Why do I have shimmy/vibration and its not from tire balancing

Hi to all Tundra fans.
Ok, here is my issue that has me baffled. I get a bad shimmy in steering wheel when I get up speeds between 55mph to 60 mph. "I have had my tires rebalanced twice" so I do not believe it is that. But here is what I do not understand. It will start to shimmy, but when I turn the wheel on a curve then when straightened back out, the shimmy totally goes away., like it never happened. Just dont understand, my forst thought maybe a wheel bearing, but figured it would shimmy all the time at any speed? Any thoughts would be great, THANKS GUYS OR GALS, still gotta love them Tundra's lol.

 

I honestly think it's the infamous "bed bounce" that we are burdened with, it makes it feel like we have some shimmy and play even when the alignment is dialed in.

Does it happen on any roads? Freeways and highways? Mine feels loose and shimmyish on newly poured freeways, but i was on 2K road trip on mostly older roads/highways and felt silky smooth

 

Bad wheel bearings will be more noticeable at higher speed like you mentioned.

 

Also check for play in tie rod ends and other ball joints.

Some places just can't balance tires right either. There's a fairly big brand tire shop in town I've been to a few times and I've never once gotten well balanced tires out their door. Once it shook the tonneau loose. Now when I've gone to the dealer or the local Discount Tire it's as smooth as an android's bottom. I can't help but wonder if they have better balancing machines.

 

Bed bounce should not cause the steering wheel to shimmy. If it's in the steering wheel it is almost certainly something in the front of the truck, whether it is suspension, wheels, tires, bearings, control arms, etc.


@Miller29 where did you have them balanced? With the vibration going away after steering angle changes I don't know that it would be a balance issue, but I do know that all balancing is not done the same. Some places are good at it, some are not. It could also be something like a broken band/belt in one of the tires. Hard to diagnose over the web, but we've got a great community with a wealth of experience to draw from here.

A bit more info on the situation could be helpful as well. Some questions that might help our forum gurus narrow this down:

1. Have you made any modifications to the truck?
2. How many miles do you have on the tires?
3. What kind of wheels and tires do you have?
4. Is this new, or has it been happening for a while?
5. Has anything changed around the time the shimmy showed up, or shortly before it?
6. Are you the only driver, or do you have friends/family that could be hitting curbs and such?
7. Is the shimmy repeatable?
8. Does it do it all the time at those speeds, or is it only for the first bit of time while driving?

 

Get alignment checked by a shop, not the dealer. I had the same and it was in specs at the dealer. The Alignment shop fixed it.

 

@Miller29 warped rotors can cause a shimmy at those speeds as well. When you drive it and while the shimmy is happening, firmly apply the brakes and see if it gets worse while braking.

 

A shimmy with speed is caused my a rotating mass out of balance. Because it's felt through the steering wheel then it's front tire and wheel assembly, brake rotors or CV axle shafts. Most likely tires and wheels.

 

Went thru the same with my truck.. First set of Michelins I sent back, the second set were OK for a while, then the shimmy started,25 to 35 mph, and 50 or higher, no balancing or alignment helped.. waited till they wore out, then replaced them with Nokian tires and alignment it's been smooth ever since..

 

Aftermarket wheels? If so try centric rings.

 

Maybe have a tire shop with a road force balance machine. They spin the wheel quite slowly and a good tech with good eye may catch an out of round tire. I stopped buying a certain well know brand because of this discovery

 

Agree it's probably your tires. I have a similar issue although I consider a pretty faint shimmy. I have Falken Wildpeak AT3Ws (35x12.50r20), and I got them balanced by Discount Tire and the shimmy was gone for about 3 weeks then it returned. I'm going to have them rebalance them, as they will do so for free for the life of the tire, but I think these tires just wear in a way that wears them out of balance quickly. Same thing happens on my 1st gen Tacoma with K02s too (especially after almost any off-roading).

 

Also need to use a torque wrench to tighten the lug nuts, not an impact. Overtorqued lugs will cause a shimmy / vibration as well.