GX550 Overtrail Vibration

[Watchthis]

First things first. What is your tire pressure set at? Mine was at 40psi all around when I picked up my OT. Secondly, tires are probably a bit flat from sitting on boats/at port etc so give it some time to smooth out. Thirdly, request a Road Force Balance from dealership. Best of luck!

Tire pressure was around 40. I dropped it to 35 - no different.
Master tech drove car with me - he could feel it. Did road force and found both back tires to have flat sports. Replaced with two new tires - no different.
I drove their test Premium trim - felt similar, maybe a little less pronounced (it also had the rough transmission shifts).
The master tech agreed with me that its rough, but said it seems to be how they all are. He said they've been getting a lot of complaints about it.
Seems like it's the luck of the draw. Feels rather hopeless. Though I did see that you and another owner had luck with the ride smoothening out after a couple thousand miles.

 

[incognito.gx]

Was the vibration you had the jittery rear axle vibrations, most notable from 10 - 50 mph?
Similar to explained here @ 09:40:

Yes. Although I do believe its related to the Adaptive Variable Suspension but Lexus is telling dealers its tire related to save face

 

[Watchthis]

Yes. Although I do believe its related to the Adaptive Variable Suspension but Lexus is telling dealers its tire related to save face

I wonder if it's an E-KDSS issue. Another user reported that aftermarket lift and 35" tires still had the same issue. The fact that yours went away makes it sound like maybe bushings got broken in/loosened up, allowing the suspension to function as intended.
Hopefully Lexus gets this figured out with a T-SB soon. Or at least gets dealers start acknowledging that it's not "normal."

 

[Watchthis]

Any updates on the vibration issue? I’m at 7k miles and its still an issue…

Any chance yours has started to smooth out since you posted this?

 

[Full Tilt]

I will keep this thread updated on what we hear and/or what we plan on doing. This Saturday will be our last opportunity (timewise) to return the vehicle for our trade in or keep the GX and hope that they are able to find a solution quickly. We do have an option to trade it for a Luxury+ they have coming in but we really like the styling of the overtrail we have and do plan on using it for off road driving. Every year we throw the roof top tent on and hit the trails camping.

We are coming from a Gen 3 (2021) Raptor, so in some aspects we are meeting out initial expectations. We were expecting the interior to definitely be premium over the Ford which it definitely has been! Lexus' new UI is far superior to their previous system. The ride quality though... it is just bouncy and a little more jeep like. The fact that it is not present on their luxury and premium trims leads me to believe it is unique to the overtrail.

Old thread, but caught my eye--I have both a new GX OT+ and a Gen 2 Raptor (2019). GX definitely more bouncy, which I attribute to a significantly shorter wheel base. On the other hand, a much tighter turn radius than the Raptor. Offroad I would choose the Raptor at higher speeds, GX at lower. Really happy with both.
On the vibration--sorry to hear about that. Haven't experienced the same, but I'm always listening for any issues as I get acquainted with the new ride.

 

[Watchthis]

So today I test drove two different demo Premium trims at two separate dealers. Both seemed to have a similar jittery rear axle, though not quite as bad as my OT. Both demo vehicles had around 6000 miles. (Both also had the rough transmission downshifts).
I'm going to try driving a friend's Luxury+ when he gets back into town.
However it seems like these GXs just have a very lively rear axle.
*Side note, today on the way to one of the dealers, the suspension all of a sudden seemed to smooth out a bit (around 460 miles). Maybe the suspension needs a little time to break in?

 

[incognito.gx]

So today I test drove two different demo Premium trims at two separate dealers. Both seemed to have a similar jittery rear axle, though not quite as bad as my OT. Both demo vehicles had around 6000 miles. (Both also had the rough transmission downshifts).
I'm going to try driving a friend's Luxury+ when he gets back into town.
However it seems like these GXs just have a very lively rear axle.
*Side note, today on the way to one of the dealers, the suspension all of a sudden seemed to smooth out a bit (around 460 miles). Maybe the suspension needs a little time to break in?

The vibration issue has always been intermittent

 

[Redbird99]

Was the vibration you had the jittery rear axle vibrations, most notable from 10 - 50 mph?
Similar to explained here @ 09:40:

Honestly, it has been gone long enough that I couldn't say for sure, but when I noticed it, I was at 70-ish, so not likely.

 

[nartmot]

Curious. Has anyone tried lubing the U-joints on their driveshaft? If I am not mistaken, dry U-joints can cause vibrations at certain speeds too. On my 3rd Gen Tacoma, the U-joints were installed with the assembly grease only, not nearly enough IMO. Each joint took over half a dozen pumps of grease before the old stuff started purging. I haven't gotten around to checking them yet, but I will probably do it with my first oil change around 500 miles.

 

[DJ’s Sled]

I’m disappointed to hear that some 2025 models are having the vibration issues too.
I’ve considered trading up to a ‘25 model, but that would now appear to be a costly gamble. My main goals are to lose the vibration and get the factory 1” increased clearance.

 

[jclaffee]

I’m disappointed to hear that some 2025 models are having the vibration issues too.
I’ve considered trading up to a ‘25 model, but that would now appear to be a costly gamble. My main goals are to lose the vibration and get the factory 1” increased clearance.

If you pass through Durango I'd be happy to do some A/B testing if the timing works. Mine's a '25 and I think it rides great.

 

[oldseniu]

Here is my experience. I took delivery of a GX550 OT+ in the end of April. Never test drive before, the moment I drove out of the dealer's lot, I could immediately feel the so called "jittering". This feeling comes and goes and I started to pay attention to the conditions I drove. I noticed it is pronounced when driving on concrete paved roads. On asphalt paved road, the car actually feels pretty smooth. In the end, I just thought, Heck! it is a truck, and it seems fine to me.

 

[DJ’s Sled]

That actually matches what I experience with my ‘24 OT. I did change to one size larger tire, and have been running at lower tire pressures on the highway; that seems to have lessened it by quite a bit.
One other note: we towed over and back to Moab like 2 weeks ago. I had the naive assumption that all the extra weight on the back would tame the chatter. Nope. Maybe it actually increased due to higher tire pressures to accommodate the tongue weight. . That’s with a load leveler, anti-sway setup.

 

[DJ’s Sled]

If you pass through Durango I'd be happy to do some A/B testing if the timing works. Mine's a '25 and I think it rides great.

I might take you up on that. I’m up in Ouray county. I think it would be a worthwhile endeavor to help others out on the forum here! When I free up some time next several weeks I’ll let you know.

 

[Watchthis]

Curious. Has anyone tried lubing the U-joints on their driveshaft? If I am not mistaken, dry U-joints can cause vibrations at certain speeds too. On my 3rd Gen Tacoma, the U-joints were installed with the assembly grease only, not nearly enough IMO. Each joint took over half a dozen pumps of grease before the old stuff started purging. I haven't gotten around to checking them yet, but I will probably do it with my first oil change around 500 miles.

I have not tried greasing u joints. It seems like that kind of vibration would be at a consistent frequency, correlated to speed.
The issue we're describing is more of a jittery feeling that is better and worse at time, but not consistent. For that reason, it seems to be suspension related.

 

[serbiansizzle]

Wanted to post here as well since I recently discovered an issue after getting new wheels and tires.

I went with some Toyo AT3s in 285/70/17 and some Motegi wheels. I wanted to increase sidewall and cut down on some rotational mass as well.

Since installation I’ve had an increase in buzzing feel from steering wheel at all speeds and then an increase in vibration at 70-75mph. There is a feeling that the cabin is beginning to shake (dogs collar makes a noise and the passenger seats are visibly shaking).

Discount tire road force balanced 3x, we added hub centric rings, and even swapped out tires as well. Issues persist.

I have an OT+ by the way.

 

[DJ’s Sled]

I just returned from a week long trip towing our 22 foot travel trailer about three hours away, and then back. My tires were set at near cold pressure, maximum for towing safety, etc. My trailer probably weighs about 52 or 5300 pounds loaded. A bit of freshwater, but the black and gray tanks empty.

Bizarrely enough, I could still feel the vibration, the jitteriness, and all the other terms used to describe it here on the forum. And I definitely felt it doing some of the slower speeds like 30 to 40 miles an hour on curves, etc..

In this situation, I even begin to feel that it is a left to right and back and back and back-and-forth type of a vibration even. That particular feeling is maybe exacerbated by the weight of the trailer and everything in the cargo area.

But I had high hopes that the extra weight back there would stifle the vibration. But no go, that was not the case. It was still there for me on my OT model.

 

[BackRdRnr]

Possibly try new Differential fluid aftermarket with all the slippery additives and also contains all warranty specs. Just a thought.

 

[Watchthis]

Last week I jumped ship. Traded in my 2025 Overtrail with 1000 miles for a Grenadier. I loved the GX but I could not live with the jittery suspension.
Had it looked at three times at two different dealers. All three times the answer was the same: Normal driving characteristic- they all do it. I had five different friends drive my GX; all of them separately agreed that it was an issue.
I had a ticket opened with Lexus corporate. The lady I was working with was very nice. They offered to have a regional tech come look at it in mid-July for "customer satisfaction." Didn't sound like they would be too interested in figuring it out and I wasn't about to wait another 1.5 months just to likely hear the same story.
Hopefully there is a TSB soon for everyone else.

 

[incognito.gx]

Last week I jumped ship. Traded in my 2025 Overtrail with 1000 miles for a Grenadier. I loved the GX but I could not live with the jittery suspension.
Had it looked at three times at two different dealers. All three times the answer was the same: Normal driving characteristic- they all do it. I had five different friends drive my GX; all of them separately agreed that it was an issue.
I had a ticket opened with Lexus corporate. The lady I was working with was very nice. They offered to have a regional tech come look at it in mid-July for "customer satisfaction." Didn't sound like they would be too interested in figuring it out and I wasn't about to wait another 1.5 months just to likely hear the same story.
Hopefully there is a TSB soon for everyone else.

Did you ever test another person’s GX550 to verify yours was flawed?