Gladiator Shakes at 60+ MPH

[Schreconjeep]

I also did the chalk test for tire inflation and have the E-rated tires at 31....might go up to 33, especially as it gets colder but don't think a couple psi is making this kind of vibration.

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[KHam]

OK, I'm having the same issue. I have a 1.5" coild spacer up front and 3/4" in rear, the rest of suspension is stock. I have 37x13.5x17 cooper STT Pros and Dirty Life DT-2 wheels 17x9 -12offset.

It definitely feels like a balancing issue but here's the thing, it has balancing beads. I thought that was supposed to balance dynamically all the time and be the best option for bigger tires????

I took them off and put hub-centric rings on to be certain they were seated right. It helped but it is definitely still there. Not sure where to go from here.

My best guess is that you have too many or not enough of the beads to achieve balance. I believe too many is worse than not enough. If they mounted the tires on the rim correctly, with the Mfg's "light" marking on the tire matching up with your valve stem (probably a yellow dot on the tire) then it should be relatively close. I've seen people use "soap flakes" or "equal" to try and get a good result and they're just not as good as the actual bb's like the Dyna Beads. The bigger the tire, the larger the bead size needs to be. They're great when they work but if you need a lot of them, they tend to be temperamental in my experience. I would say if you're not getting good results, remove them and get traditional balance done and try that. I've seen them most effective on big tires that are 40 and larger where you just can't get enough weight in an optimum spot to counter.

 

[immaechu]

OK, I'm having the same issue. I have a 1.5" coild spacer up front and 3/4" in rear, the rest of suspension is stock. I have 37x13.5x17 cooper STT Pros and Dirty Life DT-2 wheels 17x9 -12offset.

It definitely feels like a balancing issue but here's the thing, it has balancing beads. I thought that was supposed to balance dynamically all the time and be the best option for bigger tires????

I took them off and put hub-centric rings on to be certain they were seated right. It helped but it is definitely still there. Not sure where to go from here.

Yea mine has the beads too. Im not sure whats going on either. Im taking the tires in to get rebalanced in about an hr. lets see how it goes.

 

[RedRaptorJT]

Had exact same symptoms as described by the OP after I got my 37" BFG K02s. Violent shaking at speeds approaching and over 60mph. Tire shop used dynamic balancing beads. Went back and forth to get them remounted each time adding more tire beads but nothing helped.

They finally sent me to an affiliate shop with a Road Force balancing machine to get the tires mounted & balance with traditional weights. Worked like a charm and its driven close to a Cadillac ever since and is even better now with the new steering gear box installed.

 

[Mac]

I have used beads before, they worked okay but not 100% all the time, this was on a half ton, lighter duty trucks, half tons and below tend to be more sensitive to tire balance. Road force is the way to go.

 

[immaechu]

Had exact same symptoms as described by the OP after I got my 37" BFG K02s. Violent shaking at speeds approaching and over 60mph. Tire shop used dynamic balancing beads. Went back and forth to get them remounted each time adding more tire beads but nothing helped.

They finally sent me to an affiliate shop with a Road Force balancing machine to get the tires mounted & balance with traditional weights. Worked like a charm and its driven close to a Cadillac ever since and is even better now with the new steering gear box installed.

just got back from the shop. they suggested I get an alignment first since I didn't do that yet.

 

[Mac]

Waste of time and money, with the lift you have the only thing that could have changed would be the steering wheel centering which would have no effect on the shaking.

 

[RedRaptorJT]

Waste of time and money, with the lift you have the only thing that could have changed would be the steering wheel centering which would have no effect on the shaking.

Yeah I would have to agree. Alignment isn't an issue. Mine was aligned by the dealer as part of the installation of the Mopar lift. The moment I got my 37"s on, the shaking started. Its not the alignment.

 

[Renegade]

just got back from the shop. they suggested I get an alignment first since I didn't do that yet.

A tire business that doesn't care (or know) enough to satisfy their customers. I have a personal friend who owns his own local tire business, and has balanced every single tire that has gone out the door for the past 30 years. He always does a great job, and I am going to be so sad if/when he retires...

 

[ShadowsPapa]

A tire business that doesn't care (or know) enough to satisfy their customers. I have a personal friend who owns his own local tire business, and has balanced every single tire that has gone out the door for the past 30 years. He always does a great job, and I am going to be so sad if/when he retires...

I used to work for a guy like that. Everyone (including me) in the shop quit when he sold his business. Most of the parts counter people stayed. The place closed down about 5 years later.
Wonder why.

 

[Schreconjeep]

OK, I'm having the same issue. I have a 1.5" coild spacer up front and 3/4" in rear, the rest of suspension is stock. I have 37x13.5x17 cooper STT Pros and Dirty Life DT-2 wheels 17x9 -12offset.

It definitely feels like a balancing issue but here's the thing, it has balancing beads. I thought that was supposed to balance dynamically all the time and be the best option for bigger tires????

I took them off and put hub-centric rings on to be certain they were seated right. It helped but it is definitely still there. Not sure where to go from here.

UPDATE:

So I spoke with 3 different tire guys. None of them were excited about the beads for a few reasons, 1- they work best when tires are warmed up which may take 30-40 miles on a truck this light (esp with E rated tires) 2 - if the weight of the beads needs adjusting, there is no way to do that with TPMS without dismounting the tire from the rim. 3 - You can't check balance of a tire independently. They basically agreed that beads are best for offroad dedicated rigs, 40"+ and heavy commercial vehicles.

Anyway, they suggested road-force balance (even the shop that didn't have the machine recommended it).

So $266 later after paying to have them take the tires off, remove all the beads, check the tires for "runout" (within spec of a 'good' tire, no defects), they balanced GREAT!!! No more vibrations, 80mph is fine.

They did find that one of the tires had NO BEADS at all!!! Custom Offsets botched this order terribly! I bought 4 tires and wheels "mounted and balanced" with balancing beads... 2 tires weren't even seated on the bead when I received them, one apparently didn't have any balancing beads in it, 3 didn't have valve stem caps and the ceramic wheel coating looked like my kids put it on.

I'm usually more prone to great reviews than bad but until those guys get better QC process, buyers be ware. I will say that they are working on refunding some of what I spent on fixing their mistakes but won't be satisfied until it is all paid for.

 

[immaechu]

So I finally got everything down.

I got an alignment which pretty much said everything was all good. So... wasted money there... kinda.

I took the Jeep back to get rebalanced and they rebalanced with the damn beads again.
On friday I went up to Big Bear. I could only go 60 mph on the freeway/highway in the slow lane.

A shop up there called "All J Products" were able to schedule me in to rebalance my tires with normal weights. And now...... I'm haulin' ass. They're an amazing shop with great staff. Quinn & Heather are super helpful, knowledgeable as well if you have any questions, and they also own a Gladiator too.

 

[Renegade]

So I finally got everything down.

I got an alignment which pretty much said everything was all good. So... wasted money there... kinda.

I took the Jeep back to get rebalanced and they rebalanced with the damn beads again.
On friday I went up to Big Bear. I could only go 60 mph on the freeway/highway in the slow lane.

A shop up there called "All J Products" were able to schedule me in to rebalance my tires with normal weights. And now...... I'm haulin' ass. They're an amazing shop with great staff. Quinn & Heather are super helpful, knowledgeable as well if you have any questions, and they also own a Gladiator too.

Glad you were able to get things smoothed out! A good tire guy is a good friend!

 

[ddub509]

I was told that it's a tire issue. Was told to switch from Thunderer MT's to Toyo or Nitto Grapplers. Ordered them, will let you know how it goes.

As an aside, I had the alignment checked and also installed a synergy trackbar. If switching out the tires doesn't work, i'm going to try to get the dealership to change out the steering box.

I'm way late to the party but having the same issue with my Toyo's, running 35x11.5r17 AT3's on a -12 17x9 wheel and hit vibrates like a low-key rumble strip as soon as I get over 62-80mph

 

[Mac]

Most likely a balance issue, try and find a place that can road force balance them.

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