Excessive Play in Steering? 2021 Off Road

I’ve had my truck now for a little over 2 months - a 2021 TRD Off Road 4x4 DCSB. It has about 1350 miles on it, and I really love it. About a month in (600 miles), I put some 265/75/16 Falken Wildpeaks on it, and since then I’ve noticed my steering wheel shakes at about 63-67 MPH. It’s not a terrible shake, but I notice it. I figured the tires weren’t balanced right, so I had them re-balanced on a road force balancer this time, and they all zeroed out and balanced fine. They added a minor amount of weight to 2 of them, but said it probably wasn’t enough to make a difference that I would feel.

While they had the driver side front tire jacked up, they wiggled it it sideways about 1” back and forth. I could hear it clunk, and they said that seemed like a lot of play in the tie rods and/or rack for a brand new truck. They did it to the other side too and same thing. They suggested I have the dealer check it out. My truck has never even seen a dirt road yet, and I have babied it. After re-balancing the tires I tested it at different speeds on a smooth freeway, and the steering wheel still starts to shake at 63 MPH and smooths out about 67, like before.

When I got home, I jacked up the front tire of our 2017 4Runner Limited 4x4 and there was virtually no play in the steering (after about 36K miles). So I made an appointment with the dealership to check it out on Wed, but in the meantime I was wondering if that play is normal with Tacomas, and if anyone else has noticed it or had an issue with this? Thx.

 

I haven't noticed the excessive play you mentioned.

However I did put the same size Wildpeaks on my 2020 about 3 weeks ago and I get a weird buzz through the floorboard of my truck around 55-60 mph.

I've had them rebalanced a few times and even had 2 tires swapped out that had the highest road force. You could have a tire that's out of round but still balances fine on the machine. Did the shop tell you the roadforce numbers?

If you search this tire in the Wheel and Tire section there's a few other members who could never get these tires to balance right or ride smooth, seems to be luck of the draw since many people are happy with them.

Keep us posted on what your dealer says.

 

I had these tires on a wrangler some time ago and I remember them having a really hard time balancing them. Scratched the crap out of my wheels in the process

 

And this is one of the draw backs of wildpeaks.... anyone that goes through tire vibration concerns know... can be a pain to deal with... patience is key :