My BFG AT balancing story (be warned, it's long)

6892 Views 57 Replies 29 Participants Last post by 2 tacomas, Feb 16, 2008

sechsgang

Discussion Starter · Feb 8, 2008 (Edited)

This is kinda long, so pls. skip if you are not interested in balancing issues ….

I purchased new wheels with tires (BFG AT 265/75-R16) about two weeks ago and also put on 5100’s in the front at 1.75”.
At first, everything seemed fine. Then I read about the “humm” here:
http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/showthread.php?t=220615&highlight=5100+noise+vibration
I watched out for it, and sure enough, I got it as well (very, very minor, though). But that’s another story. Here is my rant about balancing the BFG’s:
After they were first installed, everything was fine for a few days until I took a longer trip on the interstate. I started to notice vibrations starting at about 55mph, incl. steering wheel shake. So I went back to Discount Tire. They re-balanced all 4 wheels, which improved the steering wheel shake a lot, but did nothing to the overall vibration (which now I guess comes mainly from the rear). A couple days later I went back and a guy from DT takes a test drive. He agrees with vibes from the rear, so they re-balance both rear tires. The first thing they note is that both were off quite a bit. (WTF, they were just balanced two days before?). Then, when tire one is on the balancer, they notice a wobble. So that tire is replaced with a new one. Unfortunately, there is no improvement; still a lot of overall vibrations with a little bit of steering wheel shake.
So now I’ve decided to go to a different DT store in the next town. Went there today, as they have a new balancer (Hunter 9200 I believe, no road force unfortunately). The guys seem on top of it in that store. But they tell me that they have seen a lot of problems with Tacomas and balancing. So they give it a shot. One tech re-balances the two front tires, and then tells another one to replace the two in the rear as they required 13+ ounces of weight. The other tech installs two new tires, but that guy seemed not quite as experienced. Later I leave, and now the steering wheel shake is completely gone, no shake at all. :thumbup: Great, right? Not so fast! How about the rear? Still the same. So I go back, and now the first tech looks at both rear wheels. Again replaces one with a new tire (that one needed 10 ounces), but leaves the other one (6 ounces). Now the vibration is quite a bit better, but far from gone.
I am a little frustrated at the moment after 4 balancing attempts. Next step will be tomorrow: DT #3, even further away, but they have a Hunter 9700 (road force). This really is my last hope.
I have got to say that the guys at Discount Tire have been very helpful, and everybody is trying. It just hasn’t worked out yet. Maybe it’s one (or more) of the wheels? I will hopefully find out tomorrow.

Done with my rant now, but I just had to vent!!!!

UPDATE one day later: Went to the next Discount Tire, the one with the Hunter 9700 road force machine. Had all 4 wheels road force balanced. The first three were fine with "heavy spots" between 5 and 15 lbs, which is ok according to the tech. Then comes number 4, the left rear wheel. The balancer says "out of spec range". Again, according to the tech, that happens when there is a heavy spot of more than 60lbs. So the machine instructs the teck to rotate the tire on the rim what I would say about 140 degrees or so. He does that, but the tire then still shows a "heavy spot" of 40lbs. Far from optimal, I guess.
While watching him do the other 3 wheels, I notice that on one, there is a visible wobble. Remember, these were replaced at least once already. I ask the guy, and he says that it's fine as the balancer does not complain

. Needless to say, no improvement.
So I go home, passing the other out of town store on the way. I pull in as they forgot to put two valve plugs back on yesterday. The tech asks how the truck rides. I tell him the whole road force story, incl. about the still 40lbs heavy spot, and even show him the chalk marks on tire / wheel from the rotation on the rim. He immediately wants to replace that tire. So here we go, yet another new BFG AT 265/75-R16!!!!

Now it's again better, and I am at a point where I don't know anymore what's normal and what is not. It sure isn't what I'd call smooth, but for sure the best ballance job yet.
I have decided to lean back now and drive it for a couple weeks, and make a decision then, as I am really, really, really sick of wasting my time (today was 4 hours alone) with this. I will either keep it as is (but I doubt it, to be honest) or have them replace all 4 with Revo's.
Hey, my message to those looking into BFG's is: be aware of the problems you possibly could run into! I know there are people with no problems, but I am sure having a headache right now. 7 or 8 balancing jobs with 5 tire replacements? Not good ....

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