I just had my Eagle F1 tires mounted and balanced on a set of Limited Wheels to use for the remainder of this NJ winter. The temps have been so low here the stock summer tires are as hard as hockey pucks!

Anyway after getting them on I immediately noticed a shake in the steering wheel above 45mph. Obviously they weren't balanced right- rather than taking them back to the wheel shop I had the shop (who already had my car up on a lift less than 30 minutes earlier for a Rotex Brake install- who happens to be DistantPulse's Brother's Shop) try and rebalance them. They used a static balancer and immediately noticed a few of the wheels' balances being off. They adjusted accordingly with weights.

When I took it back out the shake is STILL there, albiet a little less. They pointed out when the car was up on a the lift when the spin the front tires and you focus on the top edge of the tire as it rotates, you can see a very slight movement almost as if the tires aren't perfectly round. They explained that this could have something to do with it and it could be because the tires were stacked in a warehouse (tirerack) and slightly mis-shapen. Both front wheels exhibit this behavior. They explained that there's a possibility it might go away after about 100 miles of driving. If not they instructed me to find a shop with a good rotating balancer.

Anyone ever experience such a thing and or hear of it? The wheels themselves looked perfectly round (no flat spots, etc). Maybe it's just a case of a bad balance from the original shop. Either way it's quite annoying to have my steering wheel shake (even slightly) above 50! TIA

 

Definetly go with the spin balance method !!! Speed rated tires should never be statically balanced !

Just my Dos Centavos

 

Ditto. Ditto. And ditto!

I just had my Falkens done for the 3rd time. The first shop (#1 and #2) just couldn't do it perfectly. I took it to a "Performance" shop the 3rd time and they nailed it. Dead on thru 130mph. ($32)

It IS annoying. Even the slightest wobble bugs me.

 

My tire alignment guy, uses a simple device that he put against tire tread with tire off ground. It will spin the tire at a high speed and show a out of round tire quickly. He just uses this for a quick reference. Also discount tire here in the Dallas area, are said to use the best balance machine .

 

I'm not sure how they were balanced originally- they were done at a shop down the street from Chris's Brother's Shop. Chris's brother just tried to help me by checking the balance on a static balancer.

So I should seek a performance shop for a good balance...or do you think my local "Tires Plus" can nail it?

 

What causes an "out of round" tire? Could this be my problem- and if so will it "right-itself" in time?

 

If you're as picky as I am, a performance shop will most likely have more experience with large/wide tires. Most chains have poorly compensated employees that might not be interested enough. JMHO.

 

There are a number of different specs all called "out-of-round".

1. Truely out of round means an oval-shaped tire. Different diameters in different places.
2. Eccentric. A perfectly round tire where the outside (tread) is offset from the inside (bead).
3. Flat spot. Can be easily mistaken for #1.

If it's been sitting for a while, it may get better with time. Make sure you let whomever you purchased it from know there is a problem and might be willing to give it a little time. Document your complaint. Make sure some "time limit" or "milage limit" doesn't expire before it/they are replaced.

These are only suggestions, but that is what I would do.

 

Depends on what kind of equipment they're using and who's using it. The latest state of the art spin balancers can pin point a trouble spot at speed. I'd go with the performance shop......what's 30 bucks for peace of mind ?

 

Cross><hair,

I am sorry to hear that you have this problem. I experienced the same thing last summer with mine and I also got my Eagles from Tirerack. You need to document this immediately with Tirerack; let them know there is a problem. I know many folks here have used Tirerack with good results; I guess I wasn't one of them. It is one of those "When it goes good, it's great - But when it doesn't you're screwed".

My tires turned out to be bad (out of round) from Tirerack. I contacted them within two miles of having the tires installed. I cannot stress this enough to document this with Tirerack. It took me five weeks going back and forth; two sets of tires and the loss of using my brand new car for weeks. I had to have the issue documented with two independent installers that used a road force balancer, then Tirerack took them back and did their own investigation. It turned out (at least what they finally told me) is they got a bad batch of Goodyears.

Sorry for the long post but in the end it cost me weeks of the already too short driving season, weeks of frustration and hundreds of dollars more than if I went to a local shop. Document the issue with Tirerack, after my experience I will never do business with them again.

Best of luck...


Respectfully,


Paul (MisterTaz)

 

When the B.F.Goodrich Radial TA's were introduced in the early 70's, they would "True" every tire they mounted. They used a spinning round "knife" and as they spun the tire on the balance machine it would go back and forth across the tread removing the high spots like it was on a lathe.
I remember seeing a good amount of rubber piling up on the floor, and I told the tech I didn't appreciate seeing the 4 tires I just paid over $100 for being striped of so much of their tread.
He promised me they would go a lot further being perfectly round than they would being out-of-round.
I had them on the car for nearly 15 years, as a matter of fact, I kept them when I purchased new tires. They still have a "useable" tread depth, and no cracking. The rubber is a little "hard" though.
I don't know if they still use that procedure or not. You might be able to find out just by calling different tire stores in your area.

 

UPDATE:

Thanks for all the input- it's greatly appreciated. I took it to a performance shop yesterday and told the owner about the ordeal. I wasn't getting a good vibe from him because he was coming of too much like a salesman, "Yeah...it's an SRT so we have to approach it like an SRT" and all this other jargon about all the race cars they have that go over 200mph w/o issues, etc. He even went on to explain that he may have to install weights on the outter lip (face of the rim) to balance it laterally as well. Lastly the price was a bit high ($15 per tire) so I passed..

On the way home I stopped by my local Tires Plus. The shop was completely empty- which I like because, to me, it feel like they'll give it extra attention. They said they have a good machine that will do a dynamic spin balance. However they noted that the type of wheels I have (stock Limited Wheels I'm using for my winter setup on my SRT) cannot accept hammer on weights on the outside face of the rim. Guess the guy at the performance shop was wrong.

Anyway I felt comfortable with them and went for it. However the price was very high- after tax...$98 for all 4 wheels dynamically balanced. They took the time to tell me how they balanced up on their machine before they made any changes. They were ALL off, some extremely so. They said you can usually feel a .5 oz discrepancy, one of my wheels was 4 oz. out of wack! They balanced them all up but DID notice the two front tires weren't perfectly round- just like Chris's Brother's shop noted. They it may not affect the way it drives, possibly at very high speeds (over 120).

Well I took it out for a test drive and it feels great! Makes me feel a bit better about spending so much money- I'm still wondering if Tires Plus ripped me on that. However it's nice to know they aren't out of wack anymore. Though I HAVE only had it up to 70mph so far but it's felt great.

Regarding the out of round tires from TireRack- I may email them just to document the issue. I don't think I'll press the issue unless I notice more shaking after I'm able to get it up to a higher speed. However it's a little disconcerting to hear other's having the same problem with tires purchased from there. Thankfully they are only going to be used for my winter setup. Come May'ish I'll put the stockers back on.