Considering a road force balance - am I wasting money?

I recently picked up a '16 Tundra 1794 with stock 20" rims. The dealership installed and balanced new Kelly Safari A/T 275/55r20 on the truck along with an alignment.

When the I approach 55mph I start to notice a slight bumpiness to the ride that transfers into the steering wheel as a vibration that gets progressively worse with increased speed. Driving interstate speeds of ~65mph is not fun. It seems to maybe settle down above 70mph.

Would it be a total waste of money to have the wheels road forced balanced before payinga shop to dig any deeper into other components? I have 92k miles, perhaps the shocks are starting to wear?

I know these tires are not the best quality, but I'd like to run them for a while since they are new.

I've also had a few people tell me "welcome to Toyota, they all shake on the highway".. true?

 

No, not true. Mine doesn't shake at all. What's interesting is that when I had my tires installed, they did a road force balance as part of the install.

IMHO I'd have one done, if for no other reason than to verify that either a) the tires/rims are good or b) they're jacked up and that IS a potential part of the issue.

 

IMHO I'd have one done, if for no other reason than to verify that either a) the tires/rims are good or b) they're jacked up and that IS a potential part of the issue.[/QUOTE]

That is my thought as well. Plus the shop will do a cursory check over the truck to let me know status of brakes and other maintenance needs. I've been meaning to get it in for PM since I bought it in April but life has been nuts. Finally slowing down now.

 

Road force balance is pretty much the only way to solve the issue. The issue you mention is a wheel/tire balance issue. Your stealership may be shady af if they're not doing a road force balance so I'd take it to America/Discount tire and have them do a rotation balance check, if they sell the tire they will do it for free.
The Tundra shake is more from the rear and it's usually over cement highway sections.

 

Two different times I ended up with a shake around 60mph. Both times were after the dealership did their thing. Road Force Balance at my old reliable tire shop fixed it. I am a slow learner sometimes .

p.s. My Tundra rides smooth with zero shake when everything is done right.

 

RFB = not a wast.

 

How much weight do they have on all the tires? Sometimes you will need a ton of weight to balance one tire, when in reality you should dismount the tire, turn it 180 degrees on the rim, then rebalance. If one tire has a ton of eight on it it might be your issue.

 

Everyone already said it. For more validation, I've got a buddy who has had multiple, new Nittos replaced because they wouldn't balance. Knowing you're starting with a good tire is a better approach than finding out your tire won't balance 30K later on because it was out of spec from factory.

 

Just made an appointment for this AM at a local dedicated tireshop that always has good reviews. I'll report back on if it worked!

I am going to get them to the the free inspection as well so I can get an idea of what else the car may need in the near future. Looking at service history in the Toyota app it was mentioned that the rear brakes needed to be replaced at 75k miles and may have stuck caliper pin. There was no indication as to if the previous owner ever had the work performed.

 

The tundra does not shake on the highway. Certainly not normal and road force balance should solve your issue. I wouldn’t think it would be another component of the suspension given what you’ve described

 

Out or curiosity, what’s the going rate for a road force balance?

 

I called several places today - Toyota dealership was $125, Discount Tire and several others were $100, and my local independent tire shop charged me $80. They said all tires were out of balance and appeared to be missing weights. I did not get a chance to hit the interstate today, but 55mph on the short stretch of highway home felt much better!

FWIW, I found this site helpful to locate shops near me that have the equipment to road force balance https://www.hunter.com/find-equipme...CAPF97YI7dfD5qV_ET6ORUKlu49QUXJiwfJAD-D7VdUyv

 

Road force is the way, if regular balance does not cure the problem..

 

For you guys with bigger tires: where are you taking them to have them road force balanced? I have 35 12 1/2’s and after calling three places, was told the tires are too big for their machine. According to the Hunter website, the road force elite machines can do 40’s. Anybody have any thoughts? Guess I’m confused.

 

The all Toyota shake thing is hogwash, I have zero shake with mine.

Before you spend the money, pop the rotors off and clean the hubs. It could be leftover rust on there there that is causing the issue. If that does not solve it, then I would do the road Force

 

I had the road force balance done on Monday. I took her down the interstate today and the vibration is gone, thank you everyone! I can still feel every bump in the road, but the steering vibration is fixed and I am happy.

I think I just need to get used to being back on a truck suspension as far as ride goes. I spent the last few years in "luxury" SUV and got used to the ride, but man it's nice having a reliable truck now. I could also be seeing a bit of age on the shocks since it's a 2016 but nothing I am going to worry about now. I have used this truck more in the last 2 months that I ever thought possible and it's awesome.

 

Drop some tire pressure for more comfort. If you want to get nerdy, chalk them.

 

RFB is the way.

 

I absolutely need to nerd out with the chalk one day soon. I tend to get OCD on stuff and have obsessed over the best tire pressure. The door calls for 30 psi all around for my tire size but that visually looks under inflated. I've been running 38 all around, but will chalk it up asap.