LSUMatt1514

I have totally had it with this set of Bridgestone Dueler Revo A/Ts that I put on my truck about 4-5 months ago (do a search for the mile long thread a couple months back). From day one, I have been fighting an awful, awful vibration problem when I get above 65 mph and despite two rounds on the Hunter GSP9700 road force balancer, it's still there. I mean we're talking steering wheel shaking, seats shaking, sun visors shaking, the whole nine yards. I've had it with these tires. The road force numbers on them are perfect and I trust the shop ALOT that has balanced them twice and the last time they told me that this truck should ride very smooth. Well it doesn't. I want them off my truck. I seem to have read mixed reviews on the Cross Terrain SUVs, but all of the shops I've talked to in town (including Limbaugh Toyota's service manager who I respect and trust alot) said that they are a great riding tire and quite durable. I won't be doing alot of offroading, just light at best when I go camping. I want a comfortable highway ride and these damn Revos are about to drive me insane. Michelin owners please speak up!!!!! Later.

Matt

lee

did you think of maybe bfg's? not just KO's, but how about just some regular long trails or something?

LSUMatt1514

A little more background. The tires were bought at a Firestone service center that does not have the Hunter machine or the Haweka adapter. I went with them instead of the small shop by the plant I work at because they were cheaper. Well I forgot that the small shop's price (which was only slightly more expensive) including a road force balance on the Hunter machine. So, after paying Firestone to mount them, I went to the other shop and spent $80 to have them road force balanced. A few days later I went back and they did it again free of charge because the vibration was still there. I had bought my previous set of tires from this small shop (Dueler H/Ls) and did not have a vibration problem with them. Firestone wants to swap out these Revos which are 265/75/16s with a set of 265/70/16. He says the difference in height is the problem. Everyone else that I've talked to says otherwise. If Firestone replaces them, then I'll have to go to a shop with the Hunter machine and have them balanced again. Therein lies my dilemma. I want my money back and I'm going to fight them tooth and nail until I get it back. The manager at Firestone has known about this problem from day one and was standing there when the Hunter Engineering rep (who was there to fix their mounting machine) told me that they COULD NOT balance my tires with their equipment. Didn't sit too well with him, but oh well. Sorry to be rambling but I'm pissed.

LSUMatt1514

Well, I guess these Revos have made me gun shy of all A/T tires now. I mean after reading the reviews on TireRack, you would have thought these things were the second coming or something. I could not be any more disappointed with a set of tires as I am with these. Don't get me wrong, I have noticed a big difference in wet traction, but screw it. It's not worth if the whole truck shakes like crazy when I drive on the interstate.

shazaam

Michelin ltx ms ..its on my truck now .. its the most quiet tire I've ever had on any car/truck

khaug

4Runners have been notorious for wheel balance problems since the appearance of the 3rd generation vehicles. The problem appears to stem from the fact that most wheel balancers aren't able to accurately mount Toyota wheels to the balancer. So while the balancer will indicate that you have good tires and a good balance job, this won't translate to a shake-free balance job when the wheels are mounted on the vehicle.

To address this problem, Toyota required their dealers to purchase something called the Haweka Lugcentric Adapter. This insures that the wheel-tire assembly gets balanced in exactly the same position as it will be run on the vehicle. I had major balance problems on my '98 4Runner, and tried three different sets of tires and multiple balance job attempts before having the dealer balance the wheels using the adapter. This instantly fixed the problem.

Before discarding your Bridgestones, I'd contact your dealer, make sure they have the adapter and have the wheels re-balanced using it.

BTW, my current 'Runner came with Michelin X-Terrain tires (and a good balance job). They are quiet, handle well on wet and dry pavement and do a good job in snow and ice. At 40K miles, they still have 9/32" of tread left, so I expect to get 70-80K miles out of them. But they probably won't fix your problem if the cause is what I suspect it is.

Good luck. If you try my suggestion, please post back and let us know the outcome.

TACOMANATOR

I second the Haweka adapter. I bought my tires from Costco and they have it. I have Bridgestone Duellers on my Taco and they ride smooth. The girlfriend has Michelin LTX and they ride great and last long.

4Runner4Christ

Two questions. 1. Will a dealer give you crap about mounting 265/75/16s when the OEM size is 265/70/16? 2. So I dont sound like a dork...how do you pronounce Haweka? Is it haw-kee-yaa, haw-wek-ka? ?

LSUMatt1514

It is pronounced Huh-wee-kuh. And yes, I know all about it and I am fully aware that it is necessary in order to balance the 4Runner wheels. A&R Tire is the small shop I am referring to in the thread. They have the Hunter GSP9700 road force balancing machine and the Haweka adapter. They know all about it because the friggin owner drives a 98 Limited 4Runner. The Revos were balanced twice on the Hunter machine using the Haweka adapter. No, it wasn't a dealership, but this is a great tire shop and they know what they are doing. When they tell me that the balance is "dead on" and that the road force measurements are 7, 8, 10, and 12 on the four tires (which like I mentioned is outstanding) I believe them. I have no doubt that the things are balanced but I did consider taking it to another shop or the dealer and have them balance it with their Hunter machine but I decided I'm not going to spend any more money on these things. The guy at the next shop (OK Tires) agreed and was actually the one to talk me out of doing it again because he knows the guys at A&R and agreed that they do great work. I'm convinced that I got a crap ass set of tires, but I don't want to take the risk of getting another set of Revos from Firestone, then paying another $100 to A&R to have them properly road force balanced (remember Firestone doesn't have the machine or adapter), then run the risk of having the new set do the same thing. Again, sorry to be rambling but I'm sick of these things!!

LSUMatt1514

As far as the size is concerned, I talked with the service manager at Limbaugh Toyota (great guy) for about 30 minutes about this. The size has absolutely nothing to do with it. We're only talking fractions of an inch taller. He said that if someone came into the dealership and bought a set of tires, that he would only put the stock size on because of policy but there is no correlation between the crap ass ride that I've got now and the fact that these Revos are 75s instead of 70s.

mark_simon

very happy with my michelin cross terrrains. Had them put on at Costco 3 months ago. Ride is very smooth. Havent had the chance to offroad with them.

MTL_4runner

I loved my Michelin LTXs, smooth as can be but I need more traction up here so I am going with the Revos. Those were pretty lame excuses that those guys were giving you on why they couldn't get them right. I have balanced giant monster mudders and had them pretty smooth at highway speed but would sometimes loose balance after a couple thousand miles of tread wear (the lugs are a significant part of the balancing). The Revos should balance almost perfect since they are not nearly as tall and lugs on the tread are much smaller. No excuses there.

To be honest with you I am not sure it is the tire to blame or not....have you tried to swap the spare around the truck to see if you can isolate which wheel is shaking or which of them is the worst? I would hate to put on a new set of tires only to see the exact same thing again. I would be giving the entire truck the once over thoroughly to see if there is anything loose or amiss (like wheel bearings, tie rods, steering rack, ball joints, etc).

.....I would find the nearest Costco and have them break them down completely and remount and balance them again.

LSUMatt1514

I asked Jeff at Limbaugh today if there was any way that there was something mechanically wrong that was causing this problem. He did not think so at all, especially since I didn't have the problem before. He also mentioned that if there was something wrong, that it would show up well before 65 mph. As far as the mounting is concerned, is there a way to screw up the mounting? I mean pardon my ignorance, but I was under the impression that there was only one way to mount the tire onto the wheel. I would like to do that and I considered that this past weekend, but there again I would be out an additional $100-$150 and very quite possibly be right back where I am now, only lighter in the wallet.

LSUMatt1514

Jamie,
I can't really swap the spare around because it is a 265/70/16 Bridgestone H/T and these Revos are 265/75/16s.

Matt

LSUMatt1514

Jamie,
One more thing. When you say smooth do you mean smooth as in you don't feel all those subtle bumps in the road (with the Revos, subtle bumps feel like running over boulders) or smooth as in no vibration?

Matt

Bigblock

i had no problem at all balancing my 01 wheels with b/stones i love them.by the way do you have stock wheels?

LSUMatt1514

Yes I have stock wheels.

LSUMatt1514

I have read a ton of reviews on TireRack and it appears that the Michelin LTX M/S is the better overall tire (ride, tread life, etc) when compared to the Cross Terrain SUV. From what I've read, the Cross Terrain has a better ride, but much less tread life than the LTX M/S. But then again the reviews on TireRack for the Revos are awesome so again I'm left pulling my hair out!

Matt

FilthyRich

That is what i was going to suggest. I put the cross-terrains on my moms Explorer and she loved them. Quiet, handled great, wore well, BUT if you do any off-roading (even camping) i would go with the LTX M/S. Great tire on and off-road. The last set my wife had lasted 70,000 miles on our old FJ80.

Mr Tibbs

I had a very similar problem going on with my runner. At the time I was running Yokohama's. Come to find out after just 8,000 miles two of them were seperating internally!! I talked to the local Sears and they talked me into new Michellin's. At the time I had a little bit of money and was very sick of dealing with the whole tire balancing act so I purchased a new set of rims as well. By the way, Yokohama is the worst tire company I have ever dealt with. Thier customer service SUCKS!!!! Any who, I now have about 40K on the Michellins and I'm loving it. Between the new rims and tires I have yet to have a problem. I hope this helps. BTW at the Sears I go to they call the Michellin's "problem solvers" because they never have any complaints about them.