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[Stuck]

Hi guys - new on here and have a question on staggered tires. I bought by car used in February and upon driving it back from the dealer, noticed that the car would vibrate slightly over 70mph, with the condition increasing in severity as speed increased. For reference, it came with Yokohoma S-Drives (F-215/40/18, R-255/35/18). Being as though snow was in the forecast, I had ordered a set of winter wheels and snow tires from tire rack (Sport Edition F-10, All-205/50/17). Upon removing my stockers, I noticed that the passenger rear wheel was missing its wheel weights. I hypothesized that this was most likely the cause of my trouble, which was further verified when the problem disappeared with the 17"s and snow tires.

Fast forward to yesterday. Weather is better and the stockers are back on for my trip to the dealer to have the balance my wheels. They throw some new weights on all around to make sure everything is properly calibrated and send me on my merry way. However, once I creep to 80mph, the car starts vibrating again. Any ideas? Since it doesn't occur with my winter setup and my stock wheels are properly balanced, I don't see how it could be anything else but the tires and their sizing.

C/N's: Car vibrates with stock 18" wheels and Yokohoma S-drive's (F-215/45/18, R-255/35/18) at speeds >70mph. Wheels are properly balanced and problem does not occur with winter wheels and snow tires (all-205/50/17). Ideas?

[tgxmike]

two ideas for you....

1) They still are not balanced properly. may want to completely deflate the tire and try to rotate it into a different position on the rim (line up the dot if you can still see it with the tire valve). Then rebalance.

2) take the wheels off again and use a wire brush to clean the back of the wheel and the hub. DO NOT BRUSH THE ROTOR!!! There may be some dirt/rust causing the wheel not to sit flush on the hub. (my quess is it is on the wheel side since the winters don't vibrate)

Good Luck

[larryn]

My guess is that they had a tire monkey and not a tech balancing the wheels. Either that, or you got a bad tire (it happens).

[Erik219]

One of the wheels must be bent or warped ....

Or one or more of the tires is/are bad: if the car stood still for a long period of time (at the dealer, before you bought it) and was not moved, there could be 'flat spots' where the tire made contact with the ground...

[Stuck]

Originally Posted by tgxmike

two ideas for you....

1) They still are not balanced properly. may want to completely deflate the tire and try to rotate it into a different position on the rim (line up the dot if you can still see it with the tire valve). Then rebalance.

2) take the wheels off again and use a wire brush to clean the back of the wheel and the hub. DO NOT BRUSH THE ROTOR!!! There may be some dirt/rust causing the wheel not to sit flush on the hub. (my quess is it is on the wheel side since the winters don't vibrate)

Good Luck

Wheels were cleaned meticulously after removal to the point of clay bar/wheel wax so they're spotless.

Originally Posted by Erik219

Or one or more of the tires is/are bad: if the car stood still for a long period of time (at the dealer, before you bought it) and was not moved, there could be 'flat spots' where the tire made contact with the ground...

This could be the cause. The rear wheels were rust-locked on the hubs and were a complete PITA to remove. Since dealer bought the car at an auction and had been on their lot of a while, this would seem more likely.

[escobar929]

Originally Posted by Erik219

One of the wheels must be bent or warped ....

Or one or more of the tires is/are bad: if the car stood still for a long period of time (at the dealer, before you bought it) and was not moved, there could be 'flat spots' where the tire made contact with the ground...

unless the bent is pretty big, it should still balance out. and a bend that big will prob loose air too

I think a flat spot on the tire is the most probable, or they really didnt balance the wheels properly at the dealer, take it back and let them know it still vibrates

they might tell you you need an alignment, if its free go for it, but if they try to make you pay, let them know how you didnt have a problem w/ your winter set up

[Groundpilot]

I didnt know weel can be warped. Stuck, if it happened to me i wouldnt take it to the stealership. I know its under warranty but to balance 1 weel doesnt cost much. Just find a good shop.

[Gary@TireRack]

It's not the tire sizing. That would have nothing to do with it.

The problem lies somewhere in the tire, the wheel, the balancing, or some combination of these.

[Stuck]

A quick call to my SA informed me that they had balanced and "road forced' my setup and that it should be fine. I am planning on taking it to a private mechanic (who specializes in high-performance cars) with whom I've worked in the past to ensure that everything checks out with my wheels.

If the wheels are fine and the issue is flat-spotted tires, is there a fix (like driving them hard to even-out wear) or does it land me in new tire land?

[Dackelone]

Originally Posted by larryn

My guess is that they had a tire monkey and not a tech balancing the wheels. Either that, or you got a bad tire (it happens).

it could be that the 1st Monkey who mounted the Yoks, mess up and installed the "heavy" side of the tires out of phase with the wheels. Look at those colored dots on your Yoks. They should be oppisite of your valve stems.

Ofcourse it could be that you have a bent wheel too. I think someone has said that some tire mounters(ie Monkey) can bend the factory wheels.

Good Luck,
David

[Stuck]

UPDATE: Took the car back in for service, letting them know that the problem was still persisting. After testing the car during the day, I just received a call from my SA that they detected a bend in one of my wheels that they believe is causing the vibrations. New wheel is being shipped tonight, and should be on the car tomorrow, hopefully with the vibration gone!

[Lucky1]

Good. Hope you enjoy your car! Vibration free, just like the Beach Boys.

[ptack]

Also could be the alignment. After the truck hit me, the body shop did an alignment, but when I took it home I noticed a slight vibration and hum at higher speeds. Checking it out I found one of the rears had more camber than the other. The body shop let me take it in to BMW and they also found that one of the wheels was toeing. They realigned everything (billed the body shop) and it was all good.

[Stuck]

Well...another update. The new wheel made a small difference, but it's still shaking at speeds (70-90). Dealer says bring it back in, has to be related to the tires. At this point, I'm getting slightly annoyed, as the dealer is about 40mins away, and this is the 3rd trip I've had on this issue. Also, if the tires are the issue andthe dealer replaces them, I would have the vibration gone (good!) but be riding on stock RFT's (bad).

[Stuck]

Well, things have taken an interesting turn. Dealer called me yesterday to tell me that they found bends in the other three wheels that are all contributing to my problem. Great, they finally gave things a close look and on the 3rd visit are finally fixing my problem. Then, they tell me it will cost me $1300 to replace them. Their position (and I had them confirm this) is that they only found a bend in one of the wheels the last time it was in, and in the 2 day span during which I drove it after picking it up and called back to report the problem again, I managed to instantly bend the remaining three original wheels (but not the new one, which is fine) and thus recreated the original problem I had with the car.

I told them that that didn’t make any sense, and I’m not paying to fix a problem that has existed on my car from the day I bought it. So I left it that I would be over there to pick up my car after work today, wouldn’t be returning to their dealer again and will also be contacting an attorney and writing a letter to the better business bureau. I did leave the door open for them to call me if they decided to change their position. Do I have any other options?