Vibration with new tires above 55mph

the other weird part is that at the high speeds, the vibration would come and go. couple miles at a time...

 

55mph is definitely a balance issue. That's like the standard speed you notice at. Got any friends with tacos you could swap wheels with to drive around the block? Issue is definitely weird since you've went to another shop to check it out

 

Yea. Idk. At this point I'm just going to let them swap the tires. They want to try a Yokohama geolander ht and see what happens

 

the dealer put weights in 3 different places on each wheel..

 

Road force balancers are a joke and do nothing more than any other machine, except display a lot of useless information that won't help. As the TheGoat stated the shop has to know how to use the machine.

With that said I would approach it like this -
- A vibration at 55mph is most typically caused by balancing. Assuming you had no vibration prior to the tire installation and that you bought Michelins, I would say that is most likely your cause. Michelins are the tires that are used to solve all other tire related ride quality issues. DO NOT let them swap you to Yokohamas.
- The other causes of 55 mph vibrations are things like bent parts such as wheels, hubs, etc. You didn't have a vibration before, so unless something happened, it isn't likely.
- Wheel alignment will NEVER cause your vibration.
- A tire that has a hop on the balancer will have that same hop as it rolls. The tech needs to see how the tires roll on the balancer to determine if the problem is the tire or potentially the wheel. There are tricks to dealing with a tire that doesn't roll smooth. More lube, rotating the tire on the wheel, etc.
- Toyota wheels are notoriously difficult to balance because of the large center hole.

- The key to getting a perfect balance is the cone. Everything centers (literally) around this piece of equipment and is 99% the cause of ride problem with Toyota wheels. Take a look at this link - https://www.nytechsupply.com/coats/accy_cat_for_web/NEW_Coats_Balancing_Adapters.pdf Read the top section in yellow. I would be willing to bet all the money in my pocket that they are not using a cone with the correct taper and that is keeping your wheels from centering on the machine and thus causes in accurate balance. I would ask them if they have the "Toyota Cone" and if they don't, tell them they need to call their balancer rep. The bolt plate adapter previously mentioned is helpful, but not really necessary if they have the correct cone.

 

There is your problem. Find a shop or go to the dealership and ask the tire shop to pay for it.

 

You can also tell when its out of round tires because they often cause vibration that comes and goes - the tires get in sync and out if sync and make the vibration worse then less as you drive. Its often in a undulating pattern. Going through turns and around corners changes the pattern too.

 

Who ever came up with the spin balancer is the snake oil sales man of the century, lol. All shops should have a bubble balancer to check their problems out on.
On top of the spin balancer the "road force" addition is funny, "our tires are completely crap and so inconsistent you need a special tool to measure the uneven force it puts to the road and compensate for it."

 

Just had DT replace mine with a new set of Bridgestone Dueler Revo 3. 265/65/17. No issues to report. The Bridgestone's balanced way easier than the KO2's that came off, but DT has always gotten them done with no issues.

Something seems pretty weird here.

G.

 

Michelin Defender LTX MS 265/70/R16. Purchased and balanced at DT. Have taken them past 75 mph. No vibration.

 

So do I need to replace them or get them properly balanced

 

OP, the Michelin's are great tires. Seems strange that would be the problem. Especially after all you have tried.

G.

 

Dropping off at the dealer now. They are stripping all the weights and doing it again.

 

Haaa, you must be my brother from another mother. I remember the Hunter rep when he first stopped by promoting the machine. We let them put a demo unit in and the guys avoided it because of the time it took to use the contraption. We were a pretty high volume shop doing 100+ tires a day and our tire techs were pretty good at what they did. I could see how a low volume shop that didn't have experience could potentially make money off the machine by charging more for a useless print out, but you are spot on with a bubble balancer. It might be slow and not as impressive as having all the Disney like nonsense, but the bubble is always in the center, never needs to be calibrated, and never needs a plug.

 

You need to find someone that has the proper equipment and knows how to balance Toyota wheels. That is more likely to be a high volume tire dealer and less likely to be a Toyota dealer.

I would highly suggest watching them work. The first thing they should do is take off all the weights. If they used stick on weights, they should take a rag soaked in rubber buffer and remove all the old glue. They should then properly mount the wheel on the machine with the correct cone. Calibrate the machine for the tire size. Spin it by hand on the machine watching for any anomalies in the tire or wheel. If all is good, push the button and apply the weights at the correct locations. It is as simple as that, but EVERYTHING has to be done perfectly.

 

The one I have been working with is one of the highest volume tire dealers in the area and unfortunately have been unsuccessful.

 

If the vibration is bad enough, as someone mentioned above, take them to a tire shop than can check and round them if you are keeping them. I had some Yoko high speed snow tires with the same issue- had them rounded and it worked.

 

Dealership should get you straight.

 

Old trick is to rotate the tire 180 degrees if the tire takes a lot.of weight.my Toyo open country at2 SL tires in 265/70/17 barely took any weight. I had a slight vibration and turned out I lost a weight. It was in the rear and could see where the weight was placed. They rebalanced it and all was good. I highly recommend Toyo open country at2 tires. They are known to last and have a 60k mile warranty.

 

Michelin ownes BFG so there is another problem.