Possibly very dumb question about all-terrain tires and steering wheel vibration

This is my first truck in 25 years so forgive my ignorance in advance….

I put a set of 2021 4Runner trd wheels on my new Tacoma DCSB a couple days after I bought it. The wheels are wrapped in Michelin LTX A/T2 tires which are listed as SL load all-terrains. I had the tires mounted at the local Discount Tire on the new wheels and all seemed well as I took the back roads (45mph or so) home. The first time I got on the freeway with speeds of 65-75mph I noticed a *slight* vibration in the wheel and you can visibly see it in the steering wheel when tracking straight and taking your hands off the wheel. It’s is very minor and most people probably wouldn’t notice, however I don’t recall the factory 16” wheels with Goodyear stock A/T tires having that vibration in the couple of days they were on the truck.

Is a very subtle vibration in the steering wheel at speed just part of normal life with all-terrain tires in this truck? I took it back to Discount Tire this morning and they put all 4 wheels/tires back on the balancing machine and showed me they were as close to perfect as you could get. The sport sedans I’ve had in the past had perfectly balanced tires that has absolutely zero vibration going straight on a smooth road, but I realize the Tacoma ain’t a sport sedan in any way. Haha.

 

Might want to read through this thread. https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/problems-with-2021-4runner-trd-pro-wheels-install.715447/ Not sure if it's the same problem, but for some folks, there is something not quite fitting with 2021 4runner wheels on Tacomas.

 

Only 2 other things other than above, have tires road force balanced and make sure lug nuts are torqued to 85 ft lbs.

 

Thanks for the heads up but I ran into that issue already! Haha. I did have someone machine 1mm or so/chaffer that edge on the hub ring as the wheel wouldn't fully seat over the hub without doing that. Once it was done it sat perfectly flush. I'm almost certain the lug nuts are torqued to the appropriate spec (85-lbs) and I've triple checked the cold psi on the tires (I run 30psi in them when they are cold and haven't been driven for several hours).

I have an appt at a pretty good Toyota dealership a bit north of me to have the OEM TRD Lift Kit and some OEM side steps installed tomorrow so I may talk to the adviser and tech about having the wheels/tires road force balanced. Discount Tire swore up and down that they were all perfectly balanced (I did physically see them take off all 4 and put them on the balance machine when I went this morning) but maybe Toyota will do a better job/has a better method (Road Force?). It is frustrating.

So at the end of the day, I high quality brand like Michelin with these light all-terrain tires should have absolutely zero vibration at freeway speeds, right?

 

Thanks! I replied to the member above you that a Toyota dealership is installed the OEM TRD Lift Kit for me tomorrow at 8am so I'll have them road force balanced there and tell them what is going on. If they truly don't balance out, I was told that Discount Tire has a pretty liberal return policy and I can return them and go back to my stock 16" wheels/tires for the time being.

 

is your vibration more like a cell phone vibrating if that makes sense? My truck does it sometimes. More often when the tires are cold. I attribute it to the big lugs on my all terrains and the fact Tacoma's are VERY sensitive to road feel. Did it with my last set of cooper all terrains too. I notice it more when I run higher air pressures.

 

Well, thankfully, this issue ended up working out perfectly. I took the truck to Beaver Toyota for the TRD Lift Kit and OEM tube side steps install and had them road force balance all 4 wheels and tires; a 4 wheel alignment is part of the TRD Lift Kit install. I don't know a lot about what I'm seeing, but what the tech told me and what the sheet shows is that despite the TWO times in a week that the same Discount Tire location allegedly balanced during the tire install 10 days ago and claiming they checked and the balance was perfect when I took it back to them two days ago....they clearly were not balanced properly. I'm going to call Discount Tire next week and give them an opportunity to make this right by refunding me the amount that the Toyota dealership charged to do that portion of the work - $107.96. I do have to say I've never had an issue with Discount Tire's quality of work or anything of that nature (this is the first time I've used this particular location though) so maybe this is just a fluke with that location/team.

The truck/tires ride great now. It definitely doesn't feel like the soft sidewalls on a 1960s Lincoln sedan but it rides perfectly for the design of the tire and truck. I couldn't be happier.

 

You got a lazy tech a discount.