Steering Wheel Shake

I have a question regarding tires and steering wheel shake. Took my truck to have my tires rotated and balanced in prep for a trip. Rotate each oil change and this would be my second rotation since installing them. Had a moderate shake around 55 mph to 60 mph and would lessen/go away over that. Went for rotation and the store manager where I got the tires from said that the rear coming to the front was going to require 6 ounces of weight to get it to balance and suggested that would be an even worse vibration. The truck doesn't track right or left, so I'm thinking alignment is good. He suggested not rotating, they would rebalance and put tires back into same spots. Vibration is even worse now, and it got me thinking. If I can't rotate, then obviously my tread life is going to be shortened and warranty is not going to be attained. Should the tires be replaced, and isn't this a manufacture defect? What causes the tires to be so out of balance after only about 10k miles?

 

I just rotated my tires (~35” duratracs with 5k miles) and had the exact same problem. Slight steering wheel shake at 55-60. It was bad at first and got better, but it never went away after about 200 miles. Last night I jacked up the front and loosened all lugs nuts and retightened them. So far the shake is gone. Do you have aftermarket wheels? If so, are they lug or hub centric? There was also a tsb about this that blamed rotors and brake pads.

 

Stock TRD rims; Cooper AT3 XLT 295 70 18's. I did see the "tech" yesterday put the rims back on with an air wrench, then put the torque wrench on it after. Pretty sure the air impact torqued way more than spec. Today, the Manager on duty is the same one who sold me the tires and the original alignment. He remembered me. Apologized for the previous advisor. Stated he thought it sounded pretty lazy by what he told me. Was going to have a mechanic look at it this morning and they will do whatever it takes to get me fixed up.

 

I rotate and balance every 5k miles and it makes a big difference in smooth driving, handling and tire wear. I will say that I had to return cooper XLTs earlier this year because they would not balance and took a ton of weight to try and balance. Ran them for 9k miles, 4 or 5 trips to try and balance correctly. It got better at times but they were clearly defective. Shop gave me full credit for them and I switched brands and everything as been good since.

Tundras are particular and sensitive when it comes to wheel balance, especially with E load tires. But it seems like you may have a bad tire if it cant be balanced and hold balance. You are correct about rotation, if you leave them where they are you will not see the mileage out of them you expect. I would also think the balance issue will get worse, because they will continue to run and wear incorrectly.

 

I am hoping the problem is the tires. Not that I dislike them, but I would fare better trying to get the shop to make good on 12,000 miles on the set. I am reasonably sure that I don't have any bad front end parts.

 

Just got the call from the tire shop. They were able to get the tires balanced. Seems this Manager was right, and yesterday's service advisor was being a bit lazy. I will mention some type of reprimand when I pickup the truck. Anyway, the balance took out most of the shake according to him. Put the truck on alignment machine and tow on drivers was out of spec. Hitting me with the alignment which I will gladly do if that is the problem. Will pickup sometime later today and see if the shake is gone. More to follow.

 

correct alignment can really help too, so hope everything is sorted out.