Tire balance, worn tie rods, or other suspension issue?

[linuxgod]

We had to take a long road trip this weekend (about 1500 miles total). On the way out I felt like my steering wasn't true - it seemed responsive but almost like it was wandering a bit - like I envision it would feel if your toe was set to 0 degrees on both wheels and the steering wasn't sure whether to track left or right. I noticed it last week when towing for the first time, but chalked it up to not quite tuned weight distribution on the hitch. However this trip I was without the trailer. On the second half of the trip coming back 2 days later I noticed vibration, feels a lot like the tires are off balance, but not just vibration but also a very slight tug left-to-right-and back, almost like a slight wiggle in the steering wheel.

I didn't drive much except around town over the winter (we drove about 3000 miles from November to early May) so when I first felt like the steering wasn't tight I thought maybe I was going mental and remembering wrong. I was at a dealer last month for a warranty issue and I asked them to take a look. At the time they said "it's fine, we can't reproduce any issues, lifted trucks just handle differently". But after this trip I'm pretty sure *something* isn't right.

Trying to decide if I just need to take it to the local tire shop to get the wheels balanced (I've seen some chunking on the front tires so maybe they're off balance?) or if the alignment is just off (which means going to the by-appointment-only lifted truck alignment shop 30 minutes from me since nobody else seems to know how to do an alignment on a lifted truck), if it's more serious and I need to take it to my mechanic (who can do the tie rods but doesn't have a road force tire balancer or alignment machine), or if I should just take it to another Toyota dealer.

Tires are Nitto Ridge Grappler 285/75R17 on Icon +25 offset wheels, suspension is a 2" Tough Dog lift, and I have SPC UCAs.

FWIW most likely I will end up taking it to my "regular" Toyota dealer on Friday, but I'm curious what others think and how you can tell inner vs outer tie rods vs lower ball joints vs tire issues when driving...

 

[Sandroad]

I'll take a WAG that you have a tire(s) out of balance. I would start there and get a road force balance, since it's an easy, relatively inexpensive thing to do and your symptoms could be tire-related. If that doesn't fix it, take it to the good alignment shop and have them check the alignment, tie rod ends, and ball joints. My last resort would be the dealer who already told you "It's fine".

 

[Romer]

Sounds like Tire balance to me. If the place you bought them gives free life time balance like Discount tire then its a free and easy thing to check. If not still first thing I would check

 

[TeCKis300]

The red flag to me is the chunking you mention.

It could absolutely be tire balance, but it's just as likely an alignment issue which is causing the chunking and said tire balance issue.

Can you take a picture of the wear you're seeing on the tires? Or can you describe the chunking/wear in more detail? Is it on the outer or inner shoulder?

Do you have a report of the alignment that was last performed?

 

[linuxgod]

Most of the chunking is minor but I definitely see one spot in the center of a tire which is large.

My alignment specs from last year are in another thread somewhere. I’ll try to find them but they were reasonable, save for the fact I push caster more forward than spec. About 4.3deg caster right, 3.8 left, 0 camber left and -0.5 right, 1/16” of toe in either side. If the alignment is off enough to cause the odd handling it’s either from hittin city potholes all winter or from something worn in the suspension

 

[TeCKis300]

Thanks for the pics.

Weird chunking. Were these primarily caused by off-roading? Have these tires seen much trail use or primarily onroad?

I recall you got these tires not too long ago? The first pic missing the big chunk, if you look to the top right of the picture deep in the valley of the tread, looks to be some beginnings of dry rot looking cracks in them? Seems odd that such new tires would show anything like that?

I would take it to a tire shop to check out the balance and chunking. Loosing chunks of rubber is a sure fire way of creating balance issues. Could be a bad batch of tire/rubber as that's not unheard of.

 

[tbisaacs]

FWIW my toe in was way off before getting an alignment and it was down right sketchy on the highway. Very twitchy and didn’t feel “connected” to the road.

I would start there.

 

[linuxgod]

@TeCKis300, almost all use is on road. I wheeled with them last summer in CO, UT, and AZ, but nothing since. Yes I got the tires last summer - they’re only a year old.

 

[linuxgod]

FWIW my toe in was way off before getting an alignment and it was down right sketchy on the highway. Very twitchy and didn’t feel “connected” to the road.

I would start there.

Thanks, that description definitely sounds familiar.

 

[Sandroad]

Hmm......now that I’ve seen your tire pics, I’m even more thinking tire problem. Look at the date on the tires to check the age. That odd chunking and the cracks pointed out by @TeCKis300 could indicate old tires?

 

[Dan Higgins]

If you bought your tires at a place like Discount Tire then I a, definitely with @Sandroad and @Romer. They rotate and balance for free and it is relatively quick. That way you will have eliminated that possibility. BUT, be sure they know to use finger plates when doing the balancing. I had to train my local DT to do that as it wasn’t the typical case for them. But with Toyota wheels and bid, heavy tires it is absolutely necessary. Since then they haven’t had an issue getting them right.

I run KO2’s and I have had them get out of balance from time to time. I have them rebalanced and rotated every 5K.

It may not be the issue but at least eliminates that factor.

 

[linuxgod]

Unfortunately I ordered them online from tires-easy.com, so if I have an issue with the tires I will likely need to work with Nitto directly. The closest DT is about 40 minutes from me, and Firestone refused to mount a non-factory tire size.

I set up an appointment for tomorrow with my local Toyota dealer who I've previously had good luck with (not the one who just shrugged off my issue last time). I have the hairline radiator crack forming so I'm going to see if they will replace it under the Toyota Care VSA I have before it actually blows out. If it is tie rods then I'll try to get them to cover it under the VSA as well (though I'm fairly sure they will argue the wear is caused by the aftermarket lift).