Briitini

1st time- hole in tire that needed patched/ balanced
2nd time- (within a few weeks) needed another rear balance
3rd time- 10k miles service also needed front tires balanced.
4th time- 1 week later it needed another balance.
I picked up my car Tuesday and it was fine, but I think it is doing it again. He marked the wheel to be able to tell next time.


I got in touch with the Service Director and he said its not anything I caused. He said it may be a rare case of "the tire spinning on the wheel".

Anyone have an idea what exactly that means and what the fix is?

bhvrdr

All tires have spots in them with more or less mass or differences from mounting/handling. They are called radial and axial force fluctuations. In other words, all tires have irregularities and even slight ones can throw off balance.

Believe it or not even wheels have these slight irregularities.

If you ever look at new tires, and even new wheels, a lot of times you will see a little yellow dot or a red dot on the sidewall. These are points that companies have marked as high spots on the wheel or tire. It allows them to match the mounting of the tire to the wheel so they dont have to do as much to balance them.

Now if your tire moves a bit on the rim you will throw off the balance and need to have it rebalanced. Additionally, if your tire wears a bit it may throw off the balance.

Sometimes balancing can be a PITA and sometimes it never bothers someone over the life of the tire. Its part luck.

Mike

Swacer

Sometimes a tire can just be out of round, and no matter what kind of balancing they do, it will never be perfect. At that point, its just best to replace the tire.

mello03

iTrader: (1)

Perfect excuse to upgrade to Michelin PSS or Conti DW

Boomin

There doing all they can not to replace them tires dude. Call corp. your fed up

Ecko508

iTrader: (2)

This happened to a car of mine before. The dealer just ended up replacing the tires for me under warranty. I'd advise them to do the same for you.

computerwi

Based on your description of a flat, rear, front, balance, this is still reasonable in my mind... These are technically all separate tires with individual imbalances. The 4th visit is the only odd thing. Were all wheels balanced during the 4th visit?

Additionally, hoping this is all free for you like at my dealership..

Briitini

Pretty sure it's doing it again. Not happy at all. I involved the service director last time because when I turned it in I explained there was a reoccurring issue. The service advisor called me a left me a message saying that the balance was done and everything is great! It pissed me off so much because there is an OBVIOUS problem and they were sweeping it under the table as if it was no big deal. I am emailing the director now that it is still doing it.

Swacer

Why not stop wasting the time and just demand new tires?

Another thing to keep in mind is the stock tires are only good for ~15k miles. So you could have worn them unevenly and this is what is causing the issue.