Another infamous Tundra aftermarket wheel steering wheel vibration post

Installed new “hubcentric” Fuel wheels with +1 offset and Falken ATW3 285/55/20 tires. All new. Steering wheel and butt vibration at 55-60mph. Took it back, they said they were all off and surmised the balancer was not calibrated. After the 2nd balance, it was a little better in the rear, but the front still had vibration. Took it back, did another balance and they lowered the front pressure to 30PSI - looked almost flat. This helped a little.

Still, vibration at 55-60mph regardless of temperature or road. Could be the same roads and sometimes they are fine, other times not.

Took it back and asked them to align to the dots on the tires per below. They will only align the yellow dots and ignore the red. PSI now at 39. Keep in mind the Fuel wheels have a back valve stem for the TPMS and front lip for a regular valve stem. This time the vibration was far less subdued, but still present.

Fed up, I took it to America's Tire for a road force balance for $60, which they claim went well. Steering wheel shake is far worse than even before.

Now, I have another appointment on Monday for 'tire match' to the wheel, inspect lug nuts (keep in mind these wheels have covers so extended lugs will not fit), and another road force.

Will keep this posted. FYI, When I put on my stock wheels and tires, no issues.

I also intend to really stress the suspension components from under the truck this weekend for anything loose. But what a PITA.

Uniformity Method (Red Mark)

When performing uniformity match-mounting, the red mark on the tire, indicating the point of maximum radial force variation, should be aligned with the wheel assembly's point of minimum radial run-out, which is generally indicated by a colored dot or a notch somewhere on the wheel assembly (consult manufacturer for details). Radial force variation is the fluctuation in the force that appears in the rotating axis of a tire when a specific load is applied and the tire rotated at a specific speed. It is necessary to minimize radial force variation to ensure trouble-free installation and operation. Not all wheel assemblies indicate the point of minimum radial run-out, rendering uniformity match-mounting sometimes impossible. If the point of minimum radial run-out is not indicated on a wheel assembly, the weight method of match-mounting should be used.

Weight Method (Yellow Mark)

When performing weight match-mounting, the yellow mark on the tire, indicating the point of lightest weight, should be aligned with the valve stem on the wheel assembly, which represents the heaviest weight point of the wheel assembly. After match-mounting by either of the above methods, the tire/wheel assembly can be balanced.

 

Damn dude this sucks. This makes me second guess my fuel wheel purchase and want to just powdercoat my stockers , sell the fuels and call it a day........

 

I think this is in the wrong place? This is the marketplace to list things for sale.

 

How "imfamous" is this problem does anyone know? I did a search and turned up nothing

 

Just a few of many.

https://www.tundras.com/threads/steering-wheel-shake.15331/

https://www.tundratalk.net/threads/steering-wheel-shimmy-after-installing-aftermarket-wheels.573146/

https://www.tundras.com/threads/new-member-steering-wheel-vibration-solved.27472/page-2

 

I’ve heard same issue with Falkens many times. Mine had a slight vibration at 65 with Method wheels.
Just got Toyo’s on some used Rock Warriors and it’s smooth as glass.

 

Oh ok, I thought you were saying it was specific to fuel wheels. The general steering wheel wag I knew about. I've even had that issue on stock wheels a couple times. Had a mini freak out about my fuel purchase for a sec lol. I have noticed this truck is SUPER sensitive to mud on the wheels Moreso than any other truck I've had.

 

Probably the tires. Falkens are notorious for this exact problem.

 

Wheels have to be hub centric

 

This. Are these fuel wheels hub centric? Center bore needs to be 110.1mm I believe.
Also it’s more likely the tires are the cause because I had the same thing with my new copper AT3 XLTs on my stock wheels. Took 5 balances to get it right and they had to replace one defective tire that just couldn’t balance right. This was on the fourth balance that one of the tires was found to be bad. So keep at it. Frustrating I know.

 

They are.

 

I'm a noob but I can second this: when I went to the 4 wheel shop and inquired about Falkens the sales manager who was helping me come up with a build said the shop has had balancing issues with the Falkens and highly recommended avoiding them and going with Toyo instead.

 

Dump the tires. Get Toyo AT3 and report back.

 

Did you know that the 285/55/20 AT3W is a 10 ply tire and not a 6ply P rated. I assumed you had the 275/55/20 before. With that much more plies, the ride quality is much harder and you feel everything. Also, they should be doing a lug centering balance. The Tundra, Tacoma, Four Runner, Sequoia wheels are not hub centric and has been since GEN1 Tundras, they are lug centric. In my shop, we use lug centering adaptors to balance those wheels and have not had any come backs.
My truck has the 275/55/20 tires on it and I've been looking to go to a bigger tire to correct my speedo, but everything bigger is 10 ply. I'm going to end up going to a 275/60/20 tire to stay with the P rating.
Your problem may not be the tires, but the method of balancing.

 

yep, all those and more are on the table. Thanks.

 

My TRD rims are hub centric.

 

Yea, I don’t know what he’s talking about. Oem Tundra wheels are hubcentric. 99.99% of aftermarket tundra specific wheels are also hubcentric. Even my 18” steel spare is hubcentric.

 

So is my spare too.

 

Ok few things as a former tire supervisor at a large wholesale business (sure that gives away where I was) guy (now in finance but that’s another story).
So there’s a few things that could be causing this shake, fuel wheels or any aftermarket rim in my experience usually will need a hub spacer (little plastic ring). You want the wheel resting on the hub, not the lugs (otherwise great way to cause a wheel off)

Also, with upsized tires, the pressure will change ESPECIALLY if you’re now running a 10ply! Somewhere in my house I have the TIA book regarding proper psi for weight of vehicle versus tire size....

Finally! This is def a balance issue! The amount of bringbacks I had on upsized tires and TOYOTA SUV/Truck tires is unreal! Reason being, the balancer spacer would have to be from outside in... and not inside out (so basically remove spring, and clamp wheel from outside versus usually having spring on balancer and then the spacer, tire and clamp (at least on a coats machine... which sucks versus hunter balancer but diff story for diff day).
Also yes, could be just crappy/ bad batch of tires. Had a 13 taco upsize, and 3/4 tires had a belt shift from the factory (great job BFG!).
Anyways that’s my ramble and 2 cents! Any questions let me know!

 

I actually updated my original post to ensure nobody misses the hubcentric portion of the wheels on the truck.

Wheels are hubcentric, no little ring is going to squeeze in there.

 

Sweet! No need to hunt for a hub ring then! It’s a rarity to see an aftermarket wheel that’s hub centric (at least in my experience, as I tear through packages of hub rings trying to find the best fit!)

I wish I had a balancer in front of me! Did they try remounting and rotating the tire appx 180 degrees?

I’d also see if they would let you watch the balancing procedure, if the tire is calling for like 120g inboard and 180 outboard they might not be using the right balancing procedure for that tire! Another reason I LOVE the hunter road force, universal clamp for the win!

And please! Use a tire sizing calculator for the proper pressures! That could fix it real quick! The tire you put on is a 10 ply (load range E) correct?

 

Try this man!

 

Two different shops. Road Force balanced, and to the dots. Currently at the shop again for another go at it. If this does not do it, then back to the original shop to exchange my tires for something else, else credit card charge back is in their future. 6th time now. This visit they are going to check the lugs, swap front to read, and Road Force balance them again.

 

Good luck man! Let us know what happens!

 

Just took the Tundra for a 3-mile drive after America's Tire 2nd attempt. The tires/wheels all showed in the green for the RoadForce balance, but they went ahead and rotated the tires on the wheels to bring the tolerances down further. Then, they showed me the lug nuts. When I first purchased the wheels I was provided lug nuts. The shop installing them told they were too long and would prevent the wheel caps from attaching, so they installed lugs - cheapo open acorn lugs. Toyota's should have lugs with sleeves. America's tire installed new lugs with locks- for free. And in the 3 miles I drive it, so far no issues. But again, been here before. I will know more tomorrow, if this does solve my issue, then lunch for the crew is on me.

They did tell me they have sold countless sets of the Falkens and never had this issue before, and with the Fuel wheels and 6112 suspension, my setup should not be giving me any problems.

 

Makes sense, good job by them! usually the aftermarket wheels come with the “tuner”
Lug nuts! Surprised they didn’t!

 

They said for hub-centric wheels the acorn chamfered lugs cannot be used as may move the wheel ever so slightly out of rotation from the way it was on the balancer. The sleeved lugs have a flat matting service.

 

Sounds about right! I can’t believe that the the other shops didn’t notice this, but good stuff! A painless solution!

 

Glad you were able to fix this. Can you post a picture or send me the lug description type? I have Fuel assaults on mine and it looks like it could be my problem as well...

Thanks..!!!

 

I will post a pic later today, but did want to correct what I was told. I pulled the wheels off the other day as I wanted to inspect everything for my upcoming UCA and LCA replacement and noticed the lugs are sleeved, but also chamfered. I am ascertaining if the steering wheel shake is gone as it was random, certainly is better.