Out of round tires - advice needed!
Thread Starter
Registered User
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 164
From: Seattle, WA
Car Info: '02 Legacy GT - no mods
Out of round tires - advice needed!
Recently bought some ContiExtremeContacts (not thru Tire Rack), and I'm having trouble with balancing, as I see a good number of others are with this tire.
I had them balanced twice where I bought them, still had a vibration, so I took them to another shop. They said two were out of round (not sure if they did force variation or not to find that out). They put those two on the back. I immediately went back to the shop I bought them at and told them what the other shop told me. They did a force variation and said "there is absolutely nothing wrong with the tires/wheels". After that, I got back out on the freeway and the vibration is basically gone, it could be all gone, I may still be too anxious about it.
Oh, and before the two "out of round" ones were put on the back I had a distinct pull to the right. The shop I bought them from who said they're not out of round, recommended I go to my dealership to have my front end checked out. Except now the pull is gone.
So long story long, can anyone answer a few questions? There are still less than 500 miles on the tires, should I let them work in a little more? Now that the vibration is all but gone, should I go get a third opinion on their "out of round"-ness? Finally, is an out of round tire dangerous?
Sorry for the long-windedness, I'm just having bad luck with my car lately. Appreciate any help anyone can give.
I had them balanced twice where I bought them, still had a vibration, so I took them to another shop. They said two were out of round (not sure if they did force variation or not to find that out). They put those two on the back. I immediately went back to the shop I bought them at and told them what the other shop told me. They did a force variation and said "there is absolutely nothing wrong with the tires/wheels". After that, I got back out on the freeway and the vibration is basically gone, it could be all gone, I may still be too anxious about it.
Oh, and before the two "out of round" ones were put on the back I had a distinct pull to the right. The shop I bought them from who said they're not out of round, recommended I go to my dealership to have my front end checked out. Except now the pull is gone.
So long story long, can anyone answer a few questions? There are still less than 500 miles on the tires, should I let them work in a little more? Now that the vibration is all but gone, should I go get a third opinion on their "out of round"-ness? Finally, is an out of round tire dangerous?
Sorry for the long-windedness, I'm just having bad luck with my car lately. Appreciate any help anyone can give.
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Road Force Balance
If a proper road force balance is done, often such problems can be accounted for. As you can imagine, to some extent all round physical bodies (not an imaginary ideal round thing) are out of round, i.e. there is nothing that is perfect. A road force balance on a Hunter 9700 balancing machine, for example, lines up portions of the rim with portions of the tire that offset each other, as much as possible. Thus, a portion of the wheel that might have a bit larger diameter might be lined up with a portion of the rim that has a slightly smaller diameter. In this way, at least the most noticable abberations can be cancelled out.
All wheels and tires have this problem. If a vibration is still present after balancing this way, the tire is too out of round and should be returned. If there is no vibration, as long as the tire does not spin on the rim, there should be no problem. The tire should not spin on the rim unless you track or autocross the car. A good thing to do is mark the position of the tire relative to the wheel (such as noting where the valve stem is relative to the wheel) so that if the tire does move, it can be reset without a full balancing of the tire.
Here is the link at tirerack.com that further explains the issue.
http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/tech/ride_uniformity.htm
I hope this helps. I am sure that there are others who could help as well.
Gordon
All wheels and tires have this problem. If a vibration is still present after balancing this way, the tire is too out of round and should be returned. If there is no vibration, as long as the tire does not spin on the rim, there should be no problem. The tire should not spin on the rim unless you track or autocross the car. A good thing to do is mark the position of the tire relative to the wheel (such as noting where the valve stem is relative to the wheel) so that if the tire does move, it can be reset without a full balancing of the tire.
Here is the link at tirerack.com that further explains the issue.
http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/tech/ride_uniformity.htm
I hope this helps. I am sure that there are others who could help as well.
Gordon
Last edited by kesslergk; Nov 7, 2003 at 05:46 PM.
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