Warranty issue- vibration 2021 Supra

[Jomartijr]

I agree with need for an alignment but in my experience it had no effect on the harmonic like vibes felt in the steering wheel.

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[lukas12p]

Did you get an alignment yet? This would be the 1st on my list.

No, that was my first drive. I will ask my dealer to check alignment

 

[BigRon]

The axle alignment and wheel balancing is the first way to go before looking for something else.

For me the axle alignment was except the rear left wheel on point (was 0,5 degree off).
But the wheel balancing (stuff you do after mounting new tires to the wheels) was bad.
Had to remove a few metal clamps they mounted in the wheels, was perfectly fine without.

Driving is smooth as silk on decent road conditions.
Feels more like floating

 

[FLtrackdays]

The axle alignment and wheel balancing is the first way to go before looking for something else.

For me the axle alignment was except the rear left wheel on point (was 0,5 degree off).
But the wheel balancing (stuff you do after mounting new tires to the wheels) was bad.
Had to remove a few metal clamps they mounted in the wheels, was perfectly fine without.

Driving is smooth as silk on decent road conditions.
Feels more like floating

That is a great point Wheel balancing also a must

 

[lukas12p]

After wheel balancing they gave me the car and said it is now ok, but it isn't.
I feel a bit more vibrations (100-115 km/h) and can hear them somethimes (80-90 km/h).
So I visited dealer service again and they said that they need to bring Toyota specialist to analyse it - they don't have other wheels to check it better.
They didn't want to check wheels alignment.
They said there was one Supra in Poland that has to have shaft replaced.

 

[FLtrackdays]

After wheel balancing they gave me the car and said it is now ok, but it isn't.
I feel a bit more vibrations (100-115 km/h) and can hear them somethimes (80-90 km/h).
So I visited dealer service again and they said that they need to bring Toyota specialist to analyse it - they don't have other wheels to check it better.
They didn't want to check wheels alignment.
They said there was one Supra in Poland that has to have shaft replaced.

I’m fortunate that I have a spare set of tires and wheels. It’s not cheap, but it is nice to have another set. I’ve swapped my front wheels/tires left to right and get a totally different feel (or pull) due to wear sometimes. I hope it‘s just that, something minor like wheels, tire wear, balance or alignment. Something to consider. And I did pay for a proper alignment from a race shop. Not Toyota. Hope you get it figured out soon?

 

[AP1]

I had strange experience with vibration in Supra. I had 11000 miles on it. Started to feel slight vibration at speeds above 80mph. Unlike cases with bad wheel balance it didn't change much with further increase of speed. But anyway I brought car to tire shop to check balance and alignment. When tech pulled wheels off, he asked me to look: all 4 tires completely wore off on inside with bare thread seen. I didn't run in any competition and only on occasion pushed car hard. Other than vibration there was no other symptoms like pulling to the side etc. I immediately ordered news set of tires, this time PS4S type. Brought tires to the tire shop to swap and balance. Also requested to do alignment. When I picked up car with new tires mounted, I was told that tech could not complete alignment. He said that something is wrong with front suspension, though he still charged me for alignment. On the way home I had to turn steering wheel 10 degrees to the right to move straight. Since car is still under warranty, I took it to Toyota dealer service, explained the story and let them check it. Few hours later I picked car with work complete. I got print out from their alignment machine, which showed that Toe was well off, also Steering Angle was off to the right. After the service car had correct steering feel and there was no longer vibration all way up to 110mph. Strangely I did do alignment in the same Toyota dealer at 9000 miles, and they didn't tell me about any abnormalities.

There were two lessons:

1. Vibration at high speed can be caused by tires which wore off. It is very hard to see internal side of tires on this car, unless you look from the bottom.
2. I cannot trust a service shop even if it's rating is 4.8 out of 5. Apparently they do not know how to work on BMW Z4/Supra cars.

I am not sure I can trust dealer service either, considering that they missed uneven wear of all 4 tires.

 

[Jomartijr]

My experience with local shops including dealers has been less than acceptable to the point I didnt feel I had much if any help if something should go wrong.
This was part of why I decided to recently sell my 2021 Premium 3.0 liter with less than 6k miles with the steering wheel vibration issue still unresolved.

 

[FLtrackdays]

My experience with local shops including dealers has been less than acceptable to the point I didnt feel I had much if any help if something should go wrong.
This was part of why I decided to recently sell my 2021 Premium 3.0 liter with less than 6k miles with the steering wheel vibration issue still unresolved.

That’s a good reason. Sorry to hear man. I use in independent mechanic that is wonderful. That really helps my confidence and love for the car. But she’s the red headed stepchild in the Toyota service dept. Not their fault being a completely different brand (BMW) but did ultimately force me to look elsewhere.

 

[3TMagnetMan]

Good news. I have a very persistent dealer with Supra specialist, and a regional. They ended up replacing my driveshaft. The car is now completely smooth. Just a quick recap. I was having a vibration between 70-80 felt primarily in the steering wheel. The vibration pulsed, like your cell phone ringer on vibrate. The vibration occurred under power or in neutral at speed. If your car is diagnosed with the same issue, make sure you let the service advisor know all the bolts, nuts and flanges are one time use only and they need to order those with the driveshaft, otherwise your disassembled Supra will wait weeks for parts. Apparently no service bulletin lists the fact that these bolts are one time use and the dealer figures it out after they disassemble it.

Very Interesting I felt a vibration at over 80mph sounded like a lose panel flapping as I slowed down it went away.

 

[Mrgolde]

yea i have the same issues at 60-65 mph. I've just decided that its the tires, it goes away after the tires warm up. i wont know until for sure until i swap tires

 

[jtsang25]

yea i have the same issues at 60-65 mph. I've just decided that its the tires, it goes away after the tires warm up. i wont know until for sure until i swap tires

Did you get an alignment? Factory alignment was horrible.

 

[MrBox]

Guys, try rotating one of your front tyres 180degs on its rim. This shall reduce the vibration amplitude.
Basically tyre installation position on the rim plays a role here. A few different installation positions might need to be tested, to find the optimal position that minimizes the vibration.

 

[lukas12p]

I’m fortunate that I have a spare set of tires and wheels. It’s not cheap, but it is nice to have another set. I’ve swapped my front wheels/tires left to right and get a totally different feel (or pull) due to wear sometimes. I hope it‘s just that, something minor like wheels, tire wear, balance or alignment. Something to consider. And I did pay for a proper alignment from a race shop. Not Toyota. Hope you get it figured out soon?

UPDATE: Today message from service (google translated):

I would like to inform you that your comments regarding vibrations have been confirmed by us. Delicate vibrations are felt on the steering wheel and gear lever at the indicated speeds. The work that was done on the car was: balancing the wheels and measuring the frequency of vibrations occurring in the car during the test drive. During the last visit, vibration measurements were taken by a Toyota Central Europe technician. The initial reading of the downloaded data, which took place in the Toyota technical center in Warsaw, showed no deviations from the norms. At the same time, I would like to inform you that the case is under further review. On August 2, 2023, a meeting on this matter is planned, as we are also waiting for confirmation from Toyota Motor Europe whether all the data collected during the test drive and their reading took place correctly. I will give you feedback after this meeting.

 

[FLtrackdays]

UPDATE: Today message from service (google translated):

I would like to inform you that your comments regarding vibrations have been confirmed by us. Delicate vibrations are felt on the steering wheel and gear lever at the indicated speeds. The work that was done on the car was: balancing the wheels and measuring the frequency of vibrations occurring in the car during the test drive. During the last visit, vibration measurements were taken by a Toyota Central Europe technician. The initial reading of the downloaded data, which took place in the Toyota technical center in Warsaw, showed no deviations from the norms. At the same time, I would like to inform you that the case is under further review. On August 2, 2023, a meeting on this matter is planned, as we are also waiting for confirmation from Toyota Motor Europe whether all the data collected during the test drive and their reading took place correctly. I will give you feedback after this meeting.

Thanks for the feedback and look forward to hear your outcome!! ?

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