[mossman77]

I replaced the front rotors and pads on my Tundra today and it seemed to solve my steering wheel shake/wobble issue. Everything seemed great for the first few miles then it started to happen again all of a sudden. I am baffled at what could be causing this to happen. I just had all four tires road force balanced using a Hunter GSP7900 and they are all within spec. (6, 6, 10, 18). What could be some other causes? Someone told me to check the sway bar, but I don't understand how that would cause a steering wheel to wobble. This is driving me nuts. Should I have the alignment checked out again? If i understand correctly, the alignment doesn't typically cause this problem, but I'm really out of ideas here. It happens at 50 mph and up. I have aftermarket wheels, but they are hub centric and I was told they were perfectly balanced.

 

[mossman77]

I think I may have a sticking brake caliper piston. I drove to work yesterday and everything was fine. Today, it was fine at first, then the steering wheel began to oscillate. The oscillation goes away immediately when braking. Anyone else have this problem?

 

[tridacna]

Was there even wear on the pads?
Not uncommon for calipers to stick. I replaced two on my 02' already.

 

[mossman77]

I don't know. I didn't look at them closely. Wish I would have. I wasn't even considering a sticky piston when I swapped them out, which is why I didn't pay close attention. I did notice a funny pattern on the inside of one of the rotors, like an imprint of the pad at multiple spots, but that may be normal. Wouldn't a sticky caliper be noticed at all speeds though? My steering wheel only begins to wobble at 55 mph and up. I'm beginning to think that maybe I have the tire pressure set too low and the tires are shifting on the rim causing an imbalance, then shifting back to balance again, etc. Not sure this is even possible. I am running 265/60/18 Falken Wild Peaks at 32 psi.

 

[c0astie31]

can you figure out which tire it is? if so change out that one for a rear tire and try that. commonly you want to have the tires with less wieght on the front

 

[mossman77]

I'm going to switch the front wheels to the back and see if that changes anything. I'm also considering getting a larger lug nut because the ones I have don't cover the entire seat on the rim. There is about 1/16" of seat exposed. They are the small diameter E-T type lugs and I don't think they are holding the wheel as tight as they should.

 

[mossman77]

Ok, I think I figured it out. I jacked my truck up this evening and gave one of the front wheels a good spin. The rim itself looked good but the tire was all whacked out. What appears to be happening is flat spots are developing after the truck has been sitting and makes the truck drive like crap. Apparently this is pretty common, but the flat spots work themselves out after the tire warms up. Since I still have issues after driving for 10 or 15 miles, there are only two explanations I can think of. One is that the tires have permanent flat spots and the other is the tires were balanced with the flats spots so they were improperly balanced. I think the latter is more likely because I highly doubt the dealer drove my truck around for 15 minutes before balancing the tires. However, they did a road force balance, so you would think that would work the flat spots out. Maybe not. Here is a video after my truck had been sitting for two hours:

[video]http://imageshack.us/clip/my-videos/545/axnjsczmkvbphovebongiq.mp4/[/video]

[video]http://img545.imageshack.us/img545/4772/axnjsczmkvbphovebongiq.mp4[/video]

 

[redneckninji20]

Take them back to where you got them and get new ones. You will just continue to have problems with them.


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[COBRAGOLF]

Im in the same boat...but...I think mine finally fixed itself.

did a complete pad and rotor change yesterday because my stock junk was warped at 20K. I suffered through it to 34K and had enough. Got the R1 Concepts diamond slotted rotors and ceramic pads. $300+ on ebay.

Great quality stuff if you ask me...

At any rate, I printed off the DIY here and did the job myself -- super easy However, when everything was said and done I did the "break in" procedure they supplied with the parts and from then on I had a some major wobbling. After 200 miles and my wife taking my truck from Alabama to Kentucky today, she said it drove fine. Mine was major vibrations and then a really high pitched squeel. From my common sense approach, it was the pads in the front bouncing because of too much of a gap between the pads and the rotors. Over time it seems that the more I used the brakes the less often it would happen. Again, common sense tells me that the pistons were learning their new positions with the new pads.

Oh well, I could be wrong...but as of today and 300+ miles one way, she said it rode like a dream (compared to what it was).

Also, my Nitto Terra's have flat spots and when cold -- they will make your hands go numb...but after about 10 min or so the vibes are gone.

 

[tridacna]

Cobra, did you bleed your brake fluid on all of the calipers?

 

[mossman77]

Hey hi-jackers, this thread is about my steering wheel :grrr: It isn't the brakes, they are smooth as butter. It is likely the flat spots, or the fact that two of the tires were balanced with flat spots. I called the distributor and they told me to have them road force balanced AGAIN and that will reveal any problems. Once an obvious problem is found, I can send them back and exchange them. Don't think I'll be giving Falken WPs another try though.

 

[redneckninji20]

I just did this yesterday for a customer at my shop. Road force came out 7 lbs and balanced the tire to 0.00. Everything was perfect as per the machine and the wheel shook like crazy. Replaced the tire with a diff one road forced that as well came up 13 lbs and that one went down the road smooth. So even tho the machines say it's good it isn't always the truth. I guess if that's what they want is for them to redo the road force then I guess you gotta do it


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[mossman77]

The tire in the video clip was the culprit. I rotated it to the back and now everything is as smooth as glass. I'll be taking the two rear tires in to have them rebalanced, after warming them up and working out any flat spots first.

 

[Dan Allen]

Maybe tread separation from tire body? I had this happen once. When a tire does this the centrifugal force pulls the separated section away from the tire body and that section wears faster since it hits the road harder. Like a blister or bubble would. This makes a flat spot on the tire that is noticeable after it wears a while. You can hear this on 18 wheeler trailer tires when you pass them.
Is your truck 4 WD or 2 WD? Could also be a worn wheel bearing. If the bearing has excess play it will not keep the axle on center. It will allow the axle to "orbit" slightly within the bearing and it will feel like a tire out of balance.

 

[mossman77]

Truck is 2WD. Did you read my previous post? Rotating the wheel to the rear solved the problem. Evidently the wheels weren't balanced properly.

 

[COBRAGOLF]

Hey hi-jackers, this thread is about my steering wheel :grrr: It isn't the brakes, they are smooth as butter.

No hijacking going on here. Since the brakes, tires and alignment is all connected to the same steering wheel and the first words in your post were about your brake change and the lack of commenting at that time that they are "smooth as butter" leads most of us to believe that the reason for your wobbles is the brakes.

There are many reasons why your steering wheel wobbles : 45% of the time its your warped rotors (common for our tundras), 45% of the time it would be unbalanced and/or bad tires, 9% of the time would be for those off-roaders who get piles of mud all in and on the front suspension and forget to spray it off and the 1% if for all others issues.

But according to your post above, your flat-spots and/or lack of proper balancing might just be the problem.

 

[COBRAGOLF]

Cobra, did you bleed your brake fluid on all of the calipers?

Yeah, i did it like the DIY said. I connected a little hose leading from the bleeder to an old paint can. I opened the bleeder and gently squeezed the calipers opened, once opened I closed the bleeder and replaced pads/rotors.

After all was said and done I pumped the brakes slowly and then simply added fluid back to the master cylinder.

I didnt grow up doing it this way but I thought I would try it since it made the DIY section. We are rolling smooth now and everything is settling in quite nice!

 

[tridacna]

I didnt grow up doing it this way but I thought I would try it since it made the DIY section. We are rolling smooth now and everything is settling in quite nice!

Neither did I, but after purging the brake lines, I realized why it's a good idea to change out the fluid.

 

[mossman77]

What's wrong with that ^ ? Is there a worm in there or something?

I rotated the suspect tire to the rear and the wobble is gone! I'll be going back to the dealer to have the two rear tires balanced again. Or maybe I should take it somewhere else with a road force balancer.

 

[toy4x4boy]

What's wrong with that ^ ? Is there a worm in there or something?

I rotated the suspect tire to the rear and the wobble is gone! I'll be going back to the dealer to have the two rear tires balanced again. Or maybe I should take it somewhere else with a road force balancer.

I'm not sure if you are kidding or not but that brake fluid is way too dark (dirty).