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The word didn't pop up in a search, but I thought I'd see if any of you guys have tried them on your GX. Like all the ones I test drove before I purchased, my '23 has a very slight vibration that shows up around 50mph, but only sometimes. I'm kicking around trying these, on the bet that it is caused by non-perfect balance. I run them on my Excursion, pictured below, and they are terrific. Centramatic makes 6x5.5 ones, though they need spacers to clear the calipers in front. That's not a problem.
I've got 10ply tires and can't imagine needing these. I'd maybe try a roadforce balance where the tires is high spot is aligned to the rims low spot. Try a shop with a newer machine if you have already tried a balance and rotation.
Not to side track your thread, but is there more discussion about the 50-55 mph shake/shudder?
Hey, this is a good a place as any! What's your experience?
Mine is very mild, and intermittent. It makes me think - and it's just a hypothesis - that it's caused by ever so slightly out of balance wheels and the difference in phase between them as one goes down the road. The Centramatics would very likely resolve it if that's the case, but I'm not yet sure I want to bet $200 on that.
I know that both the used ones I test drove had it, and worse than mine, IIRC. I've rotated the tires twice since I bought the vehicle, with no change. I'm confident that each wheel, tested individually, would be well within balance tolerances.
^ Road-Force Balancing ... and purchasing tires that are actually round ... so beware of a great deal where "Seconds" are foisted on the unknowing public.
yes there is a thread on it, probably more than one. round tires help a lot. and when not round, use the dots to match the unround wheels like done at the factory.
and always road force.
New 2023 GX, 800 miles so far, with 18" Michelin tires. I've noticed more when the tires are cold, not up to normal operating temps, and on new/recently paved road surface. The steering wheel shudder is noticeable, can be felt in the steering wheel, seen by the sun visors vibrating and the back of the passenger front seat vibrating as well. As stated, not bad but still noticed. Goes away with speed.
I usually associate these things to cold tires with flat spots that go away as the tires warm up, and they almost always do. If they don't then you have a problem to fix, and usually a balance job does it, but not always.
New 2023 GX, 800 miles so far, with 18" Michelin tires. I've noticed more when the tires are cold, not up to normal operating temps, and on new/recently paved road surface. The steering wheel shudder is noticeable, can be felt in the steering wheel, seen by the sun visors vibrating and the back of the passenger front seat vibrating as well. As stated, not bad but still noticed. Goes away with speed.
I usually associate these things to cold tires with flat spots that go away as the tires warm up, and they almost always do. If they don't then you have a problem to fix, and usually a balance job does it, but not always.
Thanks for this. I don't associate what I'm seeing with the tires being cold, mostly because mine is never parked outside and the garage is heated. I notice it less than 10% of the time, and only around 50-60mph.
I read about folks saying their radial tires flat-spot badly, but I can't say I've ever felt that. I may be jaded, though: My 4runner is on 39.5x16.5x17 bias ply (no steel) tires. Leave it out on a chilly night at single digit tire pressures, and one will fully understand flat-spotting. When those flat spots are in phase, the thing hops for the first half mile. Incidentally, I balance them with a pound or so of Airsoft pellets in the tires - the same concept as Centramatics - and it works great. It doesn't see a lot of road time, but it'll do 60mph with no shakes.
I park in an unheated fully enclosed garage, my previous F150 w/ OEM 20's acted the same way, wife's RX 350 does the same thing all during cooler/cold temps. The shudder comment got my attention but if it's just cold tires, eh.........
I decided to try these after the 50-60MPH steering wheel shake seemed to get a little worse after having a tire plugged. They have pretty much resolved the issue. There is one short (+/-400y) section of road where I still feel it - though less - but perhaps there's something else going on there. Otherwise, I get none of it, and am pleased with the results. I don't know that this proves my hypothesis that the shake is caused by the phasing of non-perfectly balanced tires, but my sample-of-one experiment behaved as expected. Remember that no tire/wheel combination is perfectly balanced with a few weights stuck or clipped to the rim or barrel, no matter the method used to place them. The dynamic nature of these balancers, and other solutions based on the same physics, resolve that. The nice thing about them as they are a DIY solution, and one doesn't have to depend on others doing their jobs perfectly.
A few caveats:
They won't fix every possible shake or vibration. In particular, those noticing the 1900rpm acceleration shake are likely to get no relief, as that appears to be related to engine RPM.
They require spacers to clear the calipers in front. 1.25" work, for sure. 1" might work if the "indented" pair are put up front and reversed. If someone is interested, I can test this next time I have the wheels off.
They aren't particularly attractive, without painting. See the last couple of photos
To the pics:
They are sold in sets of four. Two flat, as in the first photo, and two indented. I put the indented ones in back, but reversing them and installing them on the front *might* allow 1" spacers to work.
The silver color is pretty noticeable. As I mentioned earlier in the thread, I run these on my Excursion tow rig and painted them black, as you see in the second photo. I'll do the same for these when I have the wheels off for the next tire rotation.
01-05-24, 07:28 PM
Centramatic wheel balancers?
