Vibration/Shake Issues
#91
Advanced
iTrader: (2)
My experience has been that Lexus will indeed dispatch a specialist who is more familiar with a new model and will help your local dealership diagnose a problem that has them stumped.
Lexus did that for us when the RX 400h was introduced and ... much like our November 2009 GX 460 ... we got one of the first. The ventilation system would periodically introduce a nasty smell into the car that reminded us of an overheated frying pan. After disassembling the back of the car they found some "double sticky tape" that was introduced during assembly stuck to a "flapper valve" on the ventilation system. It was holding the valve open rather than allowing it to close when the air flow changed as the HVAC automatically cycled between fresh and recycled air ... we were smelling our rear electric motor, not to mention our exhaust!
Sorry to introduce a non-GX anecdote, but the message learned is that no car is perfect, no design is without some flaw and sometimes these problems are caught after production is started. What is reassuring is that Lexus will work closely with their dealers and with reasonable customers to find, fix and eliminate these problems. It shouldn't cost you more than your time and patience and it may save future GX 460 owners from having to go through what you are going through.
Regards,
SaniDel
Lexus did that for us when the RX 400h was introduced and ... much like our November 2009 GX 460 ... we got one of the first. The ventilation system would periodically introduce a nasty smell into the car that reminded us of an overheated frying pan. After disassembling the back of the car they found some "double sticky tape" that was introduced during assembly stuck to a "flapper valve" on the ventilation system. It was holding the valve open rather than allowing it to close when the air flow changed as the HVAC automatically cycled between fresh and recycled air ... we were smelling our rear electric motor, not to mention our exhaust!
Sorry to introduce a non-GX anecdote, but the message learned is that no car is perfect, no design is without some flaw and sometimes these problems are caught after production is started. What is reassuring is that Lexus will work closely with their dealers and with reasonable customers to find, fix and eliminate these problems. It shouldn't cost you more than your time and patience and it may save future GX 460 owners from having to go through what you are going through.
Regards,
SaniDel
#92
Racer
there is a definite problem with the vibes.
the truck did it again this am around 60 on highway, then none at all in afternoon. And it wasnt just the steering wheel. Vibe was felt all over the dashboard too and front seats. Very strange.
the truck did it again this am around 60 on highway, then none at all in afternoon. And it wasnt just the steering wheel. Vibe was felt all over the dashboard too and front seats. Very strange.
#93
Advanced
iTrader: (2)
Lets see if we have a pattern. If you have a problem with vibrations, please respond
- Version of GX? Base / Premium
- What tires?
- Vibrations between ___ and ___ mph
- Frequency of vibs?
- Vibrations felt through (steering wheel, seats, etc...)
- Actions taken trying to resolve the issue: (replaced tires, rebalanced wheels, etc...
- If vibs resolved, solution taken:
- Other comments
- Version of GX? Base / Premium
- What tires?
- Vibrations between ___ and ___ mph
- Frequency of vibs?
- Vibrations felt through (steering wheel, seats, etc...)
- Actions taken trying to resolve the issue: (replaced tires, rebalanced wheels, etc...
- If vibs resolved, solution taken:
- Other comments
#94
Advanced
iTrader: (2)
I start...
- Version: Base
- Tires: Michelin HP Tour and now Michelin LTX MS2
- Vibrations between 60 and 65 mph
- Frequency of vibs: always when cruising in speed range
- Vibrations felt through: steering wheel, but noticed through seats as well
- Actions taken trying to resolve the issue: two tires replaced initially, re-balanced wheels 3x, moved wheels around (highest road force # to the back), re-alignemnt, engine mounts checked, changed all tires to LTX MS2
- If vibs resolved, solution taken: NA
- Version: Base
- Tires: Michelin HP Tour and now Michelin LTX MS2
- Vibrations between 60 and 65 mph
- Frequency of vibs: always when cruising in speed range
- Vibrations felt through: steering wheel, but noticed through seats as well
- Actions taken trying to resolve the issue: two tires replaced initially, re-balanced wheels 3x, moved wheels around (highest road force # to the back), re-alignemnt, engine mounts checked, changed all tires to LTX MS2
- If vibs resolved, solution taken: NA
#96
Advanced
iTrader: (2)
UPDATE
The dealer has replaced my wheels today which they have repaired but I was unhappy with. Whoever buys the demo will have my old crappy wheels.
Looks like my vibrations are gone. Well at least in the steering wheel. I think folks have problem balancing those wheels. The truck still shakes a little (front passegner seat shakes a lot), but maybe it is more to do with stiff suspension or ?????
Also I fully recommend switching tires to Michelin LTX MS2. We have third day of non-stop rain in NC and tires handle perfectly and I have not hydroplane even once when going fast through deep stuff. Also big plus is they come with 70k warranty. For sure a better tire than OE Mihelin the truck came with. Lets now even mention the Bridgestones some got.
The dealer has replaced my wheels today which they have repaired but I was unhappy with. Whoever buys the demo will have my old crappy wheels.
Looks like my vibrations are gone. Well at least in the steering wheel. I think folks have problem balancing those wheels. The truck still shakes a little (front passegner seat shakes a lot), but maybe it is more to do with stiff suspension or ?????
Also I fully recommend switching tires to Michelin LTX MS2. We have third day of non-stop rain in NC and tires handle perfectly and I have not hydroplane even once when going fast through deep stuff. Also big plus is they come with 70k warranty. For sure a better tire than OE Mihelin the truck came with. Lets now even mention the Bridgestones some got.
#97
In my experience, many technicians cannot do this properly. My former dealer could not get it right on my old GX after four tries (think I posted about it earlier in this thread). The foreman at my current dealership took care of the problem.
#98
UPDATE
The dealer has replaced my wheels today which they have repaired but I was unhappy with. Whoever buys the demo will have my old crappy wheels.
Looks like my vibrations are gone. Well at least in the steering wheel. I think folks have problem balancing those wheels. The truck still shakes a little (front passegner seat shakes a lot), but maybe it is more to do with stiff suspension or ?????
Also I fully recommend switching tires to Michelin LTX MS2. We have third day of non-stop rain in NC and tires handle perfectly and I have not hydroplane even once when going fast through deep stuff. Also big plus is they come with 70k warranty. For sure a better tire than OE Mihelin the truck came with. Lets now even mention the Bridgestones some got.
The dealer has replaced my wheels today which they have repaired but I was unhappy with. Whoever buys the demo will have my old crappy wheels.
Looks like my vibrations are gone. Well at least in the steering wheel. I think folks have problem balancing those wheels. The truck still shakes a little (front passegner seat shakes a lot), but maybe it is more to do with stiff suspension or ?????
Also I fully recommend switching tires to Michelin LTX MS2. We have third day of non-stop rain in NC and tires handle perfectly and I have not hydroplane even once when going fast through deep stuff. Also big plus is they come with 70k warranty. For sure a better tire than OE Mihelin the truck came with. Lets now even mention the Bridgestones some got.
#100
Racer
UPDATE
The dealer has replaced my wheels today which they have repaired but I was unhappy with. Whoever buys the demo will have my old crappy wheels.
Looks like my vibrations are gone. Well at least in the steering wheel. I think folks have problem balancing those wheels. The truck still shakes a little (front passegner seat shakes a lot), but maybe it is more to do with stiff suspension or ?????
Also I fully recommend switching tires to Michelin LTX MS2. We have third day of non-stop rain in NC and tires handle perfectly and I have not hydroplane even once when going fast through deep stuff. Also big plus is they come with 70k warranty. For sure a better tire than OE Mihelin the truck came with. Lets now even mention the Bridgestones some got.
The dealer has replaced my wheels today which they have repaired but I was unhappy with. Whoever buys the demo will have my old crappy wheels.
Looks like my vibrations are gone. Well at least in the steering wheel. I think folks have problem balancing those wheels. The truck still shakes a little (front passegner seat shakes a lot), but maybe it is more to do with stiff suspension or ?????
Also I fully recommend switching tires to Michelin LTX MS2. We have third day of non-stop rain in NC and tires handle perfectly and I have not hydroplane even once when going fast through deep stuff. Also big plus is they come with 70k warranty. For sure a better tire than OE Mihelin the truck came with. Lets now even mention the Bridgestones some got.
its not the wheels or tires. i had 2 sets of tires on this already and its been balanced 2x. Sometimes it shakes, sometimes it doesnt at same speed. Makes no sense to me. Dealer will likely be clueless as well
Lexus needs to send some engineer out to look at this, cause it was also an issue on several demos i drove. You telling me Lexus cant balance wheels at the factory, common...
#101
Advanced
iTrader: (2)
its not the wheels or tires. i had 2 sets of tires on this already and its been balanced 2x. Sometimes it shakes, sometimes it doesnt at same speed. Makes no sense to me. Dealer will likely be clueless as well
Lexus needs to send some engineer out to look at this, cause it was also an issue on several demos i drove. You telling me Lexus cant balance wheels at the factory, common...
Lexus needs to send some engineer out to look at this, cause it was also an issue on several demos i drove. You telling me Lexus cant balance wheels at the factory, common...
I speculate it is still the tire selection problem (or at least part of the problem). My truck came with Michelin HP Tour and even when they were perfectly balanced, road force test were showing too much weight (something ???). Maybe Lexus got a bad batch of tires. Lexus has replaced two tires and put spare wheel to front and move the one with most weight to spare. Didn't work.
Since you don't have shakes all the time, maybe depending on surface your are driving on, the tires react differently causing vibration to appear or not. In my case vibration were almost always there. Also if you see vibs only in the morning when you start driving, it could be from flat spots which developed from truck siting overnight (it is a heavy truck). I had that problem on my 2006 4runner. Shakes were gone after few minutes of driving on the highway.
Worth trying and will not cost you much.... Call Michelin or Bridgestone (depending on tires you have) Cust Service that you are unhappy about the tires and you want them replaced. They will send you to local authorized Michelin dealer (I have picked discount tire). They have measured tire depth and call them back. Since two tires were just replaced and spare was just put on, they have gave me 100% replacement credit for three and 50% for the fourth (after 5k miles the depth went down from 9 to 6). I have picked the highest rated tires which were the LTX MS2 and had to pay only for half of a tire + mounting. They come with while letters on side walls, but you can mount them with letter on inside.
Last edited by Luke27617; 10-01-10 at 09:05 AM.
#102
Advanced
iTrader: (2)
Vibration from engine at 1800-2000 rpm
After solving one problem, I have noticed that there are very slight vibrations (more like lost of smoothness from engine felt in the steering wheel) while driving when RPMs are between 1800-2000. I have seen this on my 2006 4Runner too and the dealer told me at the time, it is normal and all have it.
Did anyone noticed the same thing and tried to address with dealer?
Did anyone noticed the same thing and tried to address with dealer?
#105
Koz