After getting rid of my front end shaking problems with some new tires the installer blamed the directional tires. What has been your experience?

 

What was the brands of tires before and after? 18" OEM wheels? Spacers?

I had absolutely no shakes at all until I put in a set of 25mm spacers with rings. Now I am thinking about taking the spacers off so it won't damage my steering rack. This is OEM wheels and Dunlop non-directional non-runflat tires.

 

Yes, but my shaking was from cupped tires and probably worn front shocks.

 

The bad actors were Bridgestone Potenza Pole Position tires. The new tires are 245/40ZR-18 Michelin Pilot Super Sport XL. I have stock, but chromed, wheels with 20mm spacers. The shaking existed before the spacers and probably got worse with them.

 

My Conti DWS on the SC have very minor shaking at between 65-70 mph but you really need to be looking for it to detect it. Non directional and easily fixed by proper tire rotation.

My winter tires on my other car ( directional Hankook Winter iCept 310 ) had serious shaking issues after normal balancing at 70-75 mph and needed road force balancing to settle down.

 

I just purchased my 2006 SC 430 and I feel some shaking between 65 -70 mph. I had someone tell me I need a high speed balance. Will that solve the problem?

 

I have a 2002 SC430 (65k miles) and have a lot of side to side steering wheel shaking at 60mph when the car is cold. when the car warms up, about 15 miles, it goes away. I have brand new Conti DWS tires, stock rims, had all tires road force balanced (twice) and a 4 wheel alignment. It's either inherent in the tires or related to a front suspension component. Anyone have thoughts on the issue?

 

"Flat spotting" is a common problem. Tires that sit take a "set" on the tread that's flattened by the weight of the car. Different tire compounds and construction make this vary between brands and models. A warm tire is soft and pliable. After sitting and getting cold the tire takes some driving time and warming up to get round again. It sounds exactly like you describe. My old Bridgestone tires were bad about this. My new Michelins don't seem to do it at all, thank God.

 

I too have Conti DWS on my 02 430. Wheel shakes for about 10-15 minutes then all better. Flat spots are the issue especially with the low profile of the tire. It will definitely be more pronounced with the oncoming of cold weather.

 

Update to my last post on Conti DWS, i agree with others on the flat spotting problem. But i had more than that. Used to shake at 65-70 even when warm. Got fixed by tire rotation. Totally smooth now when warm. Feels great.

 

Did you just rotate or balance and rotate?

if you just rotated and slight shake went away, It sounds like you have a tire that is slightly out of balance or slightly out of round which was on the front but now is on the back.

Slightly out of balance or out of round tires mounted on the back are harder to sense.

JR

 

Hey FLYCT, a little more complex than that. First symptoms of vibration 65-70, I just did a rebalance on the front. Vibration reduced quite a bit but still present if you're really looking for it. After another 500 miles, I rotated. Vibration reduced to nearly nothing. After another 500 miles, I am really at no vibrations left. Not sure what did it but many other owners have reported rotations helped fix their vibration issues. I guess the main test on whether I have an out of round tire is once I rotate back in a few thousand miles, will I get vibrations again. Also wondering whether the asymmetric pattern of the Conti DWS causes this issue. When brand new, I had absolutely no vibrations but over time, they started between 65-70, and now fixed like i explained.

I am only focused on front end vibration which can be felt in the steering wheel.

 

Just curious, Did you rotate fronts straight back or did you cross the fronts when you moved them back?

Did you cross them like this?
RF -> LR
LF -> RR
LR -> LF
RR -> RF

I find that this produces the most even wear but occasionally you get temporary tire noise. Of course this only works with non directional tires.

Local Walmart has auto center. They do lots of tires. I've purchased lifetime rotation and balance from them for tires I've purchased elsewhere. $7.50 per tire / $30 one time fee for lifetime balance and rotation. These guys do good work. They torque the wheels twice then do a slow figure 8 in the lot and torque them again.

JR

 

No criss cross. Front straight back and back straight front.

Don't have a Walmart convenient to where I am but I'll check them out the next time I come across them. Thanks

 

Front straight back to rear is not wrong but not the best for rear wheel drive non-directional tires with wheels which are the same size and offset

In fact the Walmart I use has a diagram that they have me initial when I request crossing when rotating. That way I take responsibility and the installer has a clear picture of what to do.

See below for SC 430 service manual diagram on rotation.