Pro comp 6066's and wheel shimmy.

TucsonCrew · #1 (**permalink**) 09-28-2008, 12:10 AM

I am having the dreaded shimmy problem, and have had it for a long time. This is what I've done to get rid of it.

(1) Took my Toy tech lift out.
(2) Balanced the wheels 5 times, 3 of them at different shops.
(3) Road Forced them 3 times.
(4) Had it aligned by 3 shops.
(5) Tried 3 different sets of tires.
(6) Torqued lugs on the ground and off.

None of this has helped at all. I know people with this problem have put the stockers on and the problem went away. This problem seems to be with various aftermarket wheels and not just the 6066's. While others have no problems at all and the truck rides like it's on glass. I started to think tonight that the only thing I have not tried was to change the lug nuts. You see, when I bought my wheels they didn't come with lugs, and the wheel shop just put some on that "seemed to work". I've read on here that the lugs are unique. I hear that the lugs for the 20 inch Carves are 300.00 dollars. That make me think that maybe my problem is as simple as having the wrong lug nuts.
Are there any of you out there running 20 inch 6066's that have absolutely no wheel shimmy? If there are, can you tell me what lug nuts you have? If there isn't any of you out there, then is there anyone with aftermarket wheels, other than the 6066's that have no shimmy? If so can you tell me what lugs you are using. As you can see I've paid out the butt to solve this problem and am getting no where. I just really don't want to put the stockers back on. Plus, I already sold them on ebay.

O8HLLTD · #2 (**permalink**) 09-28-2008, 10:04 AM

What are the road force numbers on the tires? Could be an out of round tire? The road force machine will balance them, but if the numbers are too high they won't be smooth.

zzzpro · #3 (**permalink**) 09-28-2008, 12:40 PM

He has tried 3 sets of tires. Still the same. Gotta be the rims. Not an uncommon problem unfortunately.

O8HLLTD · #4 (**permalink**) 09-28-2008, 01:08 PM

Sorry missed that...The Hunter road force balance machine measures wheel runout which may tell you if the wheels are out.

TucsonCrew · #5 (**permalink**) 09-28-2008, 02:35 PM

The road force was done with and without the tire. The wheels are true. The lug nuts I see on stock wheels have a washer on them. While mine just have the bevel on the ends and pulls the wheel center on the lug bolts coming out of the axle. If this is a hub centric wheel and not a lug centric this may be the problem. Maybe the stock lug nuts with the washer allow the wheel to center on the hub.

THUNDERA · #6 (**permalink**) 09-28-2008, 06:45 PM

I have the 6066's with non-factory lug nuts. I have the shimmy between about 50-60 mph - very minor though so I don't worry about it too much.

I've never considered that the lugs may be part of the problem here. The lugs I have were the ones that came with the wheel I presume because they are chrome and have a special star pattern to them.

drkacook · #7 (**permalink**) 09-29-2008, 01:24 PM

I've been following threads on the dreaded shimmy and decided to finally add my story to the list:

I've had the shimmy since buying the truck in July, 2007. It originally came with 20" wheels and bridgestone tires. The dealer tried a road force balance which they said was successfully completed with very low numbers, but the shimmy continued. Next was a new set of 20" and bridgestone tires which resulted in a reduced amount of shimmy, but shimmy none the less. Front end alignment was next with no joy. Next tried a TRD set of 18" wheels with BFG tires and had less shimmy than before, but still shimmy. Finally tried a set of Pro Comp 6047 18" with the BFG and was able to get the best results so far, but still had an intermittent shimmy. Driving down the road at 70mph I'd sometimes have the shimmy and other times it would be mostly gone. Tried aligning the front end two more times ending with DJ's specs, but still the same results with the shimmy. Tried one more time with a road force balance and the shimmy is now slightly worse than before, but still intermittent with no correlation to temperature, road conditions, humidity, etc. Bottom line is I've had 4 sets of wheels, 3 sets of tires, three sets of lug nuts, 3 front end alignments, numerous road force balances and have never had the smooth-as-glass ride I read about. I'm hoping for a resolution soon, but will continue to put up with the dreaded shimmy!

TucsonCrew · #8 (**permalink**) 10-01-2008, 01:58 AM

Ok, this thread is 3 days old, and not one single person has posted that they "don't have a shimmy" with aftermarket wheels. This is kinda of alarming. Could it be the Toyota has engineered there truck to only use their factory wheels. If we keep this thread going maybe Toyota will take a look at the problem like they did with the bed bounce issue.

WT · #9 (**permalink**) 10-01-2008, 01:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TucsonCrew

Ok, this thread is 3 days old, and not one single person has posted that they "don't have a shimmy" with aftermarket wheels. This is kinda of alarming. Could it be the Toyota has engineered there truck to only use their factory wheels. If we keep this thread going maybe Toyota will take a look at the problem like they did with the bed bounce issue.

Well after reading so many different thread of wheel shakes or shimmy I though I would post up my .02. I am running an after market wheels in a 20X9 size and 35" Nittos with no shimmy at all, yes there a little more road feel to it but hell I am running a much larger tire than stock its expected and its still smooth and strait on the road. Oh I am also running a Truxx 3/1 lift. So to say there a major problem with the Tundra and wheels I can not agree with. I know there have been a few people that have had the problem and posted up about it but if you look at the grand scheme of things and compare the number of Tundra sold to number of people with problems it pretty small. But I also have to say if your having a problem your having a problem maybe the issues not with wheels and tires since it sounds like they about tried all different ones on your truck. For other posts and threads of people saying they have problems with aftermarket wheels yes I can see this happening due to poor quality control of wheels being produced during a run. Since the Tundra is a hub centric setup you have to be sure the aftermarket wheel you have is also a hub centric setup. You just may happen to notice some shimmy and wobbling since your trying to use the lug nuts to center the wheel on the hub (Lug Centric Wheel), wont work well. Another thing I bet could be occuring is the hub was drilled off just a little and I mean a little but that enough to give you that shimmy durinng certain speeds. I actually remember one thread were the manufacture amited the problem after the poster replaced his tires like 3-4 times and they ended up sending him new ones or he went and got another brand I don't recall.

Well there my .02 and take everything I said with a grain of salt since I am no expert or anything on wheels and tires.

Oh something else just popped in my head, when you guys are having alignments done are they alwayy doing it to Toyota specs cause if you have a lift and what not chances are the shop will need to do it differently since chance of getting it back to spec is going to be off do to tire and wheel size and angle changes to the suspension parts from a lift per say. Especially toe in and camber settings.

THUNDERA · #10 (**permalink**) 10-01-2008, 02:51 PM

Are the 6066's hub centric or lug centric?

TucsonCrew · #11 (**permalink**) 10-01-2008, 04:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by THUNDERA

Are the 6066's hub centric or lug centric?

They are hub centric. Can someone a lot smarter than me, explain how if you use lug nuts it can't be anything other than lug centric. I figure a lug nut centers the lug bolt in the lug bolt hole on the wheel. So how could it ever center the wheel on the hub? That just confuses me.