getting the balance done the alignment done and nothing fixed it. Same rims new tires and a much smoother ride.

 

I have mean wheel shake when I step brakes. Also when I hit a bump too. Rotor warped? Shocks springs are dead? Asking about it. Mileage 06 base tacoma with 145k

 

Ook

 

Also check your carrier bearing and UJoints...I had bad shaking between 50-60 mph and once replaced those it was gone.

 

Check for a sticking brake caliper.

 

Hi, I am new here and wanted to find out about any comments on vibrations when I found this discussion. I saw a video that said it was related to "lifting" the truck up. The drive shaft needs looked at. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsNB0HQPxvw&t=345s. Mine hasn't been lifted so I am not sure about my issue.