What damage can occur when one hits a curb, resulting in blowing out front tire and buldge in rear tire that a mechanic cannot find or fix even after all four wheels, replaced and an alighment performed and tires were balanced. Car still vibrates at 55 mph.
First of all, you need a new mechanic.
The possibilities–as I see them–include a bad wheel bearing, a bad tie rod end, and perhaps even a bad ball joint–all of which are significant safety hazards.
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Four new wheels but not 4 new tires? Could be a damaged tire that balances, but has broken cords or separation, etc.
Are the new wheels heavier than the originals or in some way non-standard?
Sorry but the four wheels are really 4 new tires. They performed an alignment and balanced all for tires however no matter how much they align or balance the car still vibrates at 55. Before 45 no vibration felt but grows to peak at 55 and then will disappear ~62mph. Taken it to dealer, mechanic, mr tire and no one can find the problem.
Mr Tire checked tie rods, ball joints not much of these on CMAX, no one could find the issue. Body shop replaced Rotors, thinking break pads and rotors, and finally found front bearing only because we complained about the noise in the front. They took a road test and hear noise. put up on rack and spun tire, what you know they could hear it. That was like pulling teeth for mechanic to find bearing problem. But I still feel the vibration in my seat, not in steering wheel, like some takes backend of car and shook it. The car has been at dealer for a week now with them trying to find source of vibration. Finally mechanic took a road test, what you know, he mentioned he felt the vibration and seemed to hear something in the rear. Being hear impaired myself I would most likely not hear any noise myself but my wife did mention hearing something. I have hope they will at least try harder now that mechanic felt it.
You would think with the number of mechanics that have looked at the car they would have found
Bad tie rod end, Bad ball joint, and back wheel bearings (one finally found front passenger side making noise.)
Bearing was replaced. Especially since it $$$ to replace all these.
They could not find anything wrong.
Chris
It’s a little confusing: When you said wheels, you meant tires, but did you replace the wheels? If not, they could be dented. Plus, the tires could be out of round.
First swap the tires and wheels front to rear. The vibration should move from the seat to the steering wheel. If it does, find someone with a Hunter GSP9700 and have them Road Force the tire and wheel assemblies and possibly reorient the tire on the wheel to reduce the RoadForce.
https://www.hunter.com/gsp9700
If moving the tires does NOT move the vibration, then the problem is NOT tires and/or wheels. There is something else causing the vibration and it’s connected to the rear.
hit curb hard enough to blow tire. you have new tire. but old rim. wheel is “aligned” so it points straight but is wheel in original location? is control arm bent? is knuckle bent? is strut bent? shop says tire is pointing straight? thats only part of the diagnosis.
tire rotation did not change vibration in the seat, just changed feeling some like different shake. Unknown if wheel rim was bent, I have asked repeatedly are you sure wheel rims are not bent. They told me they are find. they said it was ok. They also talked about a road force system. Finally mechanic took for a drive. I found out last night, mechanic finally felt it, and heard a noise. The problem is that it is very slight but enough to cause MPG to change from original 57-60 down to 46-49mpg. that is a good 10mpg drop.
pretty sure that has a strut. put on the spare instead of the “front” wheel that blew the tire. see if vibration changes.
yes it has shocks attached to wheel hub. I have mentioned all this and more. It is hard when ford dealer does not seem to be able to find it right off. Especially when I took vehicle back second time saying, did you align and balance tires and there is a noise and they rebalanced and returned vehicle but did nothing about finding the noise. had to take it to another mechanic that eventually found right front bearing, and replaced brake calipers and rotors etc trying to find. at lease front noise was eliminated but vibration in seat still there! even took to my tire! you would think they could find the problems.
by the way they quit proving spare tires on these hybrids so that is out!
Thanks CapriRacer I think you are right either rim is bent or… something in rear is out of spec.
trouble if only a little out you would think there would be a way to find the issue.
That’s why you may need to find someone with a Hunter GSP9700. It’s a great diagnostic tool for finding tire and/or wheel issues and there is very little else that does what it does. It’s an expensive machine and many tire shops don’t think they need such a piece of equipment, but they are wrong.
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What is interesting is the dealer has the force road alignment system.
Not sure if they used it yet or not.
chris
Problem has been solved. Finally Mechanic took it for a drive and felt the vibration that peaked at 55mph. What he did find was the rear driver side wheel bearing and wheel hub were bad! and that made the brand new tire that they had put on the vehicle to separate at the tread. Anyone with a cmax the bearings are the first to go, and it is surprising the size of these bearings. The diameter is about 2.75" and the width is ~2" which is huge for a bearing. Vibration has decreased now down to a much lower level. So far the front passenger side bearing has been replaced and the rear driver side bearing has been replaced.