What wheels for 37" tires. Driveline vibration.

[CrackIsWack]

Howdy! working out stuff on my new 95', motor runs beautifully at 155k miles, fluid filmed it, changed all fluids, greased the driveline, pumped the knuckles full o grease, working out little stuff here and there, changing all the heater hoses (waiting for a weekend for the PHH). Appreciate any input with the situation!.

biggest problem right now is a little vibration/wobble at around 35-40 mph, not DW but definitely an uncomfortable shaking. It has a dobinson's 6 inch lift, with the adjustable panhards, and rear control arms. but no castor correction plates, but it does have drop brackets for the forward control arms so castor is good enough (I think?). (gonna wait for an alignment until after i go after my prime suspect: tires) the wobble felt like tire balance. Haven't had to deal with castor but pretty sure it wouldn't cause an increasing frequency wobble, i have a set of the plates anyway if it ends up being a factor.

Thing needed new tie rods, so changed them anyway, tightened up the steering box. the OME steering damper is fine. drives better, but still wobbled. Bearings are mostly good, some very minor top to bottom wobble on driver side (king pin bearings i think) so everything is pretty damn tight up front.

Truck has pretty fresh 37inch trepadors on the stock land cruiser wheels with a 2inch spacer. so i suspected they weren't balanced right, and sure as s*it they were out of round. threw some balance beads in there drove around today, and wobble got a little better but not great. So i think that new wheels and tires is unfortunately in the cards for me. (if anyone wants a screaming deal on some FRESH trepadors, for a crawler or something let me know. they got like an inch of tread left, lines still on the tires. )

It has 16 inch stock wheels, but Id like to get some 17inch steelies under it for more tire options for the 37s, and I love the steel rim look. What kind of backspacing, offset do i need? and/or what wheel spacers? What are the main clearance concerns? calipers? wheel well? articulation when flexed?

Any links or companies would be super helpful too. Cheers gents!

 

[ajax1]

I ran steel wheels once and they took ton weight to balance. I would go with something else. You will prob want a back space of 4.50 or less, I run 4.0 bs on 37s 17x8. If you are running more bs then yes you could have clearance issues with the wheels hitting the arms. Treps I imagine are hard to balance but I have never owned them.
Make sure wheel bearings are good and tight. Tierod sas well. First thought is you need an alignment to see where castor is. Stock is 2.0 degrees positive to 4. Too much toe or too little can also cause issues.

 

[CrackIsWack]

right on, looking at some mickey thompson/american racing alloys. they both have 4.5-4.75 back spacing, so Ill probably need a 0.5-1" spacer? know any good companies for wheel spacers?

 

[COYS]

Spacers suck. Just buy wheels that fit.

 

[CrackIsWack]

Spacers suck. Just buy wheels that fit.

I agree, but i can't seem to find many 17 inch wheels with the right back space. You got any suggestions?

 

[baldilocks]

What size tires do you plan to run? What kind of wheeling? 17” wheels open you up much more tire options. I run Trail Ready beadlocks in 17x8.5 with 3.5” back spacing. 3.5” widens the stance for stability and keeps the tires off the frame and leading arms.

 

[COYS]

I agree, but i can't seem to find many 17 inch wheels with the right back space. You got any suggestions?

Yes. Don't reinvent the wheel. Search. Gl!

 

[LandLocked93]

+1 all wheel/no spacer.

 

[baldilocks]

For the record, I ran 1” trail gear spacers for five years without issue behind stock wheels wrapped in 37’s. They were simply included in my list of torque checks prior to every outing. In fact, I handed them off to a friend and mud member who runs them on his 80 with stock wheels and 37’s. Both of us run rocks and push the limits of an 80. If spacers/adapters were absolutely unsafe, the safety Nazi’s out there would have outlawed them by now.

Having said that, I do agree that if buying new wheels, we might as well buy wheels with the back spacing we need.

If you don’t want beadlock wheels, look into SCS brand wheels. They are made specifically for Toyota’s and they look sweet.

 

[Road Apple]

@CrackIsWack …How long have you had the 6” lift and 37’s? Didn’t see any mention in your initial description of a double cardan front driveshaft. Is it possible you’re feeling driveline vibration? With a 6” lift, you may get significant vibration.

 

[Somebodyelse5]

For the record, I ran 1” trail gear spacers for five years without issue behind stock wheels wrapped in 37’s. They were simply included in my list of torque checks prior to every outing. In fact, I handed them off to a friend and mud member who runs them on his 80 with stock wheels and 37’s. Both of us run rocks and push the limits of an 80. If spacers/adapters were absolutely unsafe, the safety Nazi’s out there would have outlawed them by now.

Having said that, I do agree that if buying new wheels, we might as well buy wheels with the back spacing we need.

If you don’t want beadlock wheels, look into SCS brand wheels. They are made specifically for Toyota’s and they look sweet.

I ran 1.25" spacers on my 100 for a while, no issues. My brother is currently running the same set on his 100.

I worry far too much and am way too lazy... it's a bad combo... didn't like having the extra set of studs to worry about not torque checking. If you're going to spend a bunch of money on wheels might as well pick some that fit and get the back spacing right

 

[CrackIsWack]

thanks for all the responses! I was wanting the 17s for more tire options down the road, not many 37s available on the 16s.

For the next couple of foreseeable 2 years I will most definitely not be needing the capabilities that these trepadors provide me (forced to move to florida, but out to washington soon enough), so im not upset about letting them go, probably gonna go with something more gentlemanly onroad, and less aggressive.

I do have a singe piece DS. didn't think about that causing an issue! I attached some pictures of my driveline angles, didn't think they were that bad! (pardon the shininess just coated everything with fluid film)

considering the current tires are all out of round, Im pretty confident that's the main source of my not so good vibration. Good looks on those SCS wheels, i like their 5 spoke, looks like i can pick up a set with 3.5 back space and a -39mm offset. Thats probably good enough eh?

 

[CrackIsWack]

like I said they're pretty fresh freaking trepadors! Let me know if anyone you know wants em for something!

 

[cruzinfj1]

Cant believe nobody has mentioned the fact that those are bias plys and will get flat spots when they sit and will definitely have a shake to them till they warm up again. What do you have the pressure set at? What made you go with that tire to begin with??

I run SXIIs on Methods and have them at 30# when I drive it to work once a week or so. They do have a shake/wobble to them for the first couple miles, but then they smooth out once they have a little heat back in them. They will NEVER be like a radial, and I knew that to begin with. Maybe look into something along the lines of a Maxxis Razor. Great sidewall and tread, but a radial. Couple of buddies run them and they are pretty impressive all around.

 

[BILT4ME]

thanks for all the responses! I was wanting the 17s for more tire options down the road, not many 37s available on the 16s.

For the next couple of foreseeable 2 years I will most definitely not be needing the capabilities that these trepadors provide me (forced to move to florida, but out to washington soon enough), so im not upset about letting them go, probably gonna go with something more gentlemanly onroad, and less aggressive.

I do have a singe piece DS. didn't think about that causing an issue! I attached some pictures of my driveline angles, didn't think they were that bad! (pardon the shininess just coated everything with fluid film)

considering the current tires are all out of round, Im pretty confident that's the main source of my not so good vibration. Good looks on those SCS wheels, i like their 5 spoke, looks like i can pick up a set with 3.5 back space and a -39mm offset. Thats probably good enough eh?

View attachment 3294559

View attachment 3294560

1) Your front DS is in phase. It needs to be 90° out of phase.
2) It appears you have no caster correction on your front axle. Your DS is in "brokeback" configuration and both joints will fight each other because of the orientation of your pinion angle VS your Tcase angle. They are supposed to be "opposite" each other.
3) Let's see pics of your Radius Arm drop brackets. Stay back a bit so we can see the DS angles and as much of the arms as we can.

 

[CrackIsWack]

It does have drop brackets for the control arms, and I didn't even think about an out of phase DS. that's wild. So would that involve just pulling the shaft out, and putting the yoke back in 90 degrees? Any tips or tricks fixing that?

I recently bought the truck, cause its low miles, triple locked, pretty damn clean inside, the trepadors weren't my choice by any means.

 

[CrackIsWack]

Will throwing in a double carden work with the tase and pinion angles not lining up and make it "good enough"? or what has to move where to get the angles to line up enough?

 

[cruzinfj1]

Get rid of the tires and fix the driveshaft- itll drive like a different truck.

 

[CrackIsWack]

Get rid of the tires and fix the driveshaft- itll drive like a different truck.

Any advice on a company for the double carden?

 

[cruzinfj1]

Any advice on a company for the double carden?

I would get it back into phase first and see what that does before coming outta pocket for a new shaft right a way. From the pics, the angles dont look too bad. If/when you need a double cardan, do a quick search on here for a vendor, or Im sure some of these other guys that have them will chime in. I do my own, but have always heard good things about Tom Woods from some guys Ive ran with that have them.

Forgot to ad to my post from last night, I went from a 37" Patagonia to the SXIIs. Its now a toy for me that I drive when I want to, not need to and goes on the trailer when I wheel it. I knew that the SXIIs would suck as far as street manners, but it really is a night and day difference.