schmoozer

Hey everyone,

I just rotated my tires not too long ago and now notice a slight vibration while driving 70 or above. The vibration comes through the steering wheel, but also seems to be going throughout the car as I can feel it in my feet on the floorboards and can see things vibrating when I place them on the passenger seat. I also notice that kind of sound that goes waah...wahhh....wahhh....Wahhh..Wahh.WahhWAHHWAHHHWAHH when accelerating but its not too bad.

When I originally rotated the tires it took forever to remove the locking lugs and decided to just put a normal lug on there. The lugs I bought however were much smaller than the OEM lugs and I thought that contributed to the problem (making the wheel off balance). I put the locking lug back on and seemed to improve it a litttttle bit, but I wasn't sure.

Obviously the first plan of action would be to put the tires back in their original locations, but I wanted to get your imput to see if its an obvious balance issue and I'll go get it taken care of.

Thanks for your help

JSM1284

Most likely balance.

PFB

From your symptoms, I would venture to say that its either a defective, or an out of round REAR tire.

Phil

schmoozer

Interesting, how did you conclude this?

Can an out of round tire be correct with a balance... I assume no.

PFB

Mainly from the fact that you did not have any significant problems prior to having rotated your tires.

Also your description of the shaking of the car, points to a problem with a rear tire, as opposed to a front tire.

A visual inspection of the tires, while they spin on a Balance machine will either confirm, or negate my out of round theory.


Phil

mmlex1987

One of your tires could be out of balance, have a bad belt, abnormal wear, cupping etc. The problem you are having is not uncommon after rotating tires, especially if it has been quite a few miles/time since last rotation. Also, how many miles are on tires? It could not hurt to have someone inspect all four tires and see if there is an obvious reason.

llcoolpass

similarly, bent warped wheel. also worn out exhaust hangers / or exhaust leak.
then check for a small child or animal under the car.

schmoozer

Well I've had the car approaching two years now. For what its worth the tires still "look" nice and fresh and the tread is still pretty deep on both of them. I was able to see the difference in tread between the front and rears when switching them during the tire rotation though.

I guess I'll have to take it to a shop and have them balance and inspect as you said.

mmlex1987

Have the tires been rotated in the two years you have had the vehicle?

Rollin'ES3

First I would try to balance it. If it does not take care of the issue, it may be a defective tire as I have seen that at the dealership also. Lastly it could be a bent rim.

schmoozer

Nope, this is the first time.

mmlex1987

With that being said I would think one of the tire/wheels from the rear that are now on the front is what is causing your vibration, especially since you are feeling it in the steering wheel. You quite possibly have a slight bend in the inner portion of one of your rims. I had the same problem on my ES and until I get the rim replaced or repaired I leave the slightly bent rim on the rear.

schmoozer

Well I just got a call from the tire shop and they said that the two front tires had severe cupping on them and the rears had something else, can't really remember what he said.

I'm going to go take a look at it on the lift, but it looks like I'm gonna need 4 new tires

So I guess I need some tire suggestions now!

PFB

Make sure that you don't have an underlying suspension problem, before installing new tires. You do not want to ruin a new set of tires.

Phil

GEORGE_JET

The severe cupping is a very strong indication of suspension problems. The tire shop did not recommend repairs before installing new tires? Cupping is generally a indication that the struts are bad. You need to take the car to a decent repair shop and have it evaulated before installing new tires.