I think it’s the same issue, but the resonance is manifesting itself at a different RPM... The ‘handheld massager’ comment is key. (No jokes please... )

It’s coming from the transfer case.

 

Sorry, been away for a week on vacay. Transfer case was my first suggestion.

 

Thanks all!

 

 

 

 

My tires are perfectly balanced, no shaking nor shimmy at any speed. The headrest vibration is reported by other too and I think it's on all GX. They just shake when empty.

 

 

Its a body on frame chassis. There is going to be some vibrations due to the nature of the design. Like others have said, another seemingly common issue has been tires and high roadforce. That doesn't sound like what you are talking about though. I wouldn't sweat it.

 

Mine did so. The dealership fixed it by taking the seat apart and fixed the welds of the frame. After 2 years it's still holding well

 

Same with mine. It's normal.

 

Yep, the empty passenger seat DOES shake. I think it is normal for a BOF SUV.

 

Mine is smooth again after getting a rear flat spotted LTX M/S2 tire replaced under warranty. I guess these are being discontinued shortly...or that is what Discount told me anyway.

 

My dealer CAN still get the M/S2 (with $100 instant saving) but they don't come in 265/65/18 which I prefer. I think they are just left-over since Mich stopped making them.

 

Hello All,

We just replaced the Bridgestones that were on our 2012 GX460. The car has had a weird steering wheel shake/vibration/shimmy since we purchased it with 63,000 miles on it, and we had the tires road-force balanced twice, and the last time made it much better, but not perfect; that was during the summer.

We decided to purchase some of the Falken Wildpeak tires in the stock size around the first of October. The vibration still occurs for the first few miles, or more, when the temperature is cold outside (less than 50 degrees).

I am trying to figure out if the stock shocks are worn out on one or more corners and it shows up worse when cold, or if this is some kind of weird steering rack issue that causes this issue while the car is cold. It doesn't shimmy the wheel as bad as it did before with the Bridgestone tires for sure, and it smooths out more when it is warm outside or after 15-20 minutes of driving when cold out, to the point of normal smoothness.

I really wanted to buy the Bilstein TRD package while they were so affordable around $550, but of course, the wife wouldn't listen and didn't want to spend any money on her car that only had 60K miles on it at the time with the upcoming purchase of new tires pending.

Living in the foothills in Colorado near Morrison (west side of Denver), we have already gotten and will get more snow this winter, so the Wildpeaks were a good choice at this time, no matter what.

We bought this GX460 used from a non Lexus dealer, and it came with their version of a full powertrain warranty, so it is doubtful if a steering rack would be covered by this warranty.

Does anyone have any good ideas or things I could easily check?

If shocks are recommended, is there anything close to the TRD Bilsteins for a mostly stock ride or slightly stiffer? I am hesitant to look at stock shocks that only lasted 7 years and 60K miles...

I have some OME Nitrocharger shocks on my 100 series land cruiser that have over 130,000 miles on them and they still work great as I just rolled 200,000 miles on it and going strong....