Wheel balance PROBLEM

[gregexelby]

Question: I have 97 4 Runner V6 2WD( which I love, great vehicle ) had 15” stock wheels on when I bought it. I put American Racing Wheels on,16" and BIG " O " tires 275 x 70 x16" no problem. Wore the tires out replaced at another tire dealer ( no name as yet )( their personal brand ) same size tires. Always couldn't get a good balance. Each time out a little more and each rotation they got worse the hopping at the rear after one rotation moved to the steering wheel now it vibrates. Rebalanced at least 10 times finally THEY replaced the 2 front tires saying THEY found a bad tire with 2 new ones. This made the front end worse, rebalance 3 more times finally THEY said THEY would like to put a different brand on same size. This made it worse again. ( I have gone to the BIG “ O “ center at a fair distance from my area to have them check front end and got an OK, NO PROBLEM. I NEVER hit curbs or go off road, side walls never hit curbs. When BIG “O “ took the front tires off and checked the balance they said it was off (due to 2 weights coming off on my way to their store). When they replaced the wheels ( same wheel on same side )it was a little better ( FUNNY ). Back to the tire store rebalance again rear tires VERY little weight on them front tires ALOT of weights. Is the front end of this vehicle SO sensitive that nothing but a perfect balance will work?. I am at my end trying to be patient with this distributor ANY SUGGESTIONS?????????????????.A

XLB

[reb]

There was a thread here a few months ago on a similar subject. One suggestion was that Toyota tires are supposed to be balanced on a machine that centers the wheel on the bolt pattern, no the center of the rim. I would think that would be a function of the way the rim was made. Maybe your new rims should be balanced the same way. How did they do yours?

I would jack up each tire (one at a time) and spin it to see if they are out of round. That is a common problem with many aftermarket tires, even major brands.

[ksliger]

Here you go.

http://www.gadgetonline.com/vibration.htm

I recently had Wal-Mart put new tires on my truck and make it vibrate worse than with the old tires. I researched this problem on here and was shocked to find that Toyota wheels have this issue. I called Wal-Mart and they had no idea what the flange adapter was. They use the cone to balance wheels. I called around to a few tire places in my city and finally found one with the Haweka flange adapter. They balanced my wheels and the vibration was gone. The sad thing is that Toyota requires their dealers to use this adapter but both Toyota dealers I called didn't have it. It seems like such a visible quality issue should get a lot more attention from Toyota.

[cam2Xrunner]

Yup, gotta use the Haweka adapter. And you have to do a Dynamic balance-meaning you use weight's on each side of the rim, not just the inner edge.

Also I'd HIGHLY recomend the Michelin LTX, they are very well balanced tires from the start. They last a long time too, quite pricey though.