I had a set of P265/60R18 Michelin LTX M/S2 tires installed at 40,500 miles. The tires were rebalanced a month later, and did little to improve the vibration and handling. I had a new set of Toyo Open Country H/T tires installed yesterday, and took it for a test spin immediately after leaving the tire shop.

The Toyo tires feel a little smoother than the LTX M/S2 tires, but the steering wheel vibration is still present. The shop manager said the tire technician took the truck for an extended drive on different road conditions and it was vibration free. I understand "vibration free" is a relative term somewhat. I have owned the truck since new, and there is still a vibration present. I looked at the wheels an hour ago, and the right (passenger) front wheel has 21 adhesive weights and two old school wheel weights on the inner wheel lip. The right rear wheel has 17 adhesive weights and one old school weight. The drivers side wheels have 5 adhesive weights each. It has been a few years since I worked in the auto service industry, but the right (passenger) side wheels appear to have an extreme amount of wheel weights.

So, how much wheel weight is to much? I'm not sure the exact amount of weight, as the only markings are an oblong 0 on the wheel weights.

Thanks,
James

 

That sounds like too much to me. Something else might be wrong. Maybe a u-joint. That's what it was on my truck when I had a vibration and "couldn't" get the wheels to balance...

 

The issue started when the new Michelin tires were installed at 40,500 miles. I understand a bad u-joint, but the wheel/tires were balanced on a new Hunter wheel balancer, and not on the truck.

 

Mine started immediately when I went to 285 BFG's at 65k miles. I took it to three different balancers and all said they "now have them balanced perfectly". Finally took it to a mechanic and he replaced the rear ujoint. Problem solved! He said I just couldn't feel the vibration until I put the new tires on.
That May or may not be your problem. Just offering up my specific experience with the same exact issue.

 

Possibility of a bent wheel from the tire mounting machine? You shouldnt have had problems with the michelins. Now since you traded those in for some other brand and still have the problems then start looking else where besides the tires

 

CUZ....

Mitch

 

I'd take the fronts and put them on the back and see if anything changes. This will rule out the wheels and tires.

 

If I understand you correctly, you had no vibration issue prior to the new Mich. tires? And regular rotations of the previous tires yielded no vibrations either? Then the Mich. were installed new at 40,500 on the truck? Vibration appeared. Rebalance made no difference. You then switched to the Toyo tires and said vibration is still present? It sounds to me like the tires are not the issue. It sounds like the installer damaged something while installing the Mich. tires. Possibly a rim as King said? Has the vibration changed in any way between the two different sets of tires? As Wookie said moving the tires from front to back to see if the vibration moves will tell you if it is a rim issue. I'm betting something was damaged during installation. Or, it could be purely coincidental? If you believe in coincidences?

 

You are almost correct, the exact same thing happened to my '07, several thousand dollars later, and I purchased the 2011. I purchased the LTX M/S2 tires at a prorated price, but had a terrible experience with the tire shop. It took me almost 4 hours to polish out all the scuffs and scratches with Meg's Scratch X and topped it with Duragloss 501. I didn't want a repeat performance, or worse, the second time around. Been there, done that!
I almost went with the LTX A/S tire, but didn't want to spend that much.

From my research yesterday, it appears 3 oz. is max acceptable weight for the OEM size tire. If the weights are 1/8 oz each (?), that would be a total of 2.625 oz. on the passenger front wheel, plus however much the old school weight is on the inside lip of the wheel.

I am way ahead of you, on the wheel swap from front to back. And as Wookie knows from experience, the roads in our area are not the best in the nation. I will drive it a few days until I have time to rotate and recheck the vibration. The vibration has improved a little in the steering wheel, and the shimmy in the seat isn't present. But, I did not take it above 40 mph on the drive home. I will know more on Monday, when I drive to work on 440, and return on 67/167.

Has anyone ever had a positive experience with Road Force Balancing?

James

 

My son is an ASE certified Master Automotive Technician. He's done multiple sets of wheels & tires for me and uses a Hunter Road Force machine - and swears by it. In the hands of a capable technician, you simply will not get a better balance job - period.

One special note though. The Hunter machine will give you information on how much weight and where to place it for best balance. It will also give you a "Road Force Number." If that number is too large, even if your wheels / tires come into balance, you may still have issues.

 

Not sure which side of town you're on but if you can take HWY 89 to I-40 then to 440. That section of road is pretty smooth, flat and straight. That will help rule out road issues.

 

I thought about that route, but will need to leave a little early. I work close to Children's and usually take 440. I live close to 5.

 

I had a similar problem with my 2011 FX4. After numerous attempts to correct the vibration including replacing one 18" rim with another, a bent rotor was found. Even turning the rotor did not fix the problem. New rotor installed and vibration gone.

 

You've WAY TOO MUCH weight on the wheels.

Each of the stick-ons is ¼ oz.

• RH front has 5¼ oz in just stick-ons and assuming that the lip weights are 1 oz each that's 8¼ oz.
• RH rear has 4¼ oz in stick-ons and a 1 oz (?) lip weight which makes 5¼ oz.
• the LH wheels have 1¼ oz each which is more inline with what's normal.

The tech' would/should notice any rim -OR- tire run-out during the balancing. But if they weren't paying attention then that could be the issue.

As for the RH wheels ... When the tech' noticed the amount of weight necessary to balance them, s/he SHOULD have broke-down the beads, rotated the tire on the rim a ¼ turn, and tried to balance it again. If it still takes too much weight, the tire should be rotated another ¼ turn (½ in total). If that doesn't result in a balance without TOO MUCH weight then the tires should be exchanged for new tires.

It's not all that uncommon to have tires that have "fat" spots in the rubber and/or cords. OR ... To have the heavy spot of the rim align with the heavy spot of the tire which all aligns with the heavy spot of the rotor.

In any case the wheels should be taken back to the shop that installed 'em to address the problem with the RH tires needing TOO MUCH WEIGHT.

In the last 2 (two) sets of wheels (new rims + new tires) that I've purchased ...

The 2003 Crown Victoria has a total ¾ oz (½ oz on 1, ¼ on another, and the other 2 needed none). Rims are OEM Mercury Marauder and the tires are BFGoodrich g-Force T/A KDW NT (255/45ZR18).

The 2011 F-150 has a total of 1½ oz (¾ oz on one, ½ oz on one, ¼ on one, and none on the other. Rims are Ford Racing Performance Parts and the tires are YOKOHAMA Parada Spec-X (275/55x20).
.

 

Thanks for the info, not sure if they were .25 oz or not. The test drive to work this morning was horrible. I called the shop and manager couldn't believe the ride was bad.

I am going to call him again, as he left a message earlier this morning.

Ok, I just finished talking to the shop manager and he agrees it sounds like alot of weight. He said that his tech could throw them (wheels/tires) back on their new Hunter Balancer and could still balance out. I am going to test drive with him tomorrow afternoon. Now, the fun begins. This is the thing I always hated doing with my customers. How much vibration is unacceptable?