tires slipping on the rim?

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Need your guys opinion. My lemon of a Cadillac (i.e. 2013 ATS) started making a grinding or rubbing noise which seemed to come from the front driver's-side wheel, noticeable when I applied the brakes. For example, as I slowed to a stop at a stoplight. When I was at the dealer a few weeks ago for an oil change and tire rotation, they checked it out and said the right front brake shield was rubbing the rotor and they adjusted it. Low and behold, a couple weeks later the noise was back. I took the car back to the dealer where it's been for a week now. The technicians hear the noise and say it occurs even when not braking, but they couldn't figure out what it was, contacted GM technical support, and my service advisor called yesterday and told me that it was "tire to wheel contact" and that the tires were slipping on the rim. WTH!?

The car has the OE Michelin Primacy MXM4 ZP. He said that he's seen that a few times with those tires and the only real fix is to replace them. Of course it's not covered under warranty but he said he could have the tires removed, wheels cleaned, and the tires remounted and balanced (under warranty) to see if it fixes the problem. Does this sound like a load of [censored] or is there some truth and merit to the explanation?

I'm so tired of the problems with this car. In the 25 months that I've owned it, it's been to the dealer for a variety of problems for a total of 77 days now which is 10% of the time I've had it. Grrr!
 
I call malarkey on slipping on the rim. The bead is pretty well seated in the groove on the rim, and takes some force to pop it in and out of that groove. If it was capable of slipping, even under hard acceleration, you would be leaking air significantly.
 
Sounds like a caliper might be sticking/dragging would be my guess. With the mileage and your location it's probably a good idea to have the calipers lubed(slides and pins) and cleaned. The Toyota dealer here charges $70 for the front brake disc service. The brake pads may even need replacement.

The tire issue sounds bogus. Maybe try a different dealer/shop than the current one.

I had air leaks around all 4 alloy wheels on an Accord with replacement tires. The tire shop had a 30 min guarantee on tire installs. Never had any other issues besides the air leaks.
 
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Mark tire and rim with chalk and take it for a ride, Then check to se if the line is still matching.
 
Doesn't sound right to me. About the only time a tire can slip on a rim is right after mounting when the bead lubricant is still drying. But, if the dealer is willing to dismount, clean, remount and balance under warranty, why not give it a try? At least it will eliminate that excuse...
 
Originally Posted By: QuOk
Mark tire and rim with chalk and take it for a ride, Then check to se if the line is still matching.


This was exactly what I was thinking. And I highly doubt those tires are sticky enough to slip on the rim under braking or accelerating. Sounds like you might need some bead locks for your ATS. lol
 
Originally Posted By: QuOk
Mark tire and rim with chalk and take it for a ride, Then check to se if the line is still matching.


Yes, do this to prove to the stupid dealer that its not happening. You'd think the tire wouldn't hold pressure if it was slipping that bad.

And why wouldn't tires and rims be covered under warranty.

And you should take the dealer to small claims for loss of use. Or invoke the lemon law.
 
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I would think that you might feel a change in your tire balance. I would mark with chalk on the tire and masking tape on the rim and do some exaggerated starts and stops. See if the suckers are moving.
 
Mark the sidewall where the valve stem is and see if it moves. I highly doubt it slips the front tire on a RWD vehicle unless you are really aggressive with the brakes. My old Mustang would move the tire quite a bit on the rear wheels under hard acceleration, but that was with drag radials and a decent amount of power.
 
Originally Posted By: turtlevette
And you should take the dealer to small claims for loss of use. Or invoke the lemon law.


He's been getting service loaners from what I recall on other threads. But it's still an inconvenience with lost time.
 
Originally Posted By: turtlevette


And why wouldn't tires and rims be covered under warranty.



Tires are considered a maintenance item - manufacturers won't cover them even when the OEM tire is an exploding piece of [censored] that falls apart 10,000 miles after you buy the truck.

Learned that the hard way from the Ford / Firestone debacle in the late 90's.
 
Originally Posted By: satinsilver
He's been getting service loaners from what I recall on other threads. But it's still an inconvenience with lost time.

That's correct. I've always been provided with loaners when my car has been in for service. Most of the time it's another ATS. Once it was an SRX and right now I have an XTS. I really can't complain about the cars they've given me. The dealer takes pretty good care of me, most specifically the service advisor that I always work with. The car just seems like a lemon, though it doesn't qualify under the lemon-law. I've already been down that path.
 
The only time I have seen this happen first hand is at the drag strip.
You should totally add tubes and screw the tires to the wheel to prevent this happening again.
Not really.
Curious to hear what comes of this...
 
Originally Posted By: WANG
The only time I have seen this happen first hand is at the drag strip.
You should totally add tubes and screw the tires to the wheel to prevent this happening again.
Not really.
Curious to hear what comes of this...
Is that still the practice or have the slick makers improved the bead design?
 
I call HorseHockey ...its a dragging caliper or loose wheel bearing. I got some rubbing noise on my F150 before and it was a wheel bearing.
 
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450HP 440 Mopar, 4-speed, 3.91 gears, 275/60x15 Cooper Cobras. 3000RPM, side-step clutch while flooring it, power shifting at 6000RPM. Tire's never slipped on the chrome Cragar rims. Dealer is full of it...............
 
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