Vibration with new tires - your thoughts

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Good evening.

I recently installed a set of Cooper AT3 tires on my Jeep. I have a slight vibration between 45 and 65 mph. They were installed using a Roadforce balancer. I called the shop back, and was told that it's likely one bad tire that's out of round.

So, Discount Tire Direct is sending me a replacement, which I'll bring to the shop. Will they be able to find a tire that's slightly out of round using the Roadforce setup? Could it have been missed by a tech during the original installation who was rushing or just has poor attention to detail? Is there anything I can do to encourage them to get it right?

Thanks friends.
 
On my previous F-150 I had a set of A/T 3's installed and had that exact issue. I brought it in and had them rebalanced and the problem was still there. After I got a few miles on them it went away though. Not sure what the issue was.
 
Go back and have them RF balance the tires in front of you. Although "good" RF values vary from car-to-car, I'd say 10 and under will ensure a smooth ride. Anything higher, the tech needs to break the bead on the offending tire(s), re-mount and recheck. If a tire has a boatload of weights on it, safe to assume it's suspect.
 
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I would first check the balance job that was done. The shop blamed someone else without even checking their work? Not very professional.

Shops do not always do it right, or even do it. We got a new set of tires from Les Schwab, a reputabler regional chain. After a day or two it felt like you described. I checked and two tires had not even been balanced. I went to a different outlet to get it corrected.
 
Originally Posted By: Bandito440
Could it have been missed by a tech during the original installation who was rushing or just has poor attention to detail? Is there anything I can do to encourage them to get it right?



Also consider the learned helplessness that comes the tech's way. He sees bent rims that the customer isn't going to want to replace, and the management doesn't want to have the customer cancel the order out of confusion/ anger/ etc. So they'll let you out the door then cover the problems under warranty, if they do come back.

The tech is on your side, in a fashion, and will stick the worst tire on the passenger rear side, where you'll feel it least. I'd start looking there.
 
I'd just have them recheck the balance. Nearly everytime I have tires mounted, I have to have them rebalanced a few weeks later because one of the tires slipped on the wheel and now the weights are 90 degrees off.
 
A road force balance should identify an out-of-round tire during the process. That's the point of that more rigorous procedure (vs. a standard spin balance). Note that with larger wheels and tires, getting super small numbers often aren't possible. In my personal opinion, you should question anything over 16-18 pounds with the weight of tire/wheel you likely have on your Jeep.

Before installing a new tire, I would have the shop re-balance everything, and report the numbers back to you. If three of them are 14 pounds or so, and the fourth is 24 pounds, then that's likely your issue (and the tire to replace).
 
If they used a road force balancer properly, they should KNOW if there is a tire out of round.

Were these installed by Discount Tire? Many of them do not have true road force balancers, but only "QuickMatch".

I had a flat repair by DT and they mounted using quick match which resulted in vibration and a mounting nearly 180 out from the same assembly mounted using road force.
 
Just so everyone understands:

When techs use the Hunter GSP9700 RoadForce machine, they get a value for roadforce. The amount of roadforce that causes a vibration varies considerably. Some vehicles are sensitive, some are not. Some people are sensitive, some are not. It's not a black or white sort of thing.

As a general rule, small cars are more sensitive than large ones and pickup trucks generally tolerate larger numbers than cars. The tech operating the machine may not recognize a large value when he sees it. Plus we are dealing with a situation where the mounting dealer is not the selling dealer - and the tech was only paid to mount the tires. He may not have felt the need to be critical.

What could have been done to encourage him to get it right? Buy from the mounting dealer!
 
I recently purchased Cooper AT3s from DTD for my 2002 F-150. I have a slight vibration in the seat and floor between 62 and 72 mph. I suspect the rear drivers side because the drivers side view mirror will vibrate slightly at those speeds while the passenger side doesn't. My mechanic installed, balanced and re balanced them. I'm going to take it to a tire shop and have them re balance them. The front is well balanced as there is no vibration in the steering wheel. I've noticed as time goes on the vibration is less.

Whimsey
 
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Originally Posted By: DuckRyder
If they used a road force balancer properly, they should KNOW if there is a tire out of round.

Were these installed by Discount Tire? Many of them do not have true road force balancers, but only "QuickMatch".

I had a flat repair by DT and they mounted using quick match which resulted in vibration and a mounting nearly 180 out from the same assembly mounted using road force.
Originally Posted By: CapriRacer
Just so everyone understands:

When techs use the Hunter GSP9700 RoadForce machine, they get a value for roadforce. The amount of roadforce that causes a vibration varies considerably. Some vehicles are sensitive, some are not. Some people are sensitive, some are not. It's not a black or white sort of thing.

As a general rule, small cars are more sensitive than large ones and pickup trucks generally tolerate larger numbers than cars. The tech operating the machine may not recognize a large value when he sees it. Plus we are dealing with a situation where the mounting dealer is not the selling dealer - and the tech was only paid to mount the tires. He may not have felt the need to be critical.

What could have been done to encourage him to get it right? Buy from the mounting dealer!

Yes, these were bought from DTD and installed by a local shop. The reason?
Cooper AT3 LT265/60R18
Local shop: $709 + installation + tax = ~$869
DTD: $590 - $100 gift card + installation = ~$585

It was worth a few hundred dollars to me.
 
DTD sent me a fifth tire and return label for the bad one. I swapped the tire asking for the most weight with the replacement. All is well now.

Oh, and they refunded the money I spent to have them rebalanced.

Thanks to DTD.
 
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