In on recent shop visit, I had my tires rotated, spin balanced and had my rotors turned (while on the car). While driving home, I noticed a vibration (in the body) between 60 and 68 mph that definetly had not been there previously. In the next few succeeding visits back to solve the problem, they replace one tire (thinking the belts were bad), next, the 3 OTHER tires,(vibe was still there) and finally, I took OFF the Goodyear tires and replaced them with Michelin tires. While the vibration went down it is still there and I swear it didn’t start happening until the visit where they turned my rotors. The alignment is dead on and I even had the dealer spin balance the tires to be sure, still… no change.
Could there be??..
A) a bent wheel that the balance process doesn’t catch?
B) Something resulting from them turning my rotors down (they work fine BTW)
C) Bent suspension?
I am at my wits end after spending an extra $400 for Michelin tires and multiple trips to the shop
Thank you!
B) The solution would be to replace the rotors.
It’s also possible that the tires need to be “indexed”. These tires are heavy enough that a small irregularity not detectable with a regular spin balance can caus eproblems on the vehicle. www.carbibles.com will give you a more definitive decription than I can in the space here.
I’d suggest that the next step be to have the wheels “road force balanced”. That’s a machine that simulates road forces by spinning the wheel with a drum pressed against it. That can pick up imperfections that a regular spin balance will not. It can also eliminate the wheels and tires as possible sources of vibration.
Since you’ve replaced the tires - TWICE - I vote for “B”
A Couple Of Thoughts.
The fact that the tire/wheels were balanced off-car and the rotors were turned and therefore “balanced” on-car is suspect, I agree with the others.
I’d surely ask about “A)”. A slightly out of true rim could react a lttle differently with different tires. I don’t think all shops check this when they should be checking it.
Dirt and corrosion must be thoroughly cleaned away from the mounting surfaces when reinstalling wheel/tires. Not doing so could throw things off a bit. It’s in the Owner’s Manual.
Have you carefully, with a high quality gauge, checked the tire pressures against the manufacture’s specifications as listed on the vehicle’s manufacturer’s label? I have had situations where incorrect pressure emphasizes irregularities.
What kind of “shop” did you use? Was it an independent or a chain store? I wonder how recently their balancer was checked and recalibrated?
CSA
Hey, thanks for all the feedback. I have it at the shop today and they agreed to remove the rotors and clean all the critical surfaces plus check the run out on the rotors with a dial gage for lateral runout.
Regarding the Raod force balance I had the dealer do that with really no change. I really do think the issue is not with the tire/wheel combo but rather with the rotors and I am really not in the mood to buy new rotors for a car with 60,000 miles on it…
I will keep you folks posted
Thanks!