1,200 miles on my gx 460. dealer states, he has balanced all tires, and checked for radial run, at 60-65 miles, my steering wheel shakes.

They said they need to escalate this to a task case for lexus regional manager.
what would you fellow owner do???

 

I had the same problem with my '04 GX 470. The dealer replaced the tires with Michelin's.

~ Cap

 

+1 to what Cap said (GX470 has a TSIB for this that actually recommends Michelins for trucks that vibrate and have other tires on, specifically the Dunlops). Plus, the 6-lug wheels on the GX (both the 470 and the 460) are tricky to balance and require a special adapter plate to mount the wheel to the balancer, since the wheel is lug-centric. All Lexus dealers have this equipment, as it is required by the factory. However, not everyone knows how to use it properly, and some dealers don't calibrate their balancers as frequently as they should.

About 2.5 years ago, I had the wheels on my GX470 replaced due to the bubbling problem that is discussed in that forum. After FOUR tries, the dealership (my former dealership, that is) could not get the balance right. And the Lexus regional rep. was present the last time and signed off on the work... unbelievable... My current dealership fixed it in 2 hours and showed me how three of four wheels were way off balance and road force.

Bottom line, in your case, I would wait to see what happens with the escalation to the rep. Beyond that, I would consider trying a different dealership unless you are absolutely convinced that these guys know what they are doing.

Good luck.

 

thanks guys, i really appreciate your help

 

I had similar problem on 06 4runner. I had crappy Dunlop tires. I wouldn't be suprised you have Bridgestone on yours which I never had luck with. Michelins run perfectly.

On my 4runner it was very noticable after the car was sitting over night. In the morning the steering wheel was shaking. It was caused by tires changing shape (soft rubber) under weight of the heavy vehicle and after few minutes of driving everything was good again. As soon I got Good Year tires, the problem was gone.

 

I have Michelins on my GX 460 and returned from a two week vacation and my front end felt unbalanced as well.
I checked the air pressure on all four tires (all fine) and continued the errands I was doing intending to take it in next day to have the balance checked but the vibration stopped after about 20 minutes of driving.

The vehicle sitting for a while explanation seems to apply to Michelins as well...

 

Whenever a tire sits in the same position for a while it gets a flat spot. This goes away after a few minutes of driving.

 

dealer installed 2 new bridgestone, balanced, these are the factory tires, that came with the car. Now i continue to get vibration, in steering wheel.
They tied up my car almost a week, to get these 2 tires.

Question: what is required for dealer to do, i am not happy, at all.

I traded my 2007 gx470, smooth as silk, now i am driving a shaker.

Should i keep this car??

 

Ask for Michelin's, I don't have this problem and I have Michelin's...

 

Michelins are arguably better, and I wouldn't hesitate to ask your dealer for them. This said, I wouldn't expect freshly installed Bridgestones to vibrate like that (no time to develop flat spots). Call me crazy, but I wouldn't be surprised if they weren't mounted/balanced properly (refer to my earlier post). Of course, it's hard to go in there and suggest that possibility to them, so I'd focus on getting the Michelins and then going from there.

 

You should also take another GX 460 for a test drive as well...

 

What dealer are you using? That often makes a difference. If you're in Orange County, try Tustin Lexus (avoid Mission Viejo...have heard bad things about their service competancy but good things about Tustin).

 

here is an update. Went to dealer, looked at other gx460 chromes.
Found that my car, bought new from lexus dealer, has 2009 4runner chrome wheels.
Of course other rims were balancing out, but the rims were not correct.
Waiting to see, what dealer;s next step is. Are michelin tires any better for a smooth ride.

 

That is odd... FWIW, in theory, the 4Runner wheels should work: same bolt pattern, but of course, you should get the correct wheels. Very strange.

As several of us have said before, yes, the Michelins should provide a better ride than the Bridgestones.

 

wtf? that is totally impossible man. somebody swapped them out. no way the gx would have 4runner rims. They are however almost the same. the older 4th gen 4runner limited rims are a little bit more squarish on spokes, but both are 18 x 7.5J rims with 6 spoke pattern.