PLEASE HELP... Horrible tire vibration on 08 Tacoma

[coal miner]

Sounds to me like you could have what is called "Radial Pull" where the tire & casing is not made properly or is out of round. This ia a common problem on todays tires. If you take it to a tire shop or dealer that has a ROAD FORCE balancing machine they can tell you right away of
the tire is defective. This machine applies road force while the tire is being spun & balanced & any defect will show up. Also check the rim for any defect such as wobble or bent etc. This is best done by spinning it on a wheel balance machine without the tire & just by eye they can tell if the wheel is defective. Few tire shops spin just the wheel alone to check for any defect.
They just mount on a new tire & your done!
They have a name for this Road Force balancing machine but can't think of it at the moment. Also, you might want to check for proper air pressure in your tires & follow the owners manual specs or the tire chart on the door post of your truck. Most people & even tire shops put way to much pressure in your tires. I think my Tundra calls for 28 pounds in the front & 32 or 34 in the rear.

Lets hear how you make out & what the solution finally was? Coal miner in New Jersey - recently up from Florida.

[dnels]

Originally Posted by dnels

I too may have a problem with my tires (Dunlops 265/65/17) on my TRD Sport.
Pulls left (sporadically) and has a slight vibration in steering wheel between 20-25 MPH.
Going to the dealer on Monday (for this and the fact that the cigarrette lighter was missing).
They said standard procedure is to start with a tire rotation (even through it only has 900 miles on it).
Not thrilled about that if the problem goes away because all it means is that they took a bad tire on the front and moved it to the rear. Eventually, that tire will move to the front again.
I would prefer if they try to identify the bum tire and at least swap it out with the spare.
If I remember, I'll post my outcome next week.

Best,
Dave

Well I did take the truck to the dealer last week.
At that time, the truck no longer pulled to the left.
Took a test drive with the service manager.
He suggested that the pulling was due to belts in the tires that needed a few mile to "adjust". I guess I can buy that.

As for the vibration I ONLY feel at 19-21 mph, he claims is normal due to the stiff suspension in the Sport.
Personally, I think that's a crock, but its fairly minor and since I do not have the funds to replace with better rubber, I'll live with it.
I bet it will either go away or get worst when I have them rotate the tires for the first time.

[dickinsonj]

My 05 Sport never had any front end vibrations in the first 30 K miles and I never had the tires rotated. They were rotated at my 30 K service and now I sometimes have a very slight vibration at about 20 mph. It isn't too bad, not like what a lot of people report for this truck, and since my Dunlop OEM tires are getting pretty worn, I'm hoping it will be nice and smooth after I get new tires. There is definitely some problem with this truck though for so many people to have had this vibration, and I guess I am lucky that mine has been so good.

[bowlofjokes]

My 2008 Tacoma Extended cab 4X$ Offroad with stock BF tires---no problems at 4300 miles. Just sayin