I'm at my wit's end. My 96 4-Runner, 4WD, Toyo tires - two on front are nearly new, the two on the back are older, but still have plenty of even tread. Wear looks fine. Took it into a local tire shop to replace one time that was old, get all 4 tires balanced, alignment checked. Before the shop, I had pretty bad vibration at 65mph. Told them I needed it to be smooth up to 75mph as I was going to florida next week. "No problem, we're experts." Get the car back, bounced all the way to Florida and back. Shop swears the tires are balanced. Shop swears they have the correct equipment (see below). I was thinking it was perhaps drive train, but as I'm rolling down the highway, I can take the car up to 70mph, pop it into neutral, and coast - still have vibration. Btw, this is not trivial vibration.... I don't expect the 4-runner to drive like a sedan, but I have a friend who can take his Tundra up to 85mph and it is crystal smooth on the highway. Same tire sizes.... When I was first reading about my 4-runner, I came across many articles that when the 96 (thereabouts) first came out, many of the shops just did not know how to balance the tires. They needed a special adapter to truly center the tire on the balancing machine. To anyone's knowledge, is this still an issue in some tire shops? Anyone have any suggestions for me? I need it fixed, my fillings are starting to hurt. Charlie

Gary - that's the info I recall seeing many moons ago. I'll print the page out and go see the shop again. I have hope. The U Joints may have an issue, but I've had a ford lose the u-joints, and it doesn't feel like this. I suspect I'll actually be able to *feel* any other vibrations once I remove the earthquake and aftershocks. chg

We replaced the U-joints on a Land Cruiser that was doing exactly what your 'Runner is doing. The problem was solved. However, there are other situations that might cause the vibration, mainly tire cupping. Toyos have a horrible reputation, as do Bridgestone, for cupping (flat spots in the tires). If you don't rotate every 6,000 miles, you'll get cupping w/ these tires. My wife's '05 RAV4 has Toyo Transpath tires that are absolute junk. Even with regular rotations, it vibrates. Roadforce balancing has not corrected the problem. Many of my customers who have Toyo tires on their SUV's experience the same problems. Do yourself a favor and get some Michelin Cross Terrain. I had them on my '01 'Runner and absolutely loved them. It was originally equipped with Bridgestone duelers, of which cupped quickly and caused a rough ride, vibration, and noise. Switching to the Michelins made all of the difference in the world. It's true that many tire shops don't know how to balance 4Runner wheels, as they do require a collar to be inserted into the hub opening on the rim. Make sure that your shop is equipped with such a collar. Charles Gilley

I had a similar problem a while back and it turned out to be a broken belt in the tire. The broken belt cause a slight barely visible bump on the surface of the tire. It balanced fine and there was no obvious unusual tread wear. Had to take it back to the tire shop three times before they found it. Dan