Road Noise At Speed ?

[slate67]

I was driving on the highway (for the first time with this car) and when I got to 65 mph there was a vibration in the front end and the steering wheel vibrated aggressively. Taking it up to 75 mph decreased it a bit but did not eliminate the problem. I pulled off the road, checked the tipe pressure and adjusted them to 40 psi. The problem improved further but still not where I believe the car should be. It does not pull to the side in city driving and there is no noise like that at speed either. The tread does not appear to have uneven wear. Could the wheels be out of balance or am I looking at a worse problem? Thoughts/recommendations?

Thanks

[Lexusfreak]

It could be a number of things.....start with the most obvious. First off what size tires do you have? What tire pressure does it call for? (what Lexus recommends NOT the maximum pressure that's mentioned on the sidewall). The balance could be out, the wheels could need an alignment (I ALWAYS get a 4 wheel alignment when I install new rubber). Check the basics first & let us know what (if anything) was discovered. It does not sound like a serious problem from what your describing.

[slate67]

Well:

The car had BF Goodrich G-Force T/A KOWS 225/55/ZR16 95W M+S tires on it when I purchased it from the owner. I can assume that I had low tire pressure when I first experienced the vibration because it was in the mid 20s when the tires were hot. I brought them up to 40 when hot and that is 8# above what Toyota recommends. So, I will check them tonight when the car has been idle for the recommended 3 hours and get back to you with what I find. Thank you for the response.

[Lexusfreak]

Keep us posted. Any idea how many miles are on those tires roughly?

[slate67]

I have approx 48,500 on the vehicle. I do not know when the tires were put on , but I would guess about 30,000. I didn't have a changce to measure the tire pressure and reset to recommended but wiull try to tonight and will keep you posted. Thanks.

[slate67]

The follow up. to the above;

I took my vehicle to a great alignment guy here in town and he balanced my wheels (one was way out of balance) and the rear needed an alignment (the wheels were toeing and cambered the rear wheels (cupped the middle of the tread somehow). The car drives very differently now, even at city speeds. They test drove it on the highway and noted there was no vibration. I will be on the highway next week and will be able to tell but I guess the solution was simple. And it only cost me $91 and some change from an Independent alignment guy. Awesome. Thanks for the advice everyone.

[Lexusfreak]

Glad we could help! B)

[lancesavage]

I have a GS300 with similar problems. Mine is more of a slight vibration or shudder in steering wheel that occurs 65 to 70 and disappears in an around 72+. Tried tire pressure since wheels specify max tire pressure 44 psi and owners manual specs 32. Dealership says 35 is best tradeoff for good ride and handling which I confirm. Pressure doesn't effect problem. I then switched front tires to back thinking its a balance problem and got similar results. next I am planning to allign but am also going to check balance on all four tires. will let you know.

I was driving on the highway (for the first time with this car) and when I got to 65 mph there was a vibration in the front end and the steering wheel vibrated aggressively. Taking it up to 75 mph decreased it a bit but did not eliminate the problem. I pulled off the road, checked the tipe pressure and adjusted them to 40 psi. The problem improved further but still not where I believe the car should be. It does not pull to the side in city driving and there is no noise like that at speed either. The tread does not appear to have uneven wear. Could the wheels be out of balance or am I looking at a worse problem?  Thoughts/recommendations?

Thanks

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[Lexusfreak]

I keep my tires at 35 psi as well. (I use a digital tire pressure guage to monitor pressure - I find that it's much better than an old fashioned guage & they are only $10 or less) B) I would do a balance first & see how the car drives........if the problem is still there, the alignment could be the problem. I've spoken with some folks that have performance tires & a couple times the problem was actually the tires were on the wrong side of the car!! The tech had a brain cramp when doing a rotation of "directional" tires which you just move from front to back on the same side of the car......& not criss cross them. The sidewalls say what side the tire should be on if they are directional, but this still does happen on occasion. ;)