Truck shakes with new tires

[pathfounder]

I have some new-to-me tires on my truck. They are LT31x10.5R15, replacing stock 265/75R15. I'm not sure of the brand, they're just generic "mud claw trail blazer force killer" somethings.

 

Ever since I had the old tires peeled off the rims and these ones put on, the steering wheel shakes in my hands above 110km/h. You can't feel them at all below about 100.

 

I have a spare tire of the same size on a 3-spoke WD21 alloy wheel. Using that on the rear, I have swapped two different wheels to the front, and it still shakes at speed. Is this just something to put up with LT tires, or did they just do a bad job of balancing them? Or worse, does every tire have a broken belt or something?

Edited December 2, 2010 by pathfounder

[nunya]

Get em balanced correctly, usually come and go shakes at certian speeds is balance. Broken belts will get worse with speed...

 

And make sure your lugs are snug!

Edited December 2, 2010 by nunya

[Timmons]

Still sounds like tire balance. Had the same problem. So is your steering wheel shaking around 40-50 mph? Most likely the tires are not balanced correctly. You would be suprised.

 

Everyone else on this forum will most likely come back with the same response.

[OldSlowReliable]

I got new wheels and tires on my DD 98 malibu. All brand new from belle tire... it would shake at 77 slightly...took it back for a rebalance, it got worse, took it back for a alignment and balance, got a bit better, but still worse than the first time, finally took it back again, and now it doesn't shake at 115mph..

 

 

gotta be persistant, also make sure they are using a hunter road force machine, I have had good luck with the shops that do..

[esy]

road force balances aren't necessary unless the tires are out of round (which is commonly seen in cheap tires).

 

spin balance is perfectly fine and will zero out with very little to no issue if done properly, the tire is round and properly mounted (high and low points of tire are mounted at the correct position of the wheel, etc.), and if the wheel doesn't have any major bends or dings.

[esy]

BTW, what kind of balance are you having done? what kind of wheels are they?

 

dynamic balance is best, especially on truck wheels. if it's impossible to get a dynamic balance, then making sure that the wheel will allow weights to be as close to either side of the wheel is best. if that's not possible (i.e. if the wheel has a huge drop center/outer lip, or you just don't want weights to be shown on the outside, etc.), then you may very well be S.O.L.

[pathfounder]

The wheels are factory 6-spoke alloys.

[adamzan]

Take it to the Crappy tire on Carling ave (the big one) and get them to do they are the only ones who have been able to balance my tires properly so far. It's about 50 bucks to get all 4 done and they usually do it right away with no appointment.

[pathfounder]

The Crappy right next to my place did them the first time, so I can probably bring the rcpt and have it done for nothing. I'm really hoping that a rebalance is going to do the trick.

[adamzan]

It should. Which crappy tire did you have them done at? I know the good and bad ones in Ottawa lol.

[TooQForYou]

Yeah definitely sound like a balancing issue. Go back and get them rebalanced.

[pathfounder]

It should. Which crappy tire did you have them done at? I know the good and bad ones in Ottawa lol.

 

I'm walking distance from the Bank/Heron one. I've had mixed success with them. I'm hoping the Carling one would honour the warranty, given that it's a chain.

[adamzan]

I'm walking distance from the Bank/Heron one. I've had mixed success with them. I'm hoping the Carling one would honour the warranty, given that it's a chain.

They might not because it is so close. But I would try anyways. Another good one is the one on Merivale road. They were able to align my truck perfectly with the suspension lift.

[esy]

just an FYI for any that are curious.

 

Costco (not sure if it's the same across the border), but for us to take off all the wheel weights, rebalance, deflate and reinflate with nitrogen, and rotate the tires will cost you $17 even. if it's not done properly, the shops should be doing it for free until it's done properly. paying anymore than $25 is absolute robbery, IMO. i can usually finish somewhere around six trucks' worth of rotate/balances in a matter of an hour, so for them to attempt to charge the approximate labor rate per hour is ridiculous.

[esy]

The wheels are factory 6-spoke alloys.

 

well, make sure that they are doing a dynamic balance. this should be a standard for wheels that have a lip on the inside and outside face of the wheel. it's just a pound-on/hammer-on weight placed on the inside and outside rim of the wheel. that will be the most proper style of balance for the wheel. if they're doing any kind of an alloy-style balance (use of tape weights on the inside to hide the weights) or a static balance, it will not allow for a proper zero balance.

[adamzan]

just an FYI for any that are curious.

 

Costco (not sure if it's the same across the border), but for us to take off all the wheel weights, rebalance, deflate and reinflate with nitrogen, and rotate the tires will cost you $17 even. if it's not done properly, the shops should be doing it for free until it's done properly. paying anymore than $25 is absolute robbery, IMO. i can usually finish somewhere around six trucks' worth of rotate/balances in a matter of an hour, so for them to attempt to charge the approximate labor rate per hour is ridiculous.

We live in Canada. The same city actually. Labour rates for shops are anywhere from 75-100 dollars per hour. So 52 dollars tax in for 4 wheel balance is not unreasonable. I wish it was 17 bucks!

 

It is really hard to find a good shop here. I have a few that I know I can trust. But I don't have a tire balancer so I can't do this myself like most things.

 

well, make sure that they are doing a dynamic balance. this should be a standard for wheels that have a lip on the inside and outside face of the wheel. it's just a pound-on/hammer-on weight placed on the inside and outside rim of the wheel. that will be the most proper style of balance for the wheel. if they're doing any kind of an alloy-style balance (use of tape weights on the inside to hide the weights) or a static balance, it will not allow for a proper zero balance.

This is true. My mother has a 2006 maxima with the 18 inch wheels and those stupid stick on weights always fall off and the balance is never perfect.

Edited December 3, 2010 by adamzan

[rgallant]

Yup good honest shops are tough to locate, I am lucky as I have a good ex Nisan mech to do mechanical and a good buddy works in a tire shop, no price break but the work gets done right the 1st time.

[esy]

We live in Canada. The same city actually. Labour rates for shops are anywhere from 75-100 dollars per hour. So 52 dollars tax in for 4 wheel balance is not unreasonable. I wish it was 17 bucks!

 

It is really hard to find a good shop here. I have a few that I know I can trust. But I don't have a tire balancer so I can't do this myself like most things.

 

 

 

labor rates in the US are that much as well, but i just think it's a pretty ridiculous price for such a simple and quick job to do. that's all.

[Howie]

Yeah, balancing is something that looks so easy to do every time I watch them do it, but you have to have the machine, which nobody has at home so they have you over the barrel on that one. They're trying to get their money back on the machine they bought, which is why they charge so much to do so little.

 

It's too bad we all live in different parts of the country, otherwise we could pool our resources and have everyone chip in to buy cool equipment to work on our Pathfinders!

 

--Howie

[esy]

that's what i'm saying. Costco charges $17. and i can guarantee that i do A LOT more work on a simple, rotate/balance than most other independent tire shops and dealerships do.

 

if you have a Sam's Club where you live, they also charge like $20.

 

trust me, i don't have any of this machinery at home. but i do at work. and most (not all) people should have a Costco or Sam's close by.

 

again, just throwing that little FYI out there for you guys. that's a whole lot of money saved.

 

EDIT: let me clarify just a little more. when i say that i do the work, i mean that i do the work when i'm on the clock at work, at Costco, in the Tire Center. i'm hoping that everyone realizes that.

Edited December 5, 2010 by edwinsyip

[pathfounder]

The Costco here will only deal with wheel and tire combos that were bought from Costco. I was originally going to have them do this entire thing until the guy at the desk told me to look elsewhere.

[adamzan]

So did you take it back to CT yet?

[esy]

The Costco here will only deal with wheel and tire combos that were bought from Costco. I was originally going to have them do this entire thing until the guy at the desk told me to look elsewhere.

 

not sure if that's an across the border thing, but rotate/balances on non-Costco tires are done all the time. it's just a $4.25/ea wheel charge. sometimes shops will say they don't do that because they're lazy. they should be taking the work because it's easy money, and they're actually supposed to. it's a service provided for Costco members whether or not the tires were purchased from Costco and they should be doing it.

 

not sure if it'd be worth your time or effort, but speaking to the service manager or even the warehouse manager will solve that for you real quick.

[ahardb0dy]

vibration felt thru the steering wheel usually indicates problem with the front, if you feel like the seat is shaking that usually indicates a problem with the rear tires/wheels

 

If you have the tires re balanced try to see what the tire looks like when they spin it on the machine, ask if you can watch, you want to see how much side to side or up and down movement there is in the tire (or wheel), also very important if when they are done balancing the wheel/tire combo you find weights across from each other have them re-do it, you should never have weights directly across from each other as this means they are balancing against the weights. If the tire is not perfectly round sometimes they can dismount the tire and rotate it 180 degrees and re mount it. I mounted and balanced tires from low profile car tires up to 54" turf and field Firestones on custom made wheels for over 3 years

[esy]

up and down movement of the wheel (that isn't obviously bent) during a spin balance is typically indicative of a wrong back cone being used or something similar to that. side to side movement is one that is indicative of a bent wheel of some sort.

 

having weights directly across from each other also isn't a huge deal. they are meant to correct slight imperfections in the wheel and/or the tire. if the shop has decently, up to date, machinery then about 95% of the work is done for the shop worker. they just have to follow what the computer tells them.