steering wheel vibration

[fitness freak]

At 26,000 miles I replaced my stock Conti's on my 03 AWD Vibe with four new BF Goodrich Traction TA's. During my first after-installation freeway drive I noticed the steering wheel was shaking at speeds of 70 mph and higher. I returned to Belle Tire and had then re-balance the wheel/tires and had a free alignment. When I went back to the freeway I found the shaking was back, no better or worse then before. I didn't have this much shaking with the stock Conti's. Got any ideas?

[ragingfish]

Check your pressure, make sure you're running 32...

[joatmon]

I always attributed vibration at speed to bad wheel balance. Do you have factory wheels?Maybe it is a bad tire, balanced but out of round. Have them switch the front and back tires and see if the problem gets better or worse, if it gets better, then it is a tire that used to be up front.Definitely not normal, and if it began when you got the new tires, then I'd say it was either the tires or the worksmanship that introduced the problem

[DavidPIL]

Hiya fitness..I agree with joatman.... but if you have aftermarket wheels, check to make sure they have hubcentric rings installed, if needed. I ran into some major issues with a wheel installer that didn't know I needed em and the wobble was extremely violent. because they had to order the rings after the fact, they reinstalled then wheels centering them as best as they could. Basically, if the priginal installer installled them decently centered, there may not be any wobble present until they're re-installed, as like you with new tires, causing them to be not as centered as they should be.If this is the case, you should have received the rings free from where you got the wheels. If you have stock wheels, maybe you got a bad tire. Have the place do a roadforce balance test on em. if you have a bad tire, they should replace it free.Dave

[fitness freak]

I have factory supplied 16" aluminum wheels. This is not a problem caused by aftermarket wheels. I never heard of a roadforce balance test. Please define the procedure. One thing I may try is rotating the tires, two at a time, to see if the problem goes away.

[DavidPIL]

Hiya fitness,Not really sure what a roadforce balance is except I know it revealed a hump in my tire when it didn't before. I think it's a part of the regular balance, just adding a roller or something to simulate pressure against the tire. (assuming this from what I saw when the tire place did it). Dave

[joatmon]

there was some discussion about road force balancing in http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=6528

[ragingfish]

Quote, originally posted by DavidPIL »I think it's a part of the regular balance, just adding a roller or something to simulate pressure against the tire. (assuming this from what I saw when the tire place did it). DaveFrom my experiences, those places that offer roadforce balancing charge an additional fee for it...But DTD describes roadforce balancing, or as they name their system, the "Ride Match System" as:Quote, originally posted by Discount Tire Direct »A wheel and tire assembly seems like a relatively simple structure that's ready to do its job once fitted together, balanced and mounted on your car. All done...right? Well, like most things, it's more complicated than it seems.In years past when suspensions were very "soft" and forgiving this approach worked a great majority of the time. Though the tire and wheel were actually creating a minor disturbance, it wasn't enough to be felt in the driver's seat.The system simulates a “road test” that senses the vibrations generated by the wheel and tire. Today's high performance suspensions, lighter weight vehicles and lower profile tires have changed all that. Now the slightest vibrations can be felt. Thankfully, with respect to the wheel and tire, there is a solution called Ride Matching. Here's why you need it:When a wheel and tire are mounted together they are seldom joined at the one ideal spot. Each of these units, though it may be built to specification, frequently adds to the slight error of the other and together they can generate a vibration you can feel. Tire uniformity is the amount of change in stiffness of the sidewall and footprint when load is placed against the tire. As they spin together, the tire and wheel are exerting forces simultaneously in different directions. Thanks to advancing technology, a system has been developed to measure all these forces and calculate how this particular wheel/tire pairing should be matched in order to ride as a perfectly smooth unit.Importantly, the source of the disturbance is something that cannot be sensed during wheel balancing. It is an entirely different problem that necessitates Ride Matching. This process takes a skilled operator approximately twenty minutes to perform on a set of tires and wheels for a vehicle. The result, however, improves ride quality, performance and wear (remember that a smooth riding tire lasts longer).Lateral and radial rim run-out are other causes of force variation that the system isolates. Discount Tire Direct has the latest Ride Match system in place and offers the service on every wheel and tire package we deliver. The nominal price of $10.00 per unit ($40.00 per vehicle) is an excellent value that you will appreciate throughout the life of the tire.When the system detects a force variation, it prompts the technician to diagnose and correct the problem.Source: http://www.discounttiredirect....e.jsp

[kostby]

Another thought: the factory 16" alloys rely on stick-on wheel weights for balancing because there's no 'rim' for the old 'hammer-on-the-rim' type used with steel wheels. Did they remove the old stick-on weights before re-balancing, or just add more weight where indicated?

[DavidPIL]

hmm, the place I went might have done it for me for free because they totally screwed up on the first install and subsequent service visits back. Fitness could still try to go back to the same place where he got the tires and complain in hopes that they will do this service for at least a discount.And kostby, the place where I got my new wheels actually used the rim clip-on type of weights. Noticed a very slight wobble after they finally installed the wheels right. Had to replace a wheel (actually drove through Lebanon to Kokomo to get it), went to Discount Tire. THey used the stick-on type. this was on a fron wheel... wobble is gone and it rides nice. The original place where I got the wheel blamed the initial wobble on a "bad tire" but DT had hardly had an issue with it. Excellent service at DT in Kokomo as well. Dave

[Psychobroker]

Quote, originally posted by ragingfish »Check your pressure, make sure you're running 32...He's not running the stock conti's anymore, so 32 psi may not be enough.