Originally Posted By: mene
We had a set of XT installed in our Town & Country at Costco, the car is used mainly as "highway cruiser" I love them and hate them, they grip very very well in dry or water almost as good as the Hydroedge they replace, very quiet, smooth as silk Did I say quiet already? but...... they vibrate, I have taken them to be rebalanced 4 times already in 4K miles, and every time they find at least one out of balance but even after "balanced" they vibrate, plus they lifted the van of the rocker panels and bent the seams that got me very mad and have been taking the tires to them instead of the whole car. Right now my patience is very low and I think it is time to get nasty and force them to solve the problem once it for all the tires might be out of round or something but I shouldn't be the one who has to set the dial indicator with the rolling tip to find out if it is round or not, this is my first time at Costco for tires, they vibrate and bent the rockers, it is probably my last time too, I choose them over DT and Tire Rack because none of the had the Defenders and they seem to be the perfect match for the car and the use and the old ties were 70% gone, in retrospective I should have waited for Discount Tire to have them.
Sounds like one of the wheels may have some excessive run-out. At my work, I can dynamically balance out to 'zero' an assembly that has a bent rim, however, the wheel will still vibrate because of the 'hop' from that section of bent rim (I generally place these assemblies on the rear axle whenever possible with exception in a rotation situation). I'd suggest getting your wheels and tires road-force matched which may help reduce the vibration you are feeling, and hopefully none of your wheels are severely bent or warped.
About the Defenders, out of the many dozens sets I've balanced out, they seem to balance well with little weight needed, even on a re-balance they are usually never more than a half-ounce out, and when watching them spin, there is very little wobble or out of roundness on the tire itself.