costco tech comment on toyota rims

[edwardh1]

after they balanced my toyota car (flawless) , I asked did most toyotas have good rims as far as uniform and easy to balance. He said he thought they were as a group really good, and better than many/most.
He added there was one Toyota vehicle, I think a 2005 truck, I am not into trucks, so did not pay attention to model , that they always had issues with and could not balance , between either 60 and 65 or 65 and 70. He said he thought it was some type frame harmonic.

I told him I owned a 99 maxima that had been thru 4 sets of tires in its long life (160k) and shakes between 73 and 80. we don't drive it on interstate much so I have not chased whats the cause, maybe out of round hubs?
Irritating tho.

 

[Cardenio327]

Toyota's rims sometimes have a counterweight welded to them, I think they are the only manufacturer that does this.

Some of their rims have the center hole slightly offset for matchmarking with the tire. They are the only manufacturer doing it and a special adapter is needed to balance tires mounted on this type of wheel.

So, yes, Toyota's rims will usually take a balance better than anyone else's.

 

[Doog]

Some Toyota truck wheels on some models are lug centric and require a special balancing jig on the balance machine. My 4 Runner was like that. A normal balancing machine couldn't do them.

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/engines-su...-must-read.html


Find a shop that has a Hunter Road force balancer and Haweka adapter. Then make sure they torque the wheels OFF the ground.

 

[CapriRacer]

Just an FYI:

I don't think ANY car manufacturer makes their own wheels. I think they ALL buy them from outside sources. Some of those sources might be dedicated to one vehicle manufacturer, but I don't think even that is completely true.

And each vehicle manufacturer has its own specs. The fact that Toyota may allow a wheel manufacturer to weld on a balance weight would be peculiar to Toyota, and not the wheel manufacturer. I'll bet there are other vehicle manufacturers that allow such practices.

 

[camrydriver111]

Originally Posted By: edwardh1
I told him I owned a 99 maxima that had been thru 4 sets of tires in its long life (160k) and shakes between 73 and 80. we don't drive it on interstate much so I have not chased whats the cause, maybe out of round hubs?
Irritating tho.


What happens over 80? If it still shakes I'd say it's the wheels.

 

[Doog]

Originally Posted By: CapriRacer
Just an FYI:

I don't think ANY car manufacturer makes their own wheels. I think they ALL buy them from outside sources.


True, all are tier one suppliers.

 

[totegoat]

My new Highlander came with 19" Chromtec alloy wheels and Bridgestone H/L 422 tires.

Although the car is smooth riding, the tires aren't indexed to the valve stems and each tire/rim has several stick-on weights.

Seems like they would have lined up the dots with the valve stems.

 

[KitaCam]

Costco "tech"?

A tire installer with an education and expertise in automotive technology. Really?...That's the overlooked weak link in this thread, I think.

 

[Lapham3]

When I started working in a full line tire store long ago I knew very little, but it's surprising how much can be quickly picked up in an environment where my older and experienced co-workers were happy to answer questions and share knowledge.

 

[CapriRacer]

Originally Posted By: totegoat
My new Highlander came with 19" Chromtec alloy wheels and Bridgestone H/L 422 tires.

Although the car is smooth riding, the tires aren't indexed to the valve stems and each tire/rim has several stick-on weights.

Seems like they would have lined up the dots with the valve stems.


Just an FYI:

There are at least 2 wheels on Toyotas where the index mark is NOT the valve hole. The tire is indeed indexed to the wheel, but it isn't the valve hole that marks the spot. They mark the wheel with a temporary yellow sticker, and I forget if they permanently mark the wheel.

Also, indexing is NOT about balance. It's about uniformity. Think runout and you'll be close! So the balance weights are NOT minimized by indexing.

 

[Jetronic]

Hyundai uses a red index on their wheels, but since it's a sticker it's for one time use only.

new wheel/tyre combos come from the factory with the red tyre mark at the red wheel mark.

 

[eljefino]

Originally Posted By: KitaCam
Costco "tech"?

A tire installer with an education and expertise in automotive technology. Really?...That's the overlooked weak link in this thread, I think.


I worked a winter at a tire shop, have you?

The flipside is pointing out obviously bent rims to the customer, who doesn't get the significance, 99% of the time. So it gets stuck on the right rear where they won't feel it as badly, and they'll be complaining in 7000 miles at their first rotation.

As a tech, you get a learned helplessness very quickly for customers who can't/won't keep their car in good condition.

And you don't want to derail the sale of four tires by having them go looking for a junkyard rim and coming back "next week."

 

[totegoat]

From the Tire Rack site:

Tire Indexing

CapriRacer is correct.

 

[DuckRyder]

Southeast Toyota Distributors is pretty notorious for changing wheels. They used a lot of Enkei in the past.

So the tech may not necessarily be talking about "Toyota" wheels.

 

[CapriRacer]

I'll say this once again.

There isn't any standard in either the wheel industry, nor the tire industry regarding marking for uniformity. While it is common for wheels to mark the low point by the valve hole and tires to be marked with a red dot, this is far from universal.

Also, uniformity is NOT balance. Matching the wheel to the tire is about making the tire and wheel assembly more "round", not take less weight.

 

[Papa Bear]

Would it be wise then when mounting new tires to align the red dot (if present) with the valve stem?

 

[totegoat]

The red dots and valve stems are aligned on the new Toyos on my pickup.

 

[CapriRacer]

Originally Posted By: Papa Bear
Would it be wise then when mounting new tires to align the red dot (if present) with the valve stem?


There isn't any harm in matching the red dot on the tire to the wheel's valve hole, but be aware that it might not be doing any good.

 

[Jetronic]

on a hyundai it's not doing any good... like mentioned above

 

[Hokiefyd]

Our Ridgeline's wheels were made by Enkei. There's a big "Enkei" casting logo on the inside of one of the spokes. Our MDX's wheels are not Enkei...they're made by American Wheel Company or something similar to that.