Steering Wheel Vibration at highway speeds

[snowtaco]

The last 6+ months I've been struggling with my LC200 on the highway. As you approach 50-55 MPH, the steering wheel starts to vibrate. Some highway surfaces are worse than others, but by the time you get to mid 70's it's pretty annoying. If both hands are on the wheel the vibration is less. The vibration is also worse if you are completely neutral on the steering wheel (ie dead center). Also, when you brake even at low speeds the steering wheel vibrates and there is a bit of a skip feeling as you slow down.

I've had the issue persist across two tire rotations and two different alignments by two different shops. The last service at the dealership both lower ball joints were leaking, and had to be replaced. I'm currently running a 2.5 inch lift with king shocks, spidertrack spacers and Nitto Grapplers (275/70/r18). The nitto's are due to be replaced soon, and I'm due for another service appointment.

The issue persisting across tire rotations makes me think this might not be an issue with the tires, but I've also not been completely happy with the Nitto's. I've used KO2's and Cooper discover st maxx on my taco, and in similar conditions I've felt the taco was planted while the LC was not.

Anyway, my debugging plan is to replace the tires, make sure they are road force balanced and then hit highway speeds. Since the LC is due for service, I'm wondering if there is anything else that should be checked?

ETA - I did search around for this issue - the LC has <75K miles so I can't imagine wheel bearings being an issue.

 

[bloc]

Most likely uneven brake pad deposits on the rotors.. commonly called “warped” but that is a misnomer. Somewhat common problem for 200s, depending on how the brakes are treated.

It is possible for it to get bad enough to notice wobbling even when not on the brakes.

Fresh rotors are actually pretty affordable from Toyota.. something like $70 each. Not too difficult to change either.

 

[snowtaco]

Most likely uneven brake pad deposits on the rotors.. commonly called “warped” but that is a misnomer. Somewhat common problem for 200s, depending on how the brakes are treated.

It is possible for it to get bad enough to notice wobbling even when not on the brakes.

Fresh rotors are actually pretty affordable from Toyota.. something like $70 each. Not too difficult to change either.

Would that cause the vibration at highway speeds when I'm not braking? I just had the front brakes replaced 6 months ago, and the rotors were apparently fine then.

 

[Mingus Dew]

When you say "vibrate" what are you describing? Is the steering wheel shaking or is it more of a resonating?

Did you have the tires balanced or just rotated? I was having some resonating at 80mph+ and a road force balance fixed the issue.

You said the tires need to be replaced soon. Maybe they are shot and starting to get noisy/rough? Not really sure.

 

[snowtaco]

Imagine your almost imperceptibly steering left to right and back very, very quickly - that's what the steering wheel is doing. I don't know if that's called a vibration, resonating, or oscillation, but regardless it's annoying and fatiguing. Starts 50-55 MPH when on the highway, and is nearly constant above that speed. You can feel it in the whole vehicle, but it's most noticeable when holding the steering wheel.

Tread depth is 6 mm, or around a quarter inch. I was planning on replacing them before the end of the year but I've finally had enough with the vibration.

 

[sedole]

Could be a combination of things. I would check wheel balance, confirm spacers are torqued and installed appropriately, and check for warped rotors.

 

[Mingus Dew]

Imagine your almost imperceptibly steering left to right and back very, very quickly - that's what the steering wheel is doing. I don't know if that's called a vibration, resonating, or oscillation, but regardless it's annoying and fatiguing. Starts 50-55 MPH when on the highway, and is nearly constant above that speed. You can feel it in the whole vehicle, but it's most noticeable when holding the steering wheel.

Tread depth is 6 mm, or around a quarter inch. I was planning on replacing them before the end of the year but I've finally had enough with the vibration.

Got it. Definitely replace the tires and see if that helps anything. If not check some of the other things that posters have highlighted.

If you’re still having issues then I guess take a look at suspension components?

 

[AZRockToy]

I had a similar issue with my 100. PO had spacers on that are not hub centric for the Tundra wheels I put on. The lugs are for hub centric mounted wheels and I didn't catch this when I first mounted them. When driving at the same speeds, I would have the same issue. Put lug centric lug on until I received my hub centric spacers and the vibration went away.

The wheels were not centered on the hub causing the vibration.

 

[PDoyle]

Cheapest thing is rotate and balance the tires. Next would be an alignment.

 

[snowtaco]

I had the wheels road forced balanced at Discount Tire - they were fantastic, didn't even charge me since I had purchased them there. One of the tires was off by 3 ounces. Took it on a short road trip and some off-roading and any hint of vibration is gone.

Vibration on braking is still there, so I'm gonna replace the front rotors and see if that fixes it. Still going to replace the tires within a few weeks.

 

[vipergrhd]

3 ounces is a lot, you could feel that even in your seat. On your rotors, if it never been cut/turned find a shop that have an on car brake lathe unless you just prefer new rotors.

 

[Mingus Dew]

Discount Tire does indeed rule. Glad to hear you solved part of the problem.

 

[BrownDog09]

I fought this same battle - it’s the spidertrax spacers. Take them off and your problem goes away. Spacers are junk.