Recently came home from vacation to a dead battery and a flat front right tire. Battery replaced, tire fixed with "Fix-a-Flat.’ Now car started shaking in front end will highway driving. Steering wheel shaking. Stopped when got off highway. Tire is still inflated.
Run your hand over the right front tire to feel if there is any irregularity. Move the VW ahead a few feet and feel again. I suspect that you might have tread separation.
If the circumference is nice and smooth, it might be the results of the fix-a-flat inside the tire. Get the wheel and tire to a tire shop; have them remove the tire; clean out the remains of the fix-a-flat; find and fix the leak; remount the tire; and rebalance. That should fix the imbalance condition.
Thanks so much. Appreciate the advise.
I agree that the problem is likely to be the result of that Fix-a-Flat junk.
While I would be tempted to use it in an emergency (remote area, no cell phone service, spare tire also flat), I don’t think that I would consider the OP’s situation to have been an emergency. However, since the product’s packaging does not warn purchasers that this junk will probably unbalance a tire, the OP is not to blame for using this stuff.
As was said, take the car to a tire shop in order to have the tire dismounted, cleaned out, and fixed properly with a patch on the inside of the tire, combined with a plug to seal the puncture from the outside. Just don’t be surprised if the tire shop charges a high rate to clean that goop out of the tire. Mechanics and tire technicians hate dealing with that stuff!
get yourself a battery operated tire pump. While you are at it, get a tire repair kit, that consists of some rubber strands, some rubber glue, and a awl like tool to insert in the nail hole that flatted your tire. Very handy except in the dead of night or the cold of winter or the 130 degree heat of Arizona in July. It is the same thing they use to fix your flat at the tire shop. Cost less than the repair bill you are looking at for the tire dismount, clean, ballance and etc. Sometimes a flat will also dislodge a ballance weight, and that will add to the shimmy and shake of the front end too.
Maybe I’ll just get a new tire. Sounds cheaper. And it wasn’t my idea to use fix-a-flat. Hubby did it. Will pass on the No No advise to him. Thanks all
Um, NO. Actually tire shops, good ones anyway, use what’s called a blowout patch, which requires removal of the tire. If they match mark it to the rim before removal, it does not have to be rebalanced. The string repairs work fine most of the time, and I agree that a GOOD (they are blue and very sticky) string repair is adequate. And those little compressors are a life saver, just buy the best one you can find, as the cheap versions burn out quickly.
Never run your hand over the tread of a tire. If any part of the steel belt is exposed, this is like thousands of needles sticking out, and WILL shread your hand/fingers. You’ll only do this once in your lifetime, and never do it again.
Always do a visual inspection.
Tester