Two different gas stations, 3 different technicians, 1 dealer later, and no-one can seem to balance my tires properly!

Bought the tires online, great Michelin's - and no-one can balance them right. There's been a shudder as my speed increases since I got them put on.

Finally took them to the dealer today. They seem to have fixed it, though it's annoying that the weights are on the outside of the rim, and it still feels a little funny intermittently around 80mph.

Has anyone else encountered this with their S60?? Or is it just the people I'm encountering?!

 

That sucks.

Did any of them check for the possibility of a cracked rim?

I suppose if a rim is cracked and thus possibly out of round, then balancing will not really be possible, no matter what the balancing machine says. The balancing machine spins the tire without any weight of the car.

Another test you can try is perform a back to front tire rotation and see if the shudder changes. See if the problem follows the rim. If there is a rim problem, I would suspect it would be less noticeable with the bad rim on the back of the car.

 

The problem started after the new set of tires - so I'm thinking it's the tires - I feel like I would have noticed the rim issue before...but maybe not...not sure...

Thanks for your response!

 

I have seen the problem before and then one of the new cheap made in China rims was out of round but in your case the rims should be ok if you have used them together with your old tires and it worked properly then.

 

You would think it's not the rims if the old tires were fine, but I've seen stranger things. There's also the possibility that the tech damaged one of the rims while mounting the new tires.

Did they examine the new tires for any defects? Perhaps you got a bad tire. Happened to a friend once, vibration problem went away when they replaced the tire.

A front to back rotation is still a good test. See if the problem moves with the rim/tire.

 

Are the tires unidirectional? Some tires have tread that needs to rotate only one direction. Did the tires come from a reputable dealer where you can be sure they weren't blems or defects that didn't get shreaded or turned back to the manufacturer? Might be worth a google or 2 to see if there are other complaints (or mounting advice) on that particular tire model# from other customers.

 

An incurable tire balance problem might be a broken belt. They should have picked that up, but a broken belt is a safety problem, not just an annoyance.

Did anybody check?

 

Do a road force balance and that may solve your problems.

Live in Florida?

 

Thanks for all the responses- a lot to think about

Two questions - Malaka you mean a broken belt in the tire?

And SVT - what's a road force balance? No, not in FL

 

I will try to answer both your questions to the best of my knowledge.

here is 1st: http://auto.howstuffworks.com/tire1.htm

here is 2nd: http://www.gsp9700.com/pub/images/demo.cfm

 

Never heard of "road force balance" either; looks like something new from Hunter. SVTfocus03; do you have inside knowledge of this system?

Back in the day (20 or more years ago..) there used to be places that would spin balance the tires on the car; in the hands of experienced operator, that used to be the best way to get a good tire balance. You don't see them around anymore (at lease I haven't).

 

I use this system mainly everyday!!!

Any tire shop will have it now and days.

 

A tire is a whole lot of cords and stuff aligned certain ways. Then the rubber you see is essentially the "glue" that holds all of it together. Plus tread, etc.

If there is an internal break (i.e. pothole damage, defect in materials or construction) it is generically called a "broken belt" which causes the tire to be unbalanced. You can't really see it with your eyes, but a trained person using a spin balancer can usually recognize (or at least suspect) internal damage and can unmount the tire and look at the inside for indications of internal damage.

One more thing came to mind. You know those "inflateatire" cans that some makers use instead of a spare? Well, unless you drive a distance shortly after using them, the gunk tends to settle at the bottom if the car is parked and unbalances the tire, too. Again, a quick glance at the inside of the tire tells that story.

 

I always insist on a static balance and they can tape the weights on the inside of the rim or clamps the weights on the inside hidden portion of the wheels.

Takes a little more time so manugfacturers shave savings that way.

Even my snow tires are static balanced.

On your next set of tires, inside weights.