“Bad Vibrations“ don't need to be
better call on your tire trader
Which driver is not acquainted with the situation? When overtaking somebody else on the highway or while driving on the country road, the steering wheel suddenly starts to vibrate. This symptom should warn you, the reason for the vibrations frequently being an unbalance of the wheels.
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There are many things that can induce a vibration in the truck, but it seems that most of the common vibration problems in the 3rd Generation 4Runner and Tacoma are centered in two areas, balance and wheel/tire defects. There are lots of different things that can cause vibration, but I am only going to focus on the two areas listed above which I feel are the most common in these trucks.
If your truck vibrates only when you hit the brakes, then you most likely have warped rotors and this page does not apply to you. If your steering wheel oscillates slightly back and forth at highway speeds with no vibration felt in the vehicle then that is most likely an alignment issue and this page does not apply to you.
Balance / Haweka Adapter:
I have gotten tons of email from people that have had a truck that drove nice and smooth, then the dealer touched it. The stories are usually the same. The dealer talked them into an unneeded rebalance or they just got new tires and their trucks now shake and never did before. They have had it rebalanced, and rebalanced, and rebalanced and it never gets any better. They have lead weights all over the wheel. Think about it two lead weights on opposite sides of the wheel, and they are the same weight. I have seen this time and time again on 4Runners and it just does not make sense at all. How in the world does this happen?
Here is the problem. The wheels used on the 4Runner/Tacoma are “lug centric” and are not the more common “hub centric” wheels like on most cars and light trucks. Hub centric wheels are centered on the vehicle hubs using the center hole in the wheel. That is kind of simple. On lug centric wheels the wheels are centered on the vehicle hub using the lug bolt holes and not the center hole. When the wheels are made and machined they are done so using the lug holes to mount the wheels to the machines that make them. The lug holes are the true center of the wheel and not the center hole. So, if the center hole is not in the true center you can understand how mounting the wheel to the balance machine using the center hole is not going to work very well. The wheel needs to be mounted to the balance machine using the lugholes. This is done with a flange plate adapter made by Haweka.
The Haweka adapter firmly locks the wheel onto the balance machine in its true center. It holds wheel very solid and prevents movement. Toyota realized they had a problem with balancing these wheels and issued a Technical Service Bulletin (TSB SU002-96) requiring the Haweka adapter when balancing these wheels. The problem is that it seems that few Toyota dealers know about the TSB let alone have the adapter.
While on one of my many, many visits to the dealer to get the vibration fixed, I saw one of my tires on their balance machine. I walked over to it and grabbed the tire and shook it. It wobbled all over the place. I asked they guy how he thinks he can balance the tire with it moving around so much, “all the truck wheels do that.” That my friends, is the very center of the problem. If they cannot get the wheel to hold still on the shaft there is no way they can ever properly balance it. The Haweka adapter does two very basic things. First it mounts the wheel to the balance machine the same way it is mounted to your truck, and second it locks it to the shaft of the balance machine and prevents movement so you get a consistent and proper balance.
When you have your tires balanced with the Haweka adapter you will be surprise how little weight the tire will take. I have Michelin LTX (courtesy of Toyota arbitration) and I have one tire with no weight at all and the other three with just one small one. Before the Haweka adapter I had weights all over the wheels installed by the dealer.
If you ever get new tires, or decide to have them rebalanced you really should do yourself a favor and make sure the shop has and uses the needed Haweka adapter before you let them touch your truck. It is possible to get a balance without it, but why take the chance and have to go back, and back again. You have the greatest chance of having it balanced right the first time, every time using the adapter.
Recommendation:
The front ends on the 4Runner and Tacoma are super sensitive. If you have something that is just slightly out of whack you will definitely know it on these trucks. If you have a vibration and believe it to be cause be the wheels and/or tires, then you should not waist your time by going to a shop with old technology. If your time is as valuable as mine then you should find a shop with the needed Haweka adapter, and a technician that has a clue.
Next call the shops and make sure that they have the Haweka adaptor for your wheels. If they tell you that they do not have it or don’t need it, then hang up and call the next shop. Do not waist your time with them. If they are willing to spend mopney on the state of the art balancer, and not get a set of Haweka adapters to go with it then they probably are not smart enough to work the machine anyway.
When you find a shop that has a good old-fashioned balance. The Haweka adaptor should cure the most common cause of vibration in the 4Runners and Tacomas. This combination will give you the greatest chance of getting you vibration problem fixed on the first visit as possible.
